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Buzzings!
Newsletter of the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association

December 2012  Volume XII, Issue 11

Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 3561 Foothill Boulevard, La Cresenta, CA  91214

Next Meeting:  January 7, 2013, 7:00 pm

No Minutes from the Holiday Dinner

Our great appreciation, again, goes to Doug Noland for the delicious meal he prepared for us all.  Thanks, too, for the tasty additions – hors d’oeuvres, desserts, etc. - brought by our club members.  We also thank Pickwick Gardens for the lovely facilities.  And, of course, the hidden workers, those who helped organize and coordinate, not to mention donating raffle prizes (thanks Mann Lake!), deserve a round of applause.  It was lovely for all of us with our guests to get together and have time to socialize.

In addition to a tasty meal in lovely surroundings we also had a lively raffle and some well deserved awards, as well as a presentation by one of our globe-trotting members.

Clyde announced that our Golden Hive Tool winner for 2012 was… Bill Rathfelder. Bill’s been into bees through multiple decades, using it as a pleasant break from helping design some of our most well known aerospace marvels. He keeps his hand in by volunteering with our group and helping mentor and advise new beekeepers.

Our speaker for the evening was our own Dr. Clive Segil discussing his recent visit to Italy, and the day he spent with a local beekeeper there who also makes his own wine and prosciutto, if I recall correctly. Ah, Italian hospitality! The shots of their lunchtime spread were inviting! This beekeeper keeps his hives organically, and says he has no issues with mites. One of his more interesting management techniques is marking not only his queens, but also his frames with the year of their birth/drawing out so he knows when to rotate them out.

Program for January:  Reports from our members who attended the State Bee Convention.

Note From the Secretary

Dues for 2013 membership are now due. Many of you paid at the banquet – thank you! If you have not paid 2013 dues by January 31, you will be removed from the mailing lists. To find out when you last paid dues, you can reach me at stacymckenna1@gmail.com or at the meetings.

Also, I will be printing up a membership directory after January 31. If you do not wish your information to be included, please let me know. If you have a digital photo I can include in the directory, please send me a copy. Directories should be available at the March meeting.