State Calendar
Minutes of Spring 2007 NJBA Meeting
February 4-6, 2008: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, New Jersey State Agricultural Convention, host to our annual Honey Show at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2349 West Marlton Pike, Cherry Hill, NJ. 2008 WINNERS! Honey Show Rules have changed. Click here for current rules and sample score sheets.Click here, for an Entry Form to accompany your entries.

February 9, 2008: 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM, NJBA Winter Meeting, New Jersey Museum of Agriculture, North Brunswick, NJ (THIS IS A NEW LOCATION). The meeting will start with registration, followed by a business meeting (with voting on bylaw amendments--see your current newsletter), speakers and lunch. Dr. Judy Chen of the Beltsville Bee Lab will speak on "Viruses and Viral Diseases in Honey Bees". Mike Madonia of NJ Fish and Wildlife will update us on the black bear in our state. Dr. Heather Mattila of Cornell will speak on the importance of nutrition for the honey bee. Cost is $20 in advance per person 12 years and older ($24 at the door); $12 per child 11 years old and younger. RSVP to Curtis Crowell by February 3, 2008 (609 651-4585). Make checks payable to NJBA and mail to Curtis at 152 Broad Street, Hightstown, NJ 08520. Click here for a detailed agenda. Directions to the Museum.

June 7 , 2008: 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM, NJBA Spring Meeting, Snyder Research and Extension Farm, Pittstown, NJ, hosted by the Northwest branch. There will be a rather marvelous update on CCD by Diana Cox-Foster, PhD, Penn State University, on "The Role of Pathogens in CCD and the Impact of Migration and Other Stressors on Bees," which she co-authored with Dennis Van Englesdorp of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Maryann Frazier will do a presentation on the "Role of Pesticides on CCD and Overall Concerns Impacting Honey Bee Health". Cost is $20 if you RSVP ahead of time, or $25 at the door. RSVP to Charles Ilsley as soon as possible at c.ilsley@verizon.net or 732 469-0043. For details, including menu and a complete agenda, click here. For directions, click here.

August 23 , 2008: 8:30 a.m. Annual picnic and auction at the home of Bob Hughes in Yardville. Bring your useable bee equipment for the auction. This is the NJBA's annual fundraiser, with 20% of the sale proceeds going to the NJBA. Festivities start with coffee and donuts until 9:30 a.m. and then the auction starts. Bring your bathing suit and chairs. Price is $20 per person if you RSVP to Bob Hughes , 609 585-4359. Price is $24 if you don't RSVP. For directions to Bob's, click here.

October 11 , 2008: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fall meeting at the Rutgers EcoComplex in Bordentown. The featured speaker will be Professor Greg Hunt from Purdue, speaking about the Honeybee Genome project in the morning and possibly about honeybee health in the afternoon. A possible second speaker may be announced later. Cost is $20 with an advance RSVP, or $24 at the door. Make reservations by calling Curtis Crowell (609) 651-4585. Make checks payable to CJBA and mail to Curtis Crowell, 152 Broad Street, Hightstown, NJ 08520. For a detailed agenda, click here.

February 14, 2009: Mark your calendar now for the NJBA Winter Meeting, New Jersey Museum of Agriculture, North Brunswick, NJ. The meeting will start with registration, followed by a business meeting, speakers and lunch. Featured speaker will be Kirk Webster of Champlain Valley Bees and Queens. Located in Middlebury, VT, Webster has focused on producing hardy, northern-bred bees resistant to mites, eschewing chemical mite controls since 2002. The first place and division winners of the Annual Honey Show will be auctioned to the highest bidders. Costs, RSVP instructions and a detailed agenda will be forthcoming. Directions to the Museum.

The Northeast Beekeepers Association of New Jersey usually meets on the third Friday of the month, weather permitting, at 678 South Maple Avenue (near the corner of Rock Road), Glen Rock in Bergen County. There is usually a yellow meeting sign outside to guide new members. Specific meeting dates and programs are contained in Northeast's newsletter. You can contact any Northeast officer to find out if a meeting is being held.

January18, 2008: 7:30 PM, see above for location. Nominations are needed for President. Please contact Alan Marshall at 201 444-7988 . He will take all nominations to this next meeting. A video on the CCD called "Silence of the Bees" will be shown. Bring items for the rummage sale.

