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March is bee month. Lots of interesting events, don't miss them:

The Alameda County Beekeepers' Association meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt. The address is 600 Bellevue Ave. Oakland. EXCEPTION: Each June, we meet at the Alameda County Fairgrounds to prepare for our booth there.

The Alameda County Beekeepers' Association meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt. The address is 600 Bellevue Ave. Oakland. EXCEPTION: Each June, we meet at the Alameda County Fairgrounds to prepare for our booth there.

"A" kindly sent a link to this article:

Beekeepers fear sting of imported Australian hives

Australia had been airfreighting the insects across the Pacific for four years to replace hives devastated by the perplexing colony collapse disorder. But six weeks ago the Australian government abruptly stopped the shipments, saying it could no longer be certain the country was free of a smaller, aggressive bee that has infested areas near the Great Barrier Reef, U.S. officials said.

The last I heard, which was a year or more ago, imported honey had driven down the prices so much that it wasn't worth large-scale beekeepers' time to harvest and sell it. Evidently, things have changed. The Dept. of Homeland Security (!) raided a  Washington state honey producer, looking for contraband.

In the U.S., where bee colonies are dying off and demand for imported honey is soaring, traders of the thick amber liquid are resorting to elaborate schemes to dodge tariffs and health safeguards in order to dump cheap honey on the market, a five-month Seattle P-I investigation has found.

This should help responsible local honey producers, many of whom already are getting a premium for their  honey.

Read about it here from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Honey Laundering -- International Trade Increasingly Rife with Crime.

And don't forget the bee club's regularly scheduled meeting, January 13 (the second Tuesday of the month) at the Rotary Wildlife Center at Lake Merritt.

Let's get together to toast the end of bee season this Sunday, September 21, at 11 AM.

(1) Please RSVP with a head count for the meats
(2) Sunday 11am to 2pm at RW Crown Beach, "Otis at Westline, Alameda CA" (check Yahoo Maps)
(3) South Lawn along the tree line between the parking lot and the activities bldg on the beach.
(4) Bring any dish you're proud of, using honey if possible.
(5) Bring other activities if you like.

RSVP:
Respond to president at alamedabee dot org.

Let Bill know you're coming and how many mouths we're feeding, I need a head count for the meats.  A reply email is enough.  The club will be providing funding for the main meat courses.  Heiko and I will visit Costco on Saturday to buy a bunch of stuff for grilling.  Tri-tip, brats, links, chicken, peppers, portabellos, zuks, etc.  The club will provide paper plates and other table service items as well as ice and a selection of soft drinks (and maybe some margaritas).

LOCATION:
Robert W. Crown Beach located at the west end of Otis Drive in Alameda, CA, intersection of Westline Dr (which becomes 8th St.).  Enter from Otis/Westline and park in the first lot if possible.  We should be easy to locate between the first lot and the beach.

WHAT TO BRING:
This is a Pot Luck, so bring stuff to share.  Since this is a Bee Bee Que, try to be creative and pick something that uses honey in the recipe.  No assignments are made in advance - it's a real pot luck.

ACTIVITIES:
Sunday may be cloudy and cool-ish at the beach, so dress for fog.  You'll be warmer if you do some running around, so bring some activities to share too.  There's no reason to leave the beach at 2pm, that's just when we'll clean-up our food mess.

Zucchini Festival Hayward Aug 16 &17. Set up 12 noon Friday and Sat 6:00a.m-9:00am. Vehicles must be out of park by 9:00a.m. Saturday. Festival is from 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. BOTH days leaving early will not be allowed.

The club has a pop up tent with sides that zip shut. No one person has to be there all day both days. We will need co-operation for set up and tear down.

Club aprons are available for use at these events. Tables can also be provided. Bring your own chair, food and hat. If you have honey, candles or other items to sell have them marked with the price and your initials. Also keep an inventory to make sure you get all the money you earned.

For more info, contact president at alamedabee dot org

Next meeting is August 12 at the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt in Oakland at 7:30 PM. It's free and open to everyone.

(1) Meeting Notes,
(2) Can we publish your contact information?
(3) Do you want a swarm?
(4) Do you want to help a swarm catcher and learn about catching swarms?
(5) Can you help build the club's display at the County Fair?
(6) Do you have Honey, Pollen or any other hive products, or products derived from hive products to sell at the Fair?
(7) Can you help at the information booth at the County Fair?

Meeting Notes:
This month's meeting was held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, about 20 in attendance, including two newbees and a few very helpful kids.  The display will be housed in the Agriculture Building instead of the Garden Building as in the past several years.  This means (a) less noise, and (b) air conditioning.  Hooray!

We discussed the display/booth layout at length.  Naturally, no final decisions were made, but several options are being discussed, including (a) replacing the information booth with a steel framed booth from Joe Gutierrez, (b) replacing the bee cage with something significantly smaller and easier to store, (c) building a race track by one of several means, etc.

As usual, we will not actually make a decision about what to do.  Instead, members will execute on what motivates them personally, and the result will be a winning synthesis.  All this means is that we need your ideas and participation.

Can we publish your contact information?
Beekeeping is more fun when you share.  Many new members have offered to help with your beekeeping in exchange for the things they will learn, they just need to be able to contact you.  Until now, we have not made our roster broadly available, but we would like to be able to send it to the membership via email.  If you would like to be removed from the printed version of the roster, please email president at alamedabee dot org with "no publish" in the subject line.

Do you want a swarm?
Denise Qualls is our swarm coordinator.  Email her at d dot qualls at comcast dot net with your name and phone number if you are are a competent swarm catcher.  She will refer only common outdoor swarms at step ladder height unless you tell her that you have special skills and equipment such as: swarms in walls, swarms in rooftops, swarms in tall trees, etc.

Do you want to help a swarm catcher and learn about catching swarms?
This is a new category.  If you want to learn to catch swarms, we will try to pair you with a swarm catcher who lives near you.  Most swarms are caught after work in the summer, and taken home just after dark, so this should not interfere with work.  Register with Denise Qualls as above, and indicate you're a swarm helper.

Can you help build the club's display at the County Fair?
Tuesday 6/10 and Wednesday 6/18 - 7:30 to whenever

Thursday 6/12 - no work

Friday 6/13 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm (okay maybe 10pm)  Pizza at about 7pm, maybe some beer.
         Construction - bring screw guns, hammers, etc.  Review printed materials for duplication.

Saturday 6/14 - 11am until late afternoon, maybe early evening.  Margaritas and Pizza at 1:30pm
         Construction - decorating begins

Sunday 6/15 - Father's Day - 11am until mid-afternoon
        Painting and decorating only.  More Pizza?  Maybe a trip to In&Out?

Monday 6/16 - 7pm - 9:30pm - Kentucky Fried Chicken?
         Animation & Multi-media

Tuesday 6/17 - 7pm -9:30pm - Chinese Food?
        More Animation - anybody worried yet?

Wednesday 6/18 - 6:30pm - 10pm - Pizza and Beer
        Final Night - everything has to be perfect - might as well drink beer.

If you will be joining us on Friday or Saturday, please give us a head's up so we can get a pizza count.
We please bring ideas and a good spirit.  I'll bring Margaritas on Saturday - that's the kind of spirit I'll be in!  Pizza provided on some evenings and both weekend days.

Do you have Honey, Pollen or any other hive products, or products derived from hive products to sell at the Fair?
We sent-in the paperwork to the Health Dept today for our license to vend.  This means that all club members are eligable to sell hive products and hive derived products.  Best of all, you get to keep all the money you earn.  Please email Sara Willis at Treasurer@alamedabee.org and let her know your intended schedule.  We'll pool our talents and sell one-another's stuff.

Can you help at the information booth at the County Fair?
Speaking of honey sales, we need people to talk to people.  Even if you don't have honey or other hive products to sell at the fair, you can help us greatly by being there to talk to our visitors, sample honey, and answer questions.  Please email Sara Willis as noted above.

A few parting comments:  If you come to help during the fair, please sign-in at the booth in the back of the Ag Building, we are judged on member participation.  Also, this year, we would prefer that there be no eating of meals in the booth area.

The regular meeting is NOT at the Rotary Nature Center, but out at the fairgrounds.

Fair Web Site:
http://www.alamedacountyfair.com/2008fair/home/index.php

Directions:
http://www.alamedacountyfair.com/2008fair/General_Info/index.php?row=8

Justin has a question. Anyone who has advice for him, please leave it as a comment on this blog. If you are registered and sign in, you will see "post a comment." If you don't want to sign in, send a private message or email secretary at alamedabee dot org.

Meeting is Tuesday, June 10, 7:30 PM at Alameda County Fairgrounds. For help with swarms, email denise at pollinationconnection dot org.

Here's Justin's question:

I'm a new beekeeper.  I have one deep super I started in April.  I hadn't checked on them in a couple of weeks, and they have outgrown their space.  I've added a couple of new hive bodies, but before I did, they started building comb on the bottom of the hive.  What I think I should do (not really knowing any better) is to scrape that off and clean it up.  They should go back to building in the new space I've now provided, right?  Sounds good in theory.  Anybody have any reason why I shouldn't do that?

Appreciate your suggestions.

Alameda County Beekeepers Assoc member Jane McDermott asks,

Hi gang --My neighbor called to tell me that about 30-50 bees were in her house. I went over and sure enough, huddled on a window sill and the floor beneath it were a cluster of nearly dead bees. I swept them up and we checked out around her house -- which is brand new -- and saw that there was activity in and out of a heating vent. We figured that's probably how they got into the house. I suggested she apply a coating of almond extract around the vent and see if that discourages them.

My question is why. I don't have this problem at my house with my bees and there are any number of very easy ways to get into my house.

Anyone have any ideas about this?