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June 16 & 17, 2017
Ferrum College
215 Ferrum Mountain Road
Ferrum, Virginia 24088

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• Meeting Agenda
• Confirmed Vendors
• Registration Form
• Menus - Friday Lunch & Saturday Dinner

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This year’s spring meeting is being hosted by the Moonshine Beekeepers Association and will be held at Ferrum College in Ferrum, Virginia. Speakers include: Dr. Diana Sammatero, retired researcher at the USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Honey Bee Research Center and author of The Beekeepers Handbook; Dr. Rebecca Masterman, University of Minnesota Bee Squad Associate Program Director; Dr. Lisa Horth, Associate Professor of Biology at Old Dominium University & VSBA grant recipient; Samuel Ramsey, PhD student at Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp's lab at the University of Maryland; Marc Puckett, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; Theo Hartman, Broodminder Citizen Science Project; Virginia beekeepers Mike Church, John Davis and Licho Berrouette, as well as workshops Saturday afternoon.

Registration on Friday, June 16 will open at 12 noon with the meeting beginning at 1pm. Registration will re-open on Saturday morning at 8:00am. The meeting will begin at 8:45am. There will be speaker presentations, a business meeting with elections, the State Apiarist’s Report and an update on the Master Beekeeper Program. See agenda within newsletter for topics of presentations and workshops.

We are offering a buffet style dinner Friday evening for $9 per person with more presentations following dinner. A buffet style lunch is available for $9 on Saturday. Lunch and dinner can be purchased at the meeting.

The Meeting Committee has contacted several hotels in the area for group rates:

Comfort Inn Smith Mt. Lake, 1730 N. Main St., Rocky Mount, VA 24151,(10 miles from venue) 540-489-4000 has rooms available for $70 per night, plus tax for two double beds. This rate includes a hot breakfast. You must mention Virginia State Beekeepers Association for the group rate. The group contract expires Wednesday, June 7, 2017.

Holiday Inn Express, 395 Old Franklin Turnpike, Rocky Mount, VA 24151 (11 miles from venue), 540-489-5001 has rooms available for a rate of $129 per night, plus tax for a king bed or two queen beds; $135 per night, plus tax for a suite; and, $159 per night, plus tax for a suite with whirlpool. You must mention Virginia State Beekeepers Association for the group rate. The group contract expires Thursday, June 1, 2017.

Ferrum College Dorm Rooms - $65 per day per person including meals. Register for these rooms on the VSBA Registration form or online at brown paper tickets website.
As with all locations, there is an occupancy capacity so we advise that you pre-register if possible.

Hope to see you there!
Deb Parker, VSBA Meeting Chair

Do you have a large bunch of bees hanging around too close to your house and family? Have the bees moved into your house? Would you like them safely removed? If you have honey bees swarming on your property, please don't harm them! You can simply call a beekeeper who will come out and relocate them to a new area where they can continue their important pollination efforts safely. Please do not spray the bees or call an exterminator.

First, please be sure what you have are honey bees. If you see a large clump of bees hanging from a tree, or any type of overhang, and are in the open, versus in the ground or in a paper nest, then they are likely honey bees. Check this link for help with bee identification: http://pollinator.com/identify/whatsbuzzin.htm

There are local beekeepers willing to remove honey bees swarms and some that will do removals if honey bees have located in a structure such as a wall, soffit, etc. To find assistance removing a honey bee swarm or removal you can go to the “Local Groups” page of this website http://www.virginiabeekeepers.org/local-groups/local-groups-map to find a bee club close to you. Most clubs will have contact information for swarms and removals listed. There is also a site that lists those interested in removal by city is http://beeremovalsource.com/bee-removal-list/virginia/