There were ten people in attendance. Randy made the motion to accept the 11/18/25 minutes as emailed out on 12/4/25. Sheila seconded the motion. All were in favor.
We have $515.77 in the bee association’s bank account. The bee association also has a grant that is being managed by the Cooperative Extension Office. We have been utilizing the grant to pay for the website. Holly Votaw has been helping with the website and making sure it gets renewed every January. We appreciate her help with the website very much! Randy and Devin will find out how much we have available in the grant.
New membership is due in January and not prorated. It is best to join the association in January. Please try to make the January 20, 2026 meeting to join. The dues are $10 per member, $15 per family and $5 for junior members (ages 14-17).
Devin agreed to continue serving as president. All were in favor. Priscilla was willing to serve as secretary for another year.. All were in favor. Sheila is stepping down as treasurer. Sheila has been the treasurer since the beginning of the association. Sheila and Eddie started the association based on the state’s regulations and bi-laws. We appreciate all their years of support! Randy agreed to step in as treasurer. All were in favor. Dean (vice president) was not present at the meeting. No one was willing to take on the office as VP. The only role of the VP is to make sure the door is open for the meetings and oversee the meetings in the absence of the president. Usually the VP steps up to the president when the president resigns, but it is not necessary. Devin will check with Dean and some others to see if they are interested in the VP office. We will need to elect the VP at the January meeting.
Enrollment is now open for Henderson County’s Bee School. The classes begin on January 26, 2026, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, for seven consecutive Monday meetings. You can check out their website (https://hcbeekeepers.org/education/2021-beginner-beekeeper-education-enrollment-2-2-2-2/) for more information.
Rosemary will check into getting a speaker from the state chapter to talk about the association’s role in beekeeping. She also asked for others to let her know who we would like to hear from at our monthly meetings. This month’s meeting was a great “show and tell” idea that Rosemary had. We hope to do it again.
Randy was the first to show and tell about his Russian Scion. Randy made it from scrap wood that is covered in screen and painted with beeswax, with a little swarm attractor added to the wax. It hangs from a tree with an eye bolt onto the end of the scion to make it easier to raise and lower to place the bee swarm into an empty bucket or hive body, as soon as he sees the swarm on the scion. He has it about 150 feet from his hives, 8-9 feet off the ground. Randy has caught two swarms with it so far.
David was next to share his Mite E vape for oxalic acid (https://www.mite-e-vape.com/) bee treatment. It is good to use for a winter mite treatment option since it won’t affect any mites that are under capped brood and you don’t necessarily need to go into the hive to use it. However, you don’t want to use it on really cold days. David drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the back of each hive that he puts the vape over to treat the hive. You can also put it at the entrance of the hive. It is very important to follow all directions and wear safety gear (eye protection, respirator made for organic acids and heavy leather gloves). It is very deadly to the mites, but not the bees. David has 8 hives he treats. It is a good mite treatment method to use on new swarms and splits once they are established. Keep baking soda water handy to use as a neutralizer in case you get some on you.
Dave Ellis brought in comb honey that he made using a product called Simplkomb (https://simplkomb.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorkIO4ZFHiz7NO5TFlvEcEJO7d-oreQwXa8DAX1feN6D1kVYScE). He brought in a few to sell and donate the money to the association. They go in a regular frame. It is important to freeze them for a couple of days to kill any hive beetle larva and eggs that may be in the comb. If