In this month’s Beeline we will be recapping our March 2nd PUB meeting. We met at our usual location at Alberta Abbey – and will be again on Wednesday, April 6th from 7-9pm. In lieu of our monthly member spotlight, Bill Catherall led an interesting 20-minute Q&A on all things bee-related.
Glen Andresen shared his monthly Pollen & Nectar report. With perennial additions such as the hellobores, and bulbs like the crocus tommasinianus, we’re also seeing a lot of the usual suspects like the sweet cherry and the asian pear starting to bud and flower. For a more detailed report check out bridgetownbees.com for Glen’s monthly “What’s in bloom” report. Send photos and suggestions of other good honey bee plants to glen@bridgetownbees.com.
Bill Catherall shared an informative presentation on Swarm Traps and best practices on design, placement and baiting. By setting out swarm traps we can make it easier to catch our own swarms and give swarming bees a place to move into instead of a neighbor’s wall or attic space. For more information on his presentation and to download swarm trap plans go to Bill’s blog post here. Also there are a few bait hives still available for purchase for $30 ($25 for 2 or more) so contact Lauren Smith at librarian@portlandurbanbeekeepers.org to order.
Our March meeting featured Jacqueline Freeman, who gave a dynamic presentation about her experiences working with warre and top bar hives. Jacqueline is committed to a more relational and non-intrusive way of working with her bees to create treatment-free health and contentment in the hives. For more information about Jackie’s classes go to http://spiritbee.com/classes/. We are so grateful to Jackie for taking the time to share with our group.
And last but not least… don’t forget to SAVE THE DATE for Tour De Hives 2016 June 25-26! We will feature tour stops of backyard apiaries all over Portland. If you’d like to become a sponsor and be featured on this website, booklet, poster and even t-shirts, please send send an email to events@portlandurbanbeekeepers.org.