Minutes of meeting of the ETBA February 7, 2008:

President Joe Moench opened the meeting with the pledge to the flag and the invocation.  Persons visiting for the first time were introduced.  Joe asked those present to turn off telephones and pagers.

Mr. Brantley introduced Margaret and Art Prell.  Margaret, who is the secretary of the Louisiana State Bee Association, was the speaker for the meeting.  Mrs. Prell advised that beekeepers are required to register their bees with the State.  The registration cost is made by number of hives in each apiary varying from low of $4.  If there is any State aid for beekeepers, such as damage from hurricanes, this aid is only available to those persons who register their apiaries.  Mrs. Prell thanked the ETBA for the donation that the group made for those beekeepers experiencing damage by Hurricane Katrina.  All money received was spent for the purchase of equipment and nucs.  There were 40 colonies of bees donated, and some beekeepers in the Baton Rouge made splits and divided with local beekeepers experiencing damage.

The Prells had 125 hives at the time of the hurricane.  All of these hives were damaged by flooding and wind damage.  The hives were strapped, and even though the boxes were held together, in most cases the hives could not be reused.  Attempts were made to clean some of the boxes, but it was found that new bees would not stay in the boxes due to mould and other odors that were in the hives. thus all of the wood had to be discarded.  They saved about 10 of the 125 hives.  There were many beetles found in the flooded hives.

The Prells are now back up to 60 hives, and many other beekeepers are back in business.  A lot of their hives are in the areas of Chinese tallow and orange trees.  They are now advised that federal crop insurance might be a possibility for beekeepers in the future.

Mr. and Mrs. Prell were thanked for their presence and for Margaret's presentation.

Joe advised that the ETBA would like to prepare a new beekeeper package.  Two or three volunteers are needed to help in preparation of this package.  It was also announced that nominations for 2008 officers would be made in March, with election to be held in April.

Dick advised that he and Stan attended the national convention in January.  There were 1281 persons registered.  The speakers represented much knowledge about bees, and Dick said he will be passing on some of the information  from the meeting in the coming months.

Dick discussed a new means of securing boxes together rather than the use of staples or straps.  Royce advised that the candy patties that he and Dick made were accepted by their bees and the stronger the hive the more of the patties was eaten.  The use of plastic frames was discussed.  It was pointed out that there was a complete article in BEE CULTURE regarding plastic frames.  It was pointed out that 10 frames should be used when plastic is used.  Dick advised that he had applications for AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL if anyone wanted to subscribe.

It was pointed out that everyone should be feeding their bees at this time.  Pollen should be available in the next few weeks.  Pollen patties can also be placed in hives.  It was suggested that reversing brood supers can also be done at this time.   Eddie explained that it was not a good idea to reverse in a weak hive as this might divide the bee cluster.  The supers should be closely observed before reversing.  Eddie also recommended taking frames from strong hives and placing in weaker hives.  Moving frames of pollen can also help in saving a weak hive.

The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,