Williamson County Area  Beekeepers Association

  Our next meeting is January 23rd , 7 pm at the Georgetown Library.

No meeting in December

The Georgetown Public Library meeting rooms are in more demand this
year. Due to room availability, some of our meetings will be on the 3rd Tuesday of the month instead of our usual 4th Tuesdays. Additionally, some months only the main meeting room (the Hewlitt) is available, so we'll have a combined session. We'll break out into 101 and 201 sessions when a second meeting room is available. The meeting times will remain at 7 pm.  

 

We look forward to seeing you at the Georgetown Library - Hewlett

Rm,402 W 8th Street, Georgetown 78626. 

  

Zoom Option:

 Click the Zoom meeting link below if you cannot attend the live meetings.  

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82475068933?pwd=aHRiRjc3bS9kYXJGS2g5THVpOEx2UT09

Meeting ID: 824 7506 8933 Passcode: 909659

*If you are planning to join from an iPhone or iPad, be sure to download this application first: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zoom- cloud-meetings/id546505307

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Read our monthly Newsletter to find out more.

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2024 Nucs & Queens Procurement Announced
submitted by Gary Bible
The Williamson County Area Beekeepers Association will again offer
bees and queens to club members in 2024 through our Bee Procurement program. The Executive Board voted to provide 5-frame NUCs with a
queen (not marked), and an additional order of queen bees (marked & and clipped) for purchase by current club members.
 

The 5-frame nucs originate from Merrimack Valley Apiary’s Evergreen
Honey Company in Louisiana, is currently managed by Wes Card. The nucs
are advertised to consist of a “laying” queen that has already been accepted
by the hive, 3 inner frames containing brood in all stages, 2 outer frames
containing honey, pollen, and adhering bees, delivered in a sturdy wooden nuc box with a full entrance. The queens from Evergreen will be VSH (varroa resistant) produced in their program and should provide a hardy, productive colony that overwinters well. The queen bees for individual purchase will come from Bee Weaver Apiaries in Navasota, Texas, and are advertised as bred from a hybrid of bees chosen for their mite resistance, high honey production, and healthy population. These queens will be marked (green) for ease of finding and help in swarm control.

 

Order Forms with current pricing will appear in the December Newsletter and orders will be accepted immediately for the 2024 season.  Our Bee Procurement Program has been a benefit provided to the membership for over 20
years and has become a hallmark service to our club members. The program has drawn many new members to our ranks because of the attractive pricing and the assurance of obtaining bees in an ever-tightening and competitive market. For this reason, the club is requesting you limit your order to 6 nucs per total family, and a limit of 4 nucs total for new members (2024) to the
club. The Nuc price is $179.  We are negotiating the queen price.
 

Orders will be taken by mail and at the club meetings through February 28th for as long as the supply lasts. Each order must be on the official/club Order Form, be filled out completely, and be accompanied by the appropriate remittance (check or money order) to be accepted. All orders will be acknowledged by a confirmation email and added to the Queen & Nuc Order Matrix by the Procurement Coordinator.

 

Because of the need to track and match all orders with the remittance and delivery of products, there will be no individual transfer of ownership of nucs and/or queens. Canceled orders will be handled by the coordinator with refunds and resale of the product to members on the Wait List.
Most likely the pickup/delivery process for nucs and queens in the spring will mirror what has taken place at the Bost Farm since April of 2020, with drive-thru pickup most likely. Time will tell, so be flexible in your expectations and schedule as that time approaches.
 

Direct your inquiries to:
Gary Bible – WCABA Bee Procurement Coordinator
512-923-0410 or email glbible@austin.rr.com
Gary Bible11

 

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Master Beekeeping Program through Cornell University

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The Bee Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting bees, safeguarding the environment, and securing food justice through community-based education, research, habitat creation, and advocacy. 

 

We are excited to announce that we have just launched the third cohort of our Master Beekeeper Program. This program will provide a scholarship to Cornell University’s prestigious Master Beekeeper Certification program beginning February 2024, as well as mentorship from our certified master beekeepers. This program is geared towards beekeepers with a minimum of three years of experience managing hives, whose work with bees helps to advance environmental stewardship, community resilience, and/or food security. We aim to help beekeepers get the ongoing training they need to support healthy hives and ecosystems. Paste this email for more information.

https://thebeeconservancy.org/education/master-beekeper-program/

The deadline is 12/2/2023

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