News and Events from the Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association
Governor Quinn Signs Honey Bill
Governor Pat Quinn put the final piece of the ISBA Hobbyist Beekeeper Proposal into place this week by signing SB2959 into law. The “Honey Bill” provides an exemption for use of an approved Honey House for those beekeepers who produce or sell less than 500 gallons of honey in a year. Focusing on helping the hobbyist beekeeper keep costs down, the law is focused provides relief to those beekeepers selling honey in the comb or unadulterated condition in local market. The new law, designated Public Act 96-1028 will go into effect on January 1, 2011. For further information click here.
Cook DuPage Beekeepers Will Display at the DuPage County Fair July 21 – 25
The CDBA booth at 2009 DuPage Cty Fair
Attendees of the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton IL will have a “sweet” time at the CDBA booth July 21 – 25. As part of our ongoing charter to provide information about beekeeping to the public, a booth will be set up in the Commercial section of the fair. Staffed by friendly, knowledgeable members of the association, we will be on hand to answer questions and “talk bees” during the 5 day run of the fair. Additionally local honey will be available for purchase as well as other honey and hive products. Be sure to visit the boothand ask about what is happening with the honey bee and the benefits of locally produced honey.
CDBA takes Summer Break
The Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association is going on vacation for the summer. The normal meetings will begin again on September 18th and I am sure we will have a lot to talk about then. In the meantime there are plenty of activities for members to participate in.
The monthly mentoring programs will continue through the summer, providing a casual and relaxed atmosphere to “talk bees”, ask questions, and enjoy each others company. The meetings are scheduled for June 6, July 11 (scheduled a week later due to 4th of July holiday), August 1, and September 12 (scheduled a week later due to Labor Day weekend).
The DuPage County Fair is scheduled for July 21 – 25thand CDBA will be participating with a booth for education and honey sales. Volunteer or just stop by and say hi to the folks behind the booth.
The Illinois State fair is scheduled for August 13 – 22. Volunteer to help with the competition, set up the booth and participate in the “Open” honey competitions. If you travel to Springfield to enjoy the sites and sounds of the Fair, be sure to check out our booth and see how we stack up against the competition. For those of you interested in participating in the competition, here’s a link to the 2010 Competition Guidebook. The particulars on the Bee Competion can be found beginning on page 140. Or you can download the bee portion from here.
Keep up to date on what’s happening in the Association through the newsletter, web site and twitter updates.
Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Mentoring Get Together
The next mentoring get together will be held on Sunday August 1st at 8:00 am. The informal get togethers meet at the York Rd. McDonalds in Hinsdale. It’s a good opportunity to meet informally with other beekeepers in the area and share some knowledge over a cup of coffee and an egg mcmuffin. For further information and directions, visit the Calendar of Events page.
Bee Swarm Collectors List Added to Web Page
If you look at the navigation list at the top of the page, you will see a new link “Bee Swarm Collectors“. The listing of members who have volunteered to help in the collection of honey bee swarms is finally up on our web site. The initial page shows all the zip codes that members have volunteered to collect swarms from in the Chicagoland Area. This page is geared towards the general public who are not familiar with honey bees and have a swarm in their back yard. Eventually we will have an interactive page that will allow the individual to enter a zip code and have the specific results displayed for them.
If you are a CDBA member and interested in volunteering to assist your community, please sign up for inclusion in the list here.
New Sounds from the Cook DuPage Beekeepers Association
In addition to the buzz from the beeyard and discussions at the meetings and mentoring get togethers, a new sound is coming from the association, the Tweet from Twitter. We have joined Twitter as a means of passing along information to our members and other interested parties. The messages will focus on meeting reminders initially and will develop based on feedback from the members.
Those interested in getting these updates, please follow CDBAWebmaster from Twitter.com.
2010 ISBA Summer Meeting Draws 200
Approximately 200 beekeepers attended the 2010 Illinois State Beekeepers Association Summer meeting hosted by Cook DuPage Beekeepers Association, Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association and the Lake County Beekeepers Association on June 12th. Despite cool temperatures, cloudy skys and a smattering of rain, beekeepers from Illinois and Wisconsin gathered together for a fun and informative day. Stay tuned for more information and photo’s as they become available.
“Honey I’m Homemade” to be published by University of Illinois Press
In addition to Dr. Berenbaum being an accomplished speaker, she is also an author. In the soon to be released book “Honey I’m Homemade: Sweet Treats from Behives across the Centuries and around the World” Dr. Berenbaum culls recipes that prominently feature honey as a main ingredient from hundreds of cook books and tells the fascinating tale of honey collection, extraction and consumption from around the world and delves into the world of the honey bee.
This book join several others authored by Dr. Berenbaum including: Ninety-Nine Gnats, Nits, and Nibblers; Buzzwords: A Scientist Muses on Sex, Bugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll; and The Earwig’s Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-legged Legends. Proceeds from the sale of this book go towards the Pollinarium at the University of Illinois Campus.
We are working on having this book available in the book store at the next meeting.
USDA Identifies possible causes to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
At the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego this week, Jay Evans provides insight into a new theory on Colony Collapse that combines separate ideas into a “perfect storm” to cause the colony to collapse. The combination of Nosema ceranae and other fungal pathogens may be causing the issue.
For further information on the presentation click here. If you would like to see the video of the interview in full, please follow this URL. http://tinyurl.com/ccdinterview
The CDBA Wants You! Volunteer now!
One of the best ways of developing friendships and a network of beekeeping buddies is by lending a helping hand to the Cook – DuPage Beekeepers Association. Not only will you be helping the organization promote the general interests of bee culture and production and use of honey and other apiary products, you will be working and building friendships with people who share a common interest.
The association is always looking for interested individuals on the various standing and special committees that are necessary to keep the it going. If you are interested in helping, or would like further information on any of the committees, please either fill out the form below and bring it to our next meeting, or complete the information on line by clicking here and completing the on line form.
Upcoming Bee Classes, Seminars and Webinars
Are you interested in upgrading your beekeeping skills or learn how to get started in beekeeping? You can get all the information on schools seminars and webinars here.
A Quick Reference Guide to Honey Bee Issues
In the April Meeting, Chuck Lorence talked about a great book that focuses on the parasites, pests, predators and diseases of the honey bee. In researching the book to add to the bookstore, we have found that this is no longer in print and under review by the author. Unfortunately there is no publication date for the revised edition at this point in time.
We were able to obtain the Quick Reference Guide to Honey Bee Parasites, Pests, Predators and Diseases. This small brochure covers the major issues found in the hive, with photo’s and descriptions. The brochure will be available at the next meeting for a low cost of $3.00. Check it out at the Bookstore.
Bee Culture Announces 2011 Calendar Theme
”Show me your Beeyard” is the theme for the 2011 Bee Culture Calendar. The yearly project from Bee Culture generates more than 1,000 entries from all over the globe, the winning entrants will have their photo published in the 2011 calendar. Instructions for entering and ideas/suggestions for photos can be found here.
Want the CDBA web site to notify you of updates?
One of the comments I have gotten from members is to have the information noted on the web site sent automatically to them via e-mail or some other way. Currently we are using Twitter to send reminders of the meetings and other important events, but this 140 character shout out doesn’t provide enough space for some of the updates we put on the web site.
There is a tool that will allow you to link to the web site and receive automatic updates similar to an RSS feed from a blog. Page2RSS creates a feed that will provide you with a notification of additions to the web page once a day. If you are interested in having this service, click here and you will be directed to the Page2RSS web site. By following the simple instructions you will soon have the changes sent to your browser.