President’s Message, February 2023

News from President Fred Smith! Hive Life Conference, return of Spring, February meeting! ...

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Notes from the Apiary Inspector

Cybil Preston on the latest Maryland beekeeping stats, registrations, Tukka is back, extended use oxalic acid denied ...

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2023 February 11 MEETING

Hear MICHAEL PALMER's secrets to Brood Factories and Queen Rearing, and STEPHEN REPASKY on Swarm Prevention and Management, and Single Brood Chamber Management ...

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Maryland Beekeepers Join the Colony at Hive Life 2023

Two dozen locals join 2,000 of our closest apicentric friends at North America's largest beekeeping conference. ...

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Maryland Beekeeping Speakers List in Development

A new tool to help your club and for you to help others, too! ...

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In Case You Missed It! This Year’s Fun Apiary Registration Letter

This year's reminder to support our apiary inspectors was a ton of fun! ...

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More MSBA Merch in the Making!

MSBA is proud of its undeniably bright goldenrod t-shirts, but your Board of Directors has had requests over the years for many more items. Adding additional options often means spending club money to purchase inventory, finding a volunteer to fill orders, and arguing with the post office over missing ...

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Beekeeping Science News and Notes: February 2023

Sunflowers and varroa, honeybee vaccine, urban bee impact, bumble breathing, more! ...

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MSBA Winter 2023 Meeting

• 2023 February 11 MEETING

  Hear talks by MICHAEL PALMER and STEPHEN REPASKY!

  Join in-person or via Zoom

  MICHAEL PALMER will tell us his secrets to creating Brood Factories and Queen Rearing in the Sustainable Apiary. Michael harvests 40-TONS of honey a year, so it will be exciting to hear how he does it, along with tips we can use in our own backyards.

  STEPHEN REPASKY will speak about Swarm Prevention and Management, and Single Brood Chamber Management.

  
  
  

   

  LOCATION:  Harford Community College
  ADDRESS:  401 Thomas Run Road, Bel Air, MD 21015, Entrance 2
  BUILDING:   The Chesapeake Center, first building on the left (CLICK for google map / directions)
  ROOM:  In the dining hall area just outside the Chesapeake Theater

  DAY:             February 11, 2023
  TIME:            9AM - 4PM  (Doors open at 8 :30 AM)

  2023 February 11 Meeting SCHEDULE

  WHEN	WHAT	WHO
  8:30AM	Refreshments, Coffee, Donuts, etc.
  9:00 AM	Opening and Welcome	Fred Smith, President
  9:15 AM	Maryland Apiary Inspector's Report	Cybil Preston, MD State Inspector VIA ZOOM
  9:30 AM	UMD and BeeInformed Partnership Update	Mark Dykes, UMD Bee Squad
  10:15 AM	Single Hive Body Brood Nests	Steve Repasky of Meadowsweet Apiaries, EAS Master Beekeeper
  11:15AM	Brood Factories	VIA ZOOM Mike Palmer of French Hill Apiaries, VT EAS Master Beekeeper
  12:15 PM	EAS 2024 in Maryland: Site Announcement and Update	David Morris, former MSBA President, EAS Master Beekeeper, President EAS 2024
  12:30 PM	Lunch
  1:30PM	Swarm Management	Steve Repasky of Meadowsweet Apiaries, EAS Master Beekeeper
  2:30 PM	Queen Rearing in the Sustainable Apiary	VIA ZOOM Mike Palmer of French Hill Apiaries, VT EAS Master Beekeeper
  3:30 PM	Panel: Senior Beekeepers Respond to Your QUESTIONS	Meeting Keynotes, Fred Smith, Mark Dykes, MaryLaura Fitzgerald
  4:00 PM	Adjourn	Fred Smith, President

  CLICK HERE when it is time to join via ZOOM

  (Scroll to the bottom for additional zoom options)

  ---

  MICHAEL PALMER Autobiography

  

  As a child, Michael Palmer spent most of his spare time outdoors, fascinated by the plants and insects and animals living in his suburban New York City environment. He escaped the city by going off to the University of Vermont, where he fell in love with the countryside, his future wife, and eventually the little bugs that we all hold so dear.

  The first colonies of honeybees arrived in 1974 as packaged bees, and over the following twenty odd years, he built French Hill Apiaries into a farm of nearly a thousand colonies. About 1990, Acarine mites and then Varroa mites arrived in his bees. The result was not pretty. Beekeeping became way more difficult, and way more expensive. With ever increasing losses, the wisdom of buying in replacement bees came into question. Splitting strong colonies reduced the honey crop and pollinating the local apple orchards caused the whole operation fall apart with failing colonies, broken equipment, and one thoroughly exhausted and one frustrated beekeeper.

  In 1998, Mike tried raising a few queens, wintering them in nucleus colonies. The results changed his beekeeping forever. Not only did the bees winter more successfully and store larger surplus honey crops, the fun level rose to new heights, far above the clouds. 

  Believing that quality should always trump quantity, a decision was made to cut back on the total number of production colonies in the apiary, and focus on raising the best queens possible.  With a thousand nucleus colonies of various configurations to help support the seven hundred honey producing colonies, French Hill Apiaries produces, on average, some twelve hundred queens and thirty to forty tons of honey annually. 

  Michael lives in St. Albans, Vermont with his wife Lesley, along with Wilson and Gemma, their Maremma Sheepdogs. When not helping his crew manage the honey production colonies, or spending countless hours in the queen rearing apiaries, Mike travels the world teaching sustainable beekeeping to anyone who will listen. 

  ---

  STEPHEN REPASKY Autobiography

  

  A second-generation beekeeper, Stephen Repasky is a nationally recognized speaker, author and consultant from Pittsburgh, PA. He is a certified Master Beekeeper through the Eastern Apicultural Society and is the past-President of the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association, past president and co-founder of Burgh Bees, and a former member of the Board of Directors for the American Beekeeping Federation. He is also an active member of the PA Queen Bee Improvement Project and is a member of the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research Advisory Board and the Pennsylvania State Apiary Advisory Board. Stephen manages approximately 200 colonies (mostly as single brood chambers) in western Pennsylvania and is involved in honey production, queen rearing and the selling of nucleus hives each spring and summer to those interested in starting or expanding their own beekeeping adventure!

  He also manages the apiary program at Pittsburgh International Airport where there are nearly 100 colonies used in honey production, research studies and queen production. Pittsburgh International is home to the largest apiary program in the country located entirely on airport property.

  Stephen had his first book published by Wicwas Press in 2014 entitled " Swarm Essentials" and can be found teaching beekeeping classes and workshops in the Pittsburgh area and presenting lectures on a variety of beekeeping topics at local clubs and many regional and national conferences around the United States.

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  Meeting ID: 997 8896 6437
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MSBA 2023 Board of Directors