New River Valley Beekeepers' Association

Please join us at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday September 8th  at the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Building at 210 Pepper St., Christiansburg  when long-time member and past-president Mark Chorba will talk about “The AZ Hive- Beekeeping from another point of view”

The AZ hive is an old way of the beekeepers of Slovenia (Mark’s ancestral home). This hive originated there in the mountains and valleys of Slovenia and has been preserved till today.  Not so readily available it is however being brought into America by a few people who want a different way to keep bees.  The Langstroth is however still superior. These AZ hives are built to fit into a “bee house” and are grouped together closely, brightly painted and easy to work.  They don’t come apart like Langstroths or other hives . The hive sits in the exterior wall of the house with the front facing out. It has a door on the back (inside the house) and once opened, the frames of bees slide out to be inspected. Honey is stored above and is removed the same way. No more lifting heavy hives or supers. Any bees that fly out can go out through the window and return to the hive in the front.

Mark reports that he does  have one of these hives, but is waiting until next spring to set it up properly and to add bees and get a better assessment.

We will also have our monthly beekeeper raffle and a “what should you be doing with your hives this month” discussion.

Please consider bringing a snack or drink to share.

Please join us at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday August 11th  at the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Building at 210 Pepper St., Christiansburg  when PhD candidate James M. Wilson will talk about “Learning About Risk from Well-Trained Bees.”

Pesticide risk to non-target organisms can be easily thought of as the combination of exposure to the pesticide and the toxicity of that pesticide.  If there is not a route of exposure then the risk is very small.  Conversely, if the toxicity of the pesticide is minimal, then risk is as well.  James has been working on a new insecticide that is very specific in what insects it affects.  Because the insecticide label will include use on pollination-dependent fruit crops there has been concern about its potential effects on honey bees.  He has built high tunnels, which are typically used as temporary greenhouses, to use as flight cages for the bees he wanted to study.  He introduces nucleus colonies of bees to this structure and trains them to artificial feeders.  Then he introduces the insecticide in question and records what happens.  To hear more, please come to the meeting  and find out!

James is originally from coastal North Carolina and majored in Fisheries and Wildlife Science at NC State.  He started his masters in entomology with Dr. Rick Fell on forensic entomology in wildlife in January of 2009.  Through his research and teaching assistantships, he has gained all kinds of experience in beekeeping.  He most recently taught the Bees and Beekeeping lecture and lab sections this spring semester at Virginia Tech.  He is currently finishing up his PhD in entomology on an integrated pest management approach to cucurbit production in Virginia.  This has led him down the path of assessing risk of new and common insecticides to pollinators and honey bees in particular.  He has come to enjoy the mountains as his new home and loves to fish and mountain bike throughout the area and seasons.

We will also have our monthly beekeeper raffle and a “what should you be doing with your hives this month” discussion.

Please consider bringing a snack or drink to share.

Please join us at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday 9th June at the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Building at 210 Pepper St., Christiansburg  when long time member Jerry Borger will discuss honey extraction techniques.

Jerry will briefly introduce production of various types of honey, then focus on extraction (including a few innovations), bottling, and labeling of liquid honey by backyard beekeepers.

We will also have our monthly beekeeper raffle and a “what should you be doing with your hives this month” discussion.

Please consider bringing a snack or drink to share.

Please join us at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday 12th May at the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Building at 210 Pepper St., Christiansburg  when Dr  Marcel Durieux will give a talk on Honeybee House Hunting.

This talk is based on Professor Tom Seeley’s book “Honeybee Democracy”, which describes his research into how a swarm locates a new nesting site.  Dr Durieux will summarize the scientific data, focusing on those areas that are of most interest to the general beekeeper. Also discussed will be some of the history on how this research came to be. An article on building a bait hive will also be discussed.

Marcel Durieux MD, PhD is professor of anesthesiology at the University of Virginia, and a backyard beekeeper with an interest in bee biology. Much of his academic research focuses on improving outcomes after surgery. Another part of his professional work involves teaching in developing countries, which has led to an ongoing collaboration with beekeepers in Rwanda. Prof. Durieux has published several articles in our beekeeping journals.

We will also have our monthly beekeeper raffle and a “what should you be doing with your hives this month” discussion.

Please consider bringing a snack or drink to share.

Please join the New River Valley Beekeepers’ Association at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 10^th 2016 at the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Building at 210 Pepper St., Christiansburg .

Long-time NRVBA member Jerry Borger will give two queen-related presentations, both appropriate even for those with only a couple of hives.

The first will be “Queens for Pennies,” a step-by-step presentation reviewing equipment and procedures on how to raise about 10 queens at a time for pennies apiece using a Randy Oliver method of grafting (not the commercial procedure) that can easily be practiced by almost anyone.  No exceptional experience or skills needed.

Jerry will also present “Hobbyist Queens Using a Doublescreen,” which many of you will remember is a means of raising a handful of queens without grafting. Its threefold purpose is to minimize the swarming urge, maximize honey production, and to encourage the bees to produce large, well-fed queen cells to keep the line of a good queen going, all without taking a hive out of production.  Again, no exceptional experience or skills needed.

We will also have our monthly equipment raffle, information on what we should be seeing in our hives this month, and suggested management techniques for the spring. Please consider bringing a snack or drink to share.