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Newsletter for November 2021
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Brad Raspet, President
360-708-9424, brad.raspet@gmail.com
Elizabeth Pheonix-Agin, Vice President
401-603-6005, homesteadmaya@gmail.com
Rob Johnson, Treasurer
360-770-6170, rsjohnson2u@yahoo.com
Susan DeLawter, Secretary
818-259-9050, susandelawter@sbcglobal.net
Steve Cecil, Newsletter
617-719-7870, cecilbees121@gmail.com
Scott Rhodes, Board
360-856-2652, scottrhodes@wavecable.com
Alvin Forar, Board
360-435-3316, alforar@hotmail.com
Seth Smith, Board
360-770-0481, seth_smith@live.com
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Monthly Meeting Update:
On-Line in November
Our November meeting will be an on-line session because the space at the
library will not be available due to a scheduling conflict. Keep your
e-mail eyes open for a Zoom meeting invitation from Brad Respet. The
meeting will be at the regular time, 7 PM on Thursday, November 11th.
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In-Person SVBA Holiday Celebration on December 9th
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In-Person SVBA Holiday Celebration on December 9th
We are planning to have an informal holiday celebration at the
Burlington Public Library Meeting Room on Thursday, December 9th at 7
PM, consistent with current Library guidelines for small gatherings
during this pandemic. We will gather at the library in conjunction with
our scheduled SVBA meeting and ask everyone to contribute to the potluck
of holiday refreshments..
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Featured Beekeeper: Bruce Bowen
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Bruce Bowen
is an active member of the SVBA has been a beekeeper for fifty
years. He shares his great advice at meetings and to all of those who
have had an opportunity to visit him in the field. He Bruce is one of
our most experienced and prolific beekeepers. He began his first year
with just two hives, and now has one of the largest operations around,
with several thousand colonies of Bruce Bowen Bees producing tens of
thousands of pounds of honey.
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Bruce Bowen, and stored stacks of supers under cover for the winter
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He generally
prefers setting up his hives in the forested areas of the foothills and
mountains east of I-5, although he lines up some colonies along a
blueberry field in the Flats, right next to the shed where he stores
dead-outs and empty supers during the winter months. With the different
locations and harvesting periods, Bruce bottles several different
varieties, including Maple Blossom, Fireweed, and BlackBerry honey. You
can find his honey for sale through many of the farmer's markets and
market stands in the area.
When we asked, "what has been the most surprising thing about beekeeping?", Bruce said, "Every year is surprising, because the conditions keep changing."
One of the changes has been the increasing frequency of harvestable
honey flows from Bigleaf Maples. He recalls that this was very rare in
the past, with a maple honey harvest possible perhaps once in 15 years.
But warmer temperatures and relatively early springs are allowing him to
gather and bottle his Maple Blossom honey nearly every year.
However much conditions change, Bruce sees the benefit of his years of
experience. He has adapted by assembling his own equipment and methods
that work well in the Skagit region. He describes his particular role in
his beekeeping operation these days to be more of a mechanic than a
naturalist - repairing and assembling all of the equipment that it takes
to run so many hives. He tends to forklifts, flatbed trucks, decappers,
extractors, syrup tanks, hoses, pumps, nozzles, and fittings of every
size and description.
Some of his bees participate in the great Californian almond grove
migration; working through a bee broker, he sometimes ships hundreds of
his colonies to the almond groves to meet the annual demand for
pollinators there.
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Future SVBA Meetings: An Option to Attend by Zoom?
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The October
SVBA meeting included a lively discussion on formats for future
meetings. On-line meetings during the era of COVID restrictions allowed
those with computers and cell phones to participate without leaving
home. However, it has been great to get together in person again at the
Burlington Library, now that they have re-opened with sensible
precautions.
We are exploring the potential to set up our in-person monthly meetings
so that folks could join the session on-line if it is not convenient to
come in person. We would set up a computer and sound system using Zoom
so that you could listen and participate from your home. We are
interested in seeing how many people might use a Zoom connection if we
added it next year. Help us out by participating in a simple survey.
By clicking on the buttons below, and you can forward your preference to
us by e-mail:
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The newsletter can be a place to list
supplies and equipment that you may be interested in swapping, selling,
or just plain giving to other interested members of the SVBA. If you
have something you want to have posted in the newsletter, send a brief
description, price, and contact information to your editor, cecilbees121@gmail.com.
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For those who
wish to join, or who missed the opportunity to send in your 2021
membership dues of only $12.00/year, look us up at:
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