VBA Updated By-Laws Approved
Members attending the Vermont Beekeepers Association's virtual "summer" meeting this past Saturday, October 17th, approved changes to the organizations by-laws to include, among other things, a new Member-at-Large director seat. That seat is being filled by new-to-the-board Laura Johnson.
The updated by-laws are available online for review.
The VBA's new leadership roles are being fulfilled by these volunteers:
President: Andrew Munkres
Vice President: Jeff Battaglini
Treasurer: Richard Roy
Recording Secretary: Fred Putnam
Membership Secretary: Darci Benoit
Director At Large: Laura Johnson
Immediate Past President: Jack Rath
State Apiculturist: Brooke Decker
Advisory Board Members: Bill Mares, Mike Palmer, Chas Mraz, Samantha Alger, Greg Smela, Kim Greenwood
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- Last Updated: 19 October 2020 19 October 2020
Meet Darci Benoit
Darci Benoit is VBA's new Membership Secretary seat. She was nominated to replace outgoing secretary Scott Wilson.
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- Last Updated: 17 October 2020 17 October 2020
Meet Jeff Battaglini
Jeff Battaglini is VBA's new Vice-President. He replaces Andrew Munkres who is VBA's new President effective October 17.
Jeff started his beekeeping journey years before he brought his first hive home. He noticed there were very few pollinators around the native Vermont landscape. So he started researching bees and talking to local beekeepers. He joined the Vermont Beekeepers Association (VBA) and all the local beekeeping clubs he could find. Jeff also started taking beekeeping classes and broke ground on his apiary site in October 2014.
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- Last Updated: 17 October 2020 17 October 2020
If You Missed our Winter Hive Prep Workshop...
Last night, VBA Recording Secretary and Certified Beekeeper Fred Putnam, with assistance from VBA Vice President Andrew Munkres and Past President Bill Mares, presented VBA's last online workshop of the season. The topic was "Preparing Your Hives for Winter."
The recorded session is available on the VBA website (login required). Look for Winter Hive Prep.
The session runs about 100 minutes and covers these topics and more:
- Target hive weights and weighing hives
- Fast feeding
- Pest mitigation
- Wrapping and insulating
- Actions during winter
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- Last Updated: 22 September 2020 22 September 2020
Meet Laura Johnson
Laura Johnson is new to the VBA board of directors. She takes the newly-created Director-at-large seat approved by attendees to the October 17th meeting.
Laura is a native to Vermont, growing up in the Upper Valley of VT/NH. Her educational background includes a BA in Environmental Studies from St. Lawrence University and a MS in Horticulture from New Mexico State University.
Laura’s professional career includes 15 years of domestic and international work on diversified fruit and vegetable farms, as a teacher for English language learners, and in outdoor education. During two years of service with the US Peace Corps in Paraguay, her work focused on soil conservation and beekeeping. This experience opened a door of opportunity to work as a seasonal apiary inspector for the State of Vermont and led to her current career home in agriculture extension.
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- Last Updated: 17 October 2020 17 October 2020
Looking at Mites
Peter Hadeka tells us "I placed Formic Pro, 2 pad dose, on 9/7. Cleaned IPM boards. Slid out today and saw many, many mites dead. 
"These hives tested only 2% to 3%, but when multiplied by thousands of bees they add up. I was always under the impression that Formic didn't really kill many phoretic mites.
"I guess it does !!!!"
Fred Putnam responds by saying "Besides killing mites in capped brood, Formic kills phoretic mites (the few that are running around unattached to a bee) and ectoparasitic mites (the bulk of the emerged mites that are attached to the bees.)"
Still time to test and treat. Please watch Fred's Mite Management, Counting & Treatment video for details.
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- Last Updated: 13 September 2020 13 September 2020