March 21, 2008: 7:30 PM. New Jersey Bee Inspector Tim Schuler has graciously agreed to attend and answer your questions. He will speak on our old enemy, American Foulbrood. We must use care that this problem remains in the past and never returns. We expect more than two new people will come who want to start beekeeping. They will have a chance to ask questions. You will have a chance to share your knowledge and possibly let someone see your hive for their first time. Members from other branches are welcome to attend.

July 18, 2008: 7:30 PM. Dale Bellisfield, a nurse and newer beekeeper, will talk about sweeteners, teas and herbs. In addition to her RN, Dale is a clinical herabalist trained in European, Native American and Chinese traditions of healing and, therefore, experienced in alternative and complementary therapies. As always, new beekeepers should be prepared with questions they want to ask. There should be honey ice cream to taste, a sampling of Russian honey and pictures of a feral colony that was inside the wall of a home. Members from other branches are welcome.

September 20, 2008: 10:00 AM Historic guided tour of the Paterson Great Falls area, a repeat of the June 2007 tour in case you missed it. Bee questions and Paterson history will be discussed at the meeting prior to the tour. Wear walking shoes and bring your camera, water and lunch money and honey to tip your guide. See photos for the 2007 tour. Northeast President Tom Fuscaldo invites all NJBA members to this meeting, and has also invited tourists with bees from California and the Phillipines to join them. Lunch will be at Libby's where Tom Fuscaldo claims the Texas Weiner was invented. Meet at the Great Falls visitor center, McBride Avenue, Spruce Street and Wayne Avenue. If lost, call Tom on his cell at 973 942-5066.

October 17, 2008: 7:30 PM. New beekeepers are expected, and hopefully they will have lots of questions. There wil be the video on a year in the apiary by Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia.

November 21, 2008: 7:30 PM. New beekeepers are expected, and hopefully they will have lots of questions. There wil be more of the video "A Year in the Apiary" by Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia, picking up where it was stopped at the last meeting. Officer elections will be discussed as well as what the club wants to do for the holiday season.

December 19, 2008: 7:30 PM. Last meeting of the year with election of officers for 2009. More of the "A Year in the Apiary" video will be shown. Vice President Al Stoel is organizing a dinner to honor 104-year-old member Mary Planten at the Holland Christian Home in North Haledon. Please call Al Stoel, 201 444-9253, or Tom Fuscaldo, 973 942- 5066, if you are interested in attending, or speak to them at this meeting.

For Northwest Jersey Beekeepers Association website, click here.

April 19 , 2008: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Echo Hill Workshop for for branch members and the interested public. Installation of package bees. Feeding and spring management of the new colony. The workshop will be led b Stan Wasitowski of S&F Honey Farm with members Frank Wooden, Charles Ilsley and John Peterson as facilitators.

July 27 to August 2, 2008: Warren County Farmers' Fair, Harmony Township.

August 20 to August 24, 2008: 2008 Hunterdon County 4H & Agricultural Fair, County Fairgrounds, South County Park, Route 179, Ringoes, NJ.

December 13 , 2008: 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Holiday party at Echo Hill Section, Hunterdon County Park, Lilac Drive, Clinton, NJ. Nomination and election of 2009 officers. Members are asked to bring a dessert and must RSVP to Secretary Charles Ilsley. Click here for more details and directions.

For Sussex County Beekeepers Association website, click here.

January 26, 2008: 11:00 AM. Fairground Administration Building, Sussex County Fairgrounds. Bring ideas for 2008. We will make fondant candy for feeding the bees. For direction visit the SCBA website.

February 16, 2008: Meeting cancelled!

March 8, 2008: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., first session of Beginner Beekeepers course, 4-H Building, Sussex County Fairgrounds. Fee is $20, which includes membership in the Sussex County Beekeepers Association. For more information, contact Linda Osborne 973 875-5770 or Deb Brodhecker 973 702-1223.

March 15, 2008: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. second session of Beginner Beekeepers course.

May 3, 2008: 1:00 p.m., Brodhecker's house. Program: installing a package, producing comb honey.

July 12, 2008: 10:00 a.m. at Osborne's. Program: hive inspection, preparing entries for the fair. Picnic and pool party.

August 1-10, 2008: Sussex County Fair. Annual Honey Show with ribbons and prizes for 18 classes of entries from glass jars of extracted to observation hives. Entries are open to all NJ beekeepers or those with apiaries in NJ, should not be labelled, must be accompanied by an entry form, and must be at the August Fairgrounds no later than 10 a.m., Friday, August 1st. Juding will be at 12 noon August 1st and will be conducted by State Apiarist Tim Schuler. If you have questions, contact Chairman Tom Webb at 973 874-3889. For a list of winners, click here!

November 22, 2008: 6:00 p.m. Holiday dinner at the Blue Ribbon Restaurant, Branchville, NJ. RSVP by November 13th to Linda Osborne, 973 875-5770. Cost is $20 per person. For details and directions, check the SCBA website.

For Essex County Beekeepers Society website, click here.

Essex County Beekeepers Society (ECBS) meets at Essex County Environmental Center (ECEC) at 621 Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland, NJ.

February 23 and March 1, 2008: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Garibaldi Hall, ECEC. Short course in beekeeping. Instructors: Landi Simone, Joe Lelinho, Joe Treimel, Tim Schuler. Fee $50 to non-NJBA members, which includes a free one-year membership. $35 for existing NJBA members. Fee includes text and continental breakfast both days. Bring your own bagged lunch. This course will cover all you need to get started in bees: Honey Bee Biology, IPM Seasonal Management, Pests and Diseasees, Equipment, Resources, Harvesting your Honey Crop, and more. Pre-register by February 8, 2008 by sending your name, address, phone, email and payment to Landi Simone, 101-B Taylortown Road, Boonton, NJ 07005. Email beelady@optonline.net.

March 12 , 2008: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Wednesday, ECEC. Making traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs using the beeswax batik method.  Workshop taught by Dr. Pat Paslawsky. Materials fee $10 includes egg, stylus, dye and beeswax for non-ECBS members.  Free to ECBS members.  RSVP to Landi at beelady@optonline.net by February 29, 2008.

April 8, 2008: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Tuesday, ECEC. Nucs, Packages, Splits and Queens! Round table discussion of installing new colonies and sure-fire methods of requeening.

April 19, 2008: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday, ECEC, Earth Day Celebration. We will put members of the public in a screen room while we open the resident hives, dress people up in bee suits and take their pictures holding a frame of bees. This is a public education meeting. Volunteers should contact the Program Coordinator for this event, Joe Lelinho, for how you can help.

May 13, 2008: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Tuesday, ECEC. AFB Workshop with Tim Schuler, NJ State Apiarist. Tim will bring us all up to speed in recognizing and dealing with American Foulbrood in our colonies. This is a hands-on workshop with actual frames of AFB.

June 14, 2008: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Saturday, Queen Rearing for the Hobbyist and ECBS Picnic. Four Corners ( Powerville Road and Rockaway Valley Road), Boonton Township, NJ. Visit a small-scale, commercial queen-rearing yard and learn several methods of raising your own queens. Bring a dish to share with friends and a chair to sit on.

June 28, 2008: 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM, Saturday, ECEC , Bugfest! At and around Garibaldi Hall, Club members will not want to miss coming to this public education event. Joe Treimel will don a bee beard and Landi Simone plans to wear a bee bikini for the ultimate in beekeeper high fashion. Visitor entrance fees apply: $5 child, $7 Adult and $9 Family. For event details, click here. For driving directions, click here.

July & August, 2008: No meetings.

DATE CHANGE: September 20, 2008: Time TBA, Saturday, Fords, NJ. Tour of a Commercial Beekeeping Operation. We’ll carpool to Stiles Apiaries commercial honey processing facility and watch honey being extracted and bottled on a large scale.

October 4, 2008: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday, ECEC, Octoberfest. Joe Lelinho has volunteered to oversee ECBS’s participation in this annual public education program. We’re refining “The Best Honey in Essex” contest and hope to come up with a winner at this event! Give Joe a call or drop him an email to help out.

October 15, 2008: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Wednesday. Apitherapy for Health. Tom Fuscaldo will speak on the use of bee venom to treat diseases such as arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

November 11, 2008: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Tuesday, ECEC.  Feeding Bees.  Commercial Beekeeper Grant Stiles will discuss the various ways we have to feed the bees, including what we feed them, how we get the food to them, and how often we should be feeding our bees.  Nutrition is critical to humans and more and more research shows the same is true of our bees.

December 7, 2008: Sunday, 12:00 noon. Christmas party brunch at The Lamplighter, 190 West Main Street, Chester. Cost is $15 per person. RSVP to Joe Treimel, sailbeejoe@aol.com, 973 865-9043 by November 15th.

For Central Jersey Beekeepers Association website, click here.

February 22 , 2008: 7:30 PM, General membership meeting, Hope Academy Charter School, Asbury Park. State Apiarist Tim Schuler will speak on American Foulbrood. Refreshments will be served; desserts will be welcome.

May 16, 2008: Spring meeting, Jackson, Con. Center.

July 23-27, 2008: Monmouth County Fair.

August 8 , 2008: Summer meeting, Rutgers.

October 4, 2008: Fall Conservation Day, Jackson.

November 14, 2008: Fall meeting.

December 14, 2008: Holiday Party, Captain's Inn.

March 15 , 2008: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM. Dana Wilberg. Spring hive opening, Mullica Hill, NJ. Check for feed and mite levels.

May 31, 2008: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Schuler's. Picnic lunch, queen rearing workshop, grafting and colony make up.

July 19, 2008: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM. Stewart. Sample colonies for mites, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), honey removal and extracting your crop.

September 13, 2008: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM. Latham. Fall feeding, check colonies.

November 15, 2008: Spring 1:00 pm - 5:00 PM. Haluwasa. Preparing entries for show competition. Liquid honey, creamed honey, beeswax and cosmetics.

Meetings are held every third Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM at the Cape May County Extension Office, 355 Court House/So. Dennis Road (Route 657), Cape May Court House, NJ. Click here, for directions.

January 17, 2008: 7:00 PM, Cape May County Extension Office (see above). Volunteers are needed for branch officer positions of president and vice president. State Apiarist Tim Schuler will speak on American Foul Brood, which has been on the upswing in New Jersey. He will disuss the disease, and everyone will be able to look at infected frames. Attendees will also learn how to prevent the disease and clean up after it. Anyone interested in beekeeping is welcome to attend. If you have any questions about the meeting, please email Bill Eisele.

MCBA November 2004 Newsletter

January 19, 2008: 9AM, annual planning meeting at the home of President Mark Muller. For directions, click here.

March 14, 2008: 7:30 PM, The Secrets to Selling Your Honey. Presented at the Chester Library, come hear four of our MCBA members share their ideas and stories of honey salesmanship, including what to do and what not to do.  Come on out and support your peers as I expect we’ll have a lively discussion for this member suggested topic.  Who knows, with these ideas in hand, perhaps one of our MCBA members will become the next honey baron.

April 19, 2008: 1:00 PM, "Bring a Friend" Spring Hive Inspection. Graciously hosted by member Brian Voynick (130 Hacklebarney Road, Chester).  Don’t miss this meeting as NJ State Apiary Inspector Tim Schuler will be joining us.  If you know Tim, then you know that he is a wealth of knowledge and a bundle of bee enthusiasm.  We’re also calling this our “Bring a Friend” inspection as we’re encouraging all to bring a friend, neighbor or co-worker who’s always seemed curious about beekeeping.  Refreshments will be served.

CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN - May 31, 2008: Making Increase. 1:00 PM at 378 Route 24 (County Route 510), Chester. Hosted by member Janet Katz at one of her beeyards , this field trip meeting will highlight the various ways to increase your hive count.  Janet will show us several methods of making splits and nucs and she will educate us on the importance of each.  Whether making increase for profit or for pleasure, having the skills to make splits and nucs is a great way to increase your hives and insure against loss.Click here for directions.

June 28, 2008: 12:00 noon, annual picnic. RSVP to Mark Muller, 732 563-0838, to let him know you're coming and what side dish or dessert you are planning to bring. Also bring your swim suits and towels. Click here for directions.

July 25, 26, 27, 2008: Morris County 4H Fair, Chubb Park, Chester. Contact Ricky D'Costa, fair chairman, and volunteer to help at the booth or with setup or tear down.

DATE CHANGE: September 20, 2008: 12:00 Noon, fall hive opening at the home of member Linda Hashemi, 49 Carrell Road, Randolph.

October 2008: Cancelled.

December 7, 2008: Noon. Annual holiday party brunch. The Lamplighter, 190 West Main Street, Chester, NJ. Cost is $12 per person in advance, or $15 per person at the door. Bring a one-pound jar of honey with your label if you would like to swap for same with another person. Door prizes. RSVP with payment to Janet A. Katz no later than December 6, 2008. Payment can be mailed using this form. You are also welcome to reduce Janet's workload by including your 2009 dues payments and renewals for Bee Culture, American Bee Journal or Speedy Bee in the same check. (If renewing a subscription, enclose label from current subscription.)