September Meeting
Thursday, September 12
Central Skagit Valley Library in Sedro-Woolley

Our monthly meeting is on Thursday, September 12th at 7 PM. We will be meeting at the Central Skagit Valley Library in Sedro-Woolley.
 
Here's what's up this month:

• Beginning Beekeeper Q&A - Are you a beginning beekeeper and want some advice? We will have an experienced beekeeper available for consultations and inspirations from 6:15 until the meeting starts at 7 PM. 
• Bee chat - Come early if you can for our informal "bee chat" beginning at 6:30 PM with a few refreshments to which everyone is invited.
• Bee talk - The meeting will feature Lisa DeVetter, Associate Professor, Small Fruit Horticulture at WSU. She will talk about our local bees and the plants that are benefit from their role as agricultural pollinators, and the dreaded European Foul Brood (EFB).
• Zoom option - If you can't come, but want to participate, you can join us by Zoom. An e-mail with the link will be sent to members before the meeting.

SVBA and the Skagit County Fair
Great showing this year !

The SVBA booth was terrific again this year. Our creatively decorated corner of Barn D was a major draw for thousands of visitors. They paused, asked questions, shared their own bee tales, or sought a sight of the queen in our demonstration hive. The "Waggle Dance" theme was a big hit, thanks to the floor-mounted dance steps and the music video that attracted scores of kids - and amused adults serving as appreciative onlookers.

Honey Judging Results
The right stuff

We were pleased by the growing array of entries to the annual honey judging event that is blossoming with Susan DeLawter's stewardship and guidance. Here are this year's winners:

Extracted Honey

• Kevin McDonald was a big winner again this year, and won a blue ribbon for his light amber class entry and the Best of the Adult Division for extracted honey.
• Domie Bourgeois won the blue ribbon for her light honey.
• Robert Duplisea and Patrick Duplisea each scored blue in youth extracted honey. Effectively a tie score between their entries, the Best in Youth Division ribbon was acknowledged as a rare "Family Award".

Novelty Jars

• Kevin McDonald won a blue ribbon for his interesting, faceted container that included a cool handle and spout, which was awarded the Best of the Division for this unique entry.

Heaviest Frame

• Kevin McDonald also won a blue ribbon for his honey-loaded frame. 

Kevin McDonald/ Best of the Adult Division, extracted honey
Robert and Patrick Duplisea - Blue ribbon brothers and Best in Youth Division, extracted honey

Waggle Dancing
An inspired feature

When visitors looked down, they found a colorful step-by-step guide inviting them to perform a waggle dance. A video display screen nearby cycled through a song and dance routine, telling the story of the waggle dance that bees employ to give directions to promising locations to gather nectar.
 
It was a delightful way to provide information about an astonishing bee behavior, with added entertainment value.
 
This came about due to the creative concept of Heather Oates. She enlisted the graphic talents of Domie Bourgeois, who assembled the imagery and arranged to have it printed on a special plastic sheet that could be adhered to the concrete floor during the Fair. Malachi Simpson helped assembled the video, which kept things lively.

Our Fair Organizers
Kudos once again

Rob Johnson served as our Fair Superintendent, taking care of the many details and coordination with the event organizers. He made sure that we were on time, on target, and he still also had some time to enjoy the fair with his family and grand kids.
 
Heather Oates orchestrated a fulsome display in our small corner of Barn D, finding space for our many exhibits including the bee-suited mannequin that appears each year. Heather underlined the planning contributions of Les Scott, Malachi Simpson, Chris Zimmerman and Don Johnson. She writes, "they each took a job and came through with their parts. So thankful for them!... Every hand that helped was so wonderful. It was so much fun making all the connections and working together. We have a great group."

Our Booth Volunteers
Thanks for the help and enthusiasm

Among the many volunteers manning the booth this year were Ally Blake, Chris Apple, Steve and Audrey Cecil, Brenda Crossley, Brett and Susan DeLawter, Don Johnson, Matt and Nikki Jones, Jim Kohl, Heather Oates, Jen O'Neil, John and Judie Legg, Elsie Pemmant, Malachi Simpson, Les Scott, and Chris Zimmerman.
 
At the end of the Fair, there is a drawing among the volunteers to take home the demonstration hive. Judie Legg won the bees this year. She and her husband John are relatively new to beekeeping, so this will be a good addition to their growing bee yard.

September Speaker 
WSU's Lisa DeVetter on Bees and Pollination
September 12 at the SVBA Meeting

The meeting program in September will feature Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Associate Professor, Small Fruit Horticulture at WSU. Lisa is based at the Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon; she is expert in the relationship between our regional fruits, and the pollination roles of honeybees. High-bush blueberries seem to be one of her specialties, but she has also focused on minor and uncommon fruits that flourish in maritime climate gardens around here.

Her talk will also cover European Foul Brood (EFB), which can devastate colonies and is easily spread. If it appears here, it must be dealt with promptly and properly so that it doesn't become a management nightmare.

She can answer tons of questions, and help distinguish between myths and research-based knowledge. 

We are taking a pause in scheduled activities. After a very busy season installing and managing the colonies in our new educational apiary since the spring, the hives are being readied for winter. 
 
We will be preparing a progress report on the four colonies and insights on how they are faring in a future newsletter issue... 

WASBA Statewide Conference
Friday, October 4 to Sunday, October 5
Embassy Suites in Lynnwood

This year's annual conference of the Washington State Beekeepers Association (WASBA) is not far away from us, in Lynnwood. It always has an impressive list of speakers and is an opportunity to share insights with beekeepers from all over. To get your tickets, you can go through their website at https://wasba.org/

Following up on a tip from Rob Johnson, we wandered over to the Fair arena to watch the 4-H Cow Costume Contest. Sure enough, there was a cow adorned as a bee.
 
Meet McKinzee Levi with her cow named "Honeysuckle" and her inspired outfit. She didn't win a ribbon, but she won our biased admiration.

Board Member Nominations
Coming up in October

As part of our annual cycle, nominations are coming up for two SVBA Board positions at our October meeting. The Board members serve staggered 3-year terms with a meeting occurring every two months, and provide their advice and the stewardship for our association. If you are interested in serving us in a leadership role - or know someone who would be great at it - get ready with those names and participate in the process. You can contact SVBA President Brett DeLawter through this link brettdelawter@gmail.com, or come prepared to step forward at our regular meeting on Thursday, October 10th.

Wow, fall is already here and winter is around the corner.

Here are some beekeeping tips, drawn from former SVBA President Brad Raspet's checklist:

• Make sure to remove and properly store honey supers and any "dead-outs", which are brood supers for colonies that did not make it through the season.
• Treat for varroa mites, now that the harvesting is done, using your preferred method.
• Install entrance reducers as the weather turns colder.
• Add fall feeding to your colonies at a ratio of 2 parts cane sugar to 1 part water.

Membership in the SVBA
Join or Renew

Annual membership dues are for a calendar year and there is still plenty of time to renew, join or rejoin your SVBA membership. Annual dues are only $12 (or $13 using our online payment system). It's a high value investment and supports the wide range of programs and events that we offer. The membership form and payment instructions are found on our website or by clicking HERE.

The online payment option can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Skagit Valley Beekeepers Association

Brett DeLawter              President  brettdelawter@gmail.com
Dawn Beck                    Vice President   dawnrunner@live.com
Domie Bourgeois         Treasurer/Website Manager domie.bourgeois@gmail.com
Brenda Crossley          Secretary   brendacrossley49@gmail.com
Steve Cecil                    Newsletter  cecilbees121@gmail.com
Don Johnson                Board   homebrewtwo@gmail.com
Jim Kohl                        Board
Heather Oates               Board  hoates@gmail.com
Seth Smith.                   Board   seth_smith@live.com
Chris Zimmerman        Board  gocougs87@gmail.com
Matt and Nikki Jones   SVBA Equipment Managers  lamesican@gmail.com