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Vermont Beekeepers Association News Feed

Since 1886 the VBA has promoted the general welfare of Vermont's Honey Industry, while sustaining a friendly body of unity among the state's beekeepers.
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    VBA Librarian Chris Oehl reports 34 new additions to the VBA’s extensive lending library bringing the total of available books to 268.

    For a complete list of available items in the library along with instructions on how to check out materials please login to the VBA website and visit the library at: https://www.vermontbeekeepers.org/library (or find the link under Resources | for the Beekeeper)


     

  • Location: Moore Free Library

    23 West St, Newfane VT 05345

    Date: Saturday, October, 19th 2024

    Time: 1:00-4:00pm

    Join this hands-on workshop hosted by the Windham County Beekeepers and UVM Extension.

    Roy Desrochers of UVM Extension will guide participants to use their tongue and nose and senses of taste, smell, and touch, to objectively describe honey. Mr. Desrochers has been a professional in the sensory analysis field for over 40 years.

    Who is this for: This workshop is geared towards beekeepers who produce and sell honey and wish to learn how to effectively describe aroma and flavor as a tool to market their honey’s unique sensory characteristics and qualities.

    RSVP: The number of individuals able to participate in this workshop is limited. Kindly register. (You may do so by email, laura.o.johnson@uvm.edu) To request disability-related accommodation to participate in this program, please call or email Laura Johnson at 802-656-4827 or laura.o.johnson@uvm.edu by Friday, September 27th2024, so we may assist you.


     

  • This week was another online workshop presented by VBA experts. Thursday evening's  program was presented by Andrew Munkres and Fred Putnam and covered winter prep. Details about the program are available at the link below.

    VBA members can watch the recorded workshop by logging into the VBA website and looking under the Calendar menu for Past Workshop & Events Recordings.

  • This week was another online workshop presented by VBA experts. Thursday evening's "Ask Me Anything" program was presented by Jeff Battaglini, Tony Antonucci and Fred Putnam and covered tasks designed to help you perform late summer management of your colonies. 

    VBA members can watch the recorded workshops by logging into the VBA website and looking under the Calendar menu for Past Workshop & Events Recordings.

  •  Hard Working Vermont Beekeepers Recognized
    at the Vermont Beekeepers Association 2024 Summer Meeting

    It’s always a joy to highlight the efforts of those beekeepers who reach out to help beekeepers and beekeeping in so many ways. This year, several individuals were recognized.

    Read More …

  •  Congratulations to the people elected to the VBA Board of Directors at the July 13, 2024, VBA summer meeting. We look forward to another very productive year.

     
    • President, Jeff Battaglini (incumbent)
    • Vice President – Bianca Braman (incumbent)
    • Treasurer – Richard Roy (incumbent)
    • Membership Secretary – Mary Stoddard (new to the Board but no stranger to the VBA!)
    • Recording Secretary – Fred Putnam, Jr. (incumbent)
    • Director at Large – James Key (incumbent) 
    • Andrew Munkres remains as the Immediate Past President

    Our thanks to the Franklin County Beekeepers Club for their help with this meeting!


  • The American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) is offering an award for up to $2,000 to a beekeeper with a practical beekeeping idea that is relevant to other beekeepers. The $2,000 will be split in the case more than one awardee is chosen. We are looking to fund one or more individuals that have developed a practical beekeeping practice OR have a practical beekeeping idea that needs funding to be developed.

    Please download the attached document for all the details and feel free to pass on to others.  For questions, you may also reach out to Garett Slater.

    Garett Slater
    Assistant Professor and Honey Bee Extension Entomologist
    Department of Entomology
    Texas A&M 


  • H.706 to Become Law

    Late this afternoon the Vermont House and Senate overrode Governor Phil Scott's veto of H.706 - a law the Vermont Beekeepers Association supported to protect Vermont pollinators. The senate overrode the veto on roll call: Yeas = 21, Nays = 8 while the house roll call results showed Yeas = 102, Nays = 43 (97 of 145 to Pass). Details

    The Vermont Beekeepers Association thanks the legislators who voted for this important legislation and the VBA members and others in the community who helped make this happen. 


     

  • Vermont State House in MontpelierContact Your Legislators Today

    After passing overwhelmingly in the VT house and senate, the pollinator protection bill, H706 was vetoed by the governor on World Bee Day.

    He shared the same misleading information about bee populations that we have heard from the Agency of Agriculture, and declared the bill "anti-farmer".

    The VT legislature is holding an override session on June 17th and 18th to consider overriding the governor's veto.

    We need VBA members to reach out to their senators and representatives one last time this week to support this override effort.

    Legislators have been hearing more and more from those against the bill, so it is incredibly important to express the importance of this legislation and our strong support for it. (Previously available background information is available here and here.)

    Contact Your Legislators

  • Queen Cells

    This week there were two online workshops presented by VBA experts. Wednesday evening's "Ask Me Anything" program presented by Jeff Battaglini, Tony Antonucci and Fred Putnam covered tasks designed to help you perform early summer management on your colonies. Then on Thursday night, Andrew Munkres and Bianca Braman hosted a program on Queen Rearing highlighting different ways to propagate queens and focusing on queen rearing for small-scale beekeepers.

    VBA members can watch the recorded workshops by logging into the VBA website and looking under the Calendar menu for Past Workshop & Events Recordings.