The Maine State Beekeepers Association will hold their Annual Meeting on Saturday, 12 April 2008 at the Calumet Club, I-95 Exit 113, Augusta Maine. The Tri-County Beekeepers Association will present this year’s meeting. The program fee is $30 and includes a buffet luncheon and morning refreshments.

Dr Thomas Seeley, Professor of Biology and Chairman, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University will give two presentations:

• “House Hunting by Honey Bees, A Study of Effective Group Decision Making” and
• “Forest Bees and Varroa Mites”.

David VanderDussen, CEO of NOD Apiary Products in Ontario, Canada, will also give two presentations:

• “IPM Mite Control with Mite-AwayII”
• “Trends in Beekeeping”

For more information and a registration form contact: Carol Cottrill (207) 364-0917, email: WMBAmail@msn.com or Jon Cullen, President, Tri-county Beekeepers Association (207) 567-3537, email: jonanadkaren@pivot.net.

The Nova Scotia Beekeepers Association (NSBA) 50th Annual General Meeting will be held on the weekend of 22 - 23 February 2008, in the Cornwallis Room of the Agricultural Centre, Kentville, Nova Scotia.

Guest speakers will be Kirk Webster, from Champlain Valley Bees & Queens in Middlebury, Vermont, and Doug McRory, Provincial Apiculturist for Ontario.

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Dr. David Boyle of Maritime MicroBiologicals Inc. reports on his research, on behalf of the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association, into the possibilities of using a beneficial fungus as a biological method of controlling Varroa mites in honey bee colonies:

Biological Control of Varroa Mite of Honey Bee

NBBA and Maritime MicroBiologicals Inc.

As we know too well, Varroa mites are a real problem for beekeepers. Control options are limited, especially since the mites have become resistant to many chemicals that have been directed against them. Therefore, when reports about fungi that controlled Varroa appeared about eight years ago, they were greeted with great interest.

The idea was that these disease-causing fungi, by targeting the mites but not bees (or beekeepers), could be used as biological control agents. Analogous “biocontrols” have been successful against other agricultural pests, so why not use them against Varroa?

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One of our New Brunswick readers is looking for an observation hive.

If you have an observation hive that you’d like to sell, please give him a call at (506) 756-2796, email gsdluv@netzero.com or just leave a message in the comments section below.

Queen bee supplier Peter Mewett, Ontario, sends word that all of the Carniolan queens that he has coming in April and May from Chile have been spoken for. Australian suppliers Taylor and Dewar will have both Italian and Carniolan stock available, however, and Taylor will include an earlier shipping date, 15 April. Also, a new Australian supplier, Malfroy, has been added for 13 May.

For more information, see Queen Bees for 2008 from Australia and Chile, or contact:

Peter Mewett
RR 4
Stirling, On
K0K 3E0
Tel: 613-395-3225
Fax: 613-395-1835
Email: pmewett@hotmail.com

Beekeepers who plan to buy queen bees for spring 2008 should not delay, as it is hard to say what the demand will be like.