About Us
ILLINOIS VALLEY BEEKEEPING CLUB
is a support group for people interested in getting started keeping bees.
Next Meeting!
Friday October 13th 2023
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Masks will bee a personal choice for the meeting.
La Salle County Extension Office
1689 North 31st Road
Lower Level (basement)
Ottawa, IL 61350
What we will be discussing and doing at the October Meeting:
Coming Soon!
Openings for Officers - Secretary and Vice President
See you there!
It's going to be another great meeting
Bee There Or Bee Square!
Recap of the Sept 8th Meeting
We had another wonderful meeting last night and learned a lot!
We had technical difficulties with the new projector so I will put the links to the videos that we were unable to watch. We still had a great meeting and had a lot of good suggestions to some of the newer members on what to do not during this time of year with their hives.
We talked about the importance of feeding your bees right now! We are in a strong dearth and the bees don't have a lot coming in and are hungry! If we do not feed them they will start using up the honey they have stored in the hive and will not make it through winter! We need to check our hives because some of the newer hives that were just started this year really don't have a lot of stores in their hives if we didn't feed them most of the summer!
We should start looking at our hives and see how they are set up and what and where the honey is and brood. We can start moving the frames to encourage the queen to lay more brood. We need to feed to keep her laying. Here are the links to the videos that we used for the meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDAWJddaDsI&t=1034s - Hive frame placements for winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw8DRE09TEw
Tips for October
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccc1MJs71Ug
equalizing hives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccc1MJs71Ug
adding brood - can you find the queen on the frame he is adding to the nuc?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ5zPCw8Jrg
Hive reversal - or frame movement?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-BmlLCYLk
Evaluating your queen for winter
Just copy and paste into your computer in a new window to watch.
We had even more wonderful questions that made us think long and hard about the answers.
The next meeting is in October 13th, 2023.
Its going to be another Great Meeting!
Don't forget to test and treat for mites if necessary this will insure them to be healthy and have a much better chance at making it through the winter.
FEED FEED FEED! It's very important!
If anyone has a problem and needs some help with their hives please call the number on this website or email us by way of the contact us button, and we can get some help for you.
LOCAL BEEKEEPER MENTORS
SUPPORT GROUP FOR BEGINNER BEEKEEPERS OR HELP GETTING STARTED!
We have monthly meetings to help the beginner or anyone who has questions. You do not have to be a member to attend the meetings!
They are open to anyone who wants to attend!
We welcome anyone who would like to come and talk at any of our meetings. We are always looking for speakers about beekeeping, observation hives, wax making, honey extracting, pretty much anything bees!
Total membership are $20.00 - $10.00 for the IVBA Club and $10.00 to Join the ISBA Club.
The ISBA gives us more information on what is happening down state and they have a lot of good information about new things with bees. They send out a quarterly news letter that is very informative.
If you would like to get someone a gift membership to the club please
call the number on the website and we will get you taken care of.
You can also use the contact us button to ask any questions about your bees or installing bees - any question is welcome.