October 26th 6pm Potluck & Honey Tasting
The 26th Tuesday night meeting will be a harvest potluck and sharing honey from our apiaries. It has been moved back to 6pm instead of 6:30 for a better dinner time. Hand sanitizer will be provided at the beginning and end of the food line for safety. It will still be at the Flathead County Health Department. See you next week!
Winterizing Apiary Visit Saturday Oct 9
Kyle Johnson has invited us to visit his apiary October 9th at 1pm in Columbia Falls. There we will do quick inspections to see the strength of the bees, what resources they might need, and demonstrate how to winterize them. See the following for instructions on how to get to the apiary. See you at 1pm on the 9th!
From the Super One in Columbia Falls:
1. Turn North on Meadow Lake Blvd till you hit a stop sign T intersection with Tamarack Lane
2. Turn Left on Tamarack Lane and drive for 1/4 mile.
3. Turn Right onto Meadow Lake Drive
4. At the Roundabout, turn onto Gleneagles Trail
5. Make a slight right onto Oakmont Lane
6. In 300 yards look for a green gate on your left for the right of way corridor
7. Coordinates are 48 24.0006
-114 12.5721
Phone number for Angela should you get lost: 871-6551
September Meeting 9/28/21
Don’t forget about our monthly meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 pm at the Flathead County Health Department. I’ll be doing my winterizing demonstration and we will finalize plans for visiting a few club members’ apiaries to check for winter strength. See you there!
August Meeting Reminder
Remember our in person meeting is Tuesday the 31st at 6:30 at the Flathead County Health Department. We will be talking about Fall health and September To Dos and picking a date for members to come to Angela’s house to use the honey extractor. Please bring all your questions!
Management and Hive Thermodynamics Free Talk by Northern Beekeeper Etienne Tardif
Zoom Talk August 11, 2021 7:30-9PM PST
Topic: Spring to Spring Management and Hive Thermodynamics – Yukon and North of 60 Focus
Time: Aug 11, 2021 08:30 PM MST (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87473524432…
Meeting ID: 874 7352 4432
Passcode: 013494(No telephone dial ups, I have had issues with folks on phones not muting and making noise – too distracting for me and others)
Bloom Report: July 19 2021
Here are the flowers blooming for our pollinators this week!
Pictured from top left:
- Shasta Daisies
- False Sunflower
- Beebalm
- Tahoka Daisy
- Greater Masterwort
- Rose Spirea
- Virginia Spiderwort
- Aspen Fleabane
- Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
- Canadian Thistle
July 27th Meeting at Flathead County Health Department
Don’t forget about our upcoming in person meeting this Tuesday at 6:30pm! We’ll be talking about brood diseases popping up in the Valley, August To-Dos (including possible mite treatments), pros and cons to harvesting honey now and ongoing discussions about charging dues. See you there!
Bloom Report: 7/6/21
What’s blooming the July 6th 2021 week for the pollinators in Flathead Valley?
Regardless of the week of heat, we haven’t quite entered a dearth yet across the valley. How do I know this? Because when I placed an old frame of harvested honey outside for the bees, no one touched it for 2 days in a row! Neat trick huh? Some of the natural flowers blooming this week below, names are ordered from top left.
- Canadian Thistle
- Hawksbeard
- False Chamomile
- Canola
- Alfalfa
- Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
- Common Yarrow
- Raspberries
6/29/21 Meeting moved back to Flathead County Health Department
Just a final reminder that our meetings have been permanently moved back to the Flathead County Health Department on 1st Ave West. We’ll see you there at 6:30!
Flathead Survivor Queens *SOLD OUT*
***These ladies have all been claimed this year! Since it was such a success I’ll definitely do more next year. Thanks everyone!***
I have queen cells available which were grafted from a treatment-free, winter survivor, Varroa Sensitive Hygiene queen last week. They will emerge between Monday-Tuesday June 28th-29th.
When: Pickup between today (June 21st) and Saturday (June 26th)
Who: You can use them after you make a split or a nuc. Or to replace a queen you feel is failing.
How: Any hive that has been queen-less for at least 24 hours. Before installation of the queen cell, all combs in the current hive need to be thoroughly checked for existing queen cells/cups and destroyed so this cell is their only option.
Cost: Since this is my first attempt at queens and my goal is to just get some good genetics out in the community, I’m only charging $5 per cell to help recoup my costs for the magnifying goggles and grafting supplies. Future years the price will go up slightly to be more competitive with industry prices and after people have reported back the quality of the queens to me.
Why: Why cells instead of mated queens? Virgins emerging from this cell will take up to 7 days to harden then mate. Then another 7-10 days before she’s laying eggs. Rather than have your queen-less hive wait for that process, they’ll be happier if they know they have their queen cell right now. And since it’s less work for me, I can pass on the cost savings to you. However, after Saturday I will be placing these cells in mating nucs and waiting for them to mate and then lay eggs. Once a queen is verified mated, the cost for her will go up to the market value of laying queens because of the cost for equipment for queen mating (pricey!). I will be selling those in about 3 weeks from now.
Please contact me using the Contact Us button in the website menu to coordinate pickup of the cells.
Finally, I want my Flathead beekeeping community to know my intention as a beginner to this new market of bees is not to make a profit off of any of you. But to help spread hearty survivor genetics in our valley with just my costs being covered.
Thanks! ~Angela Tollerson
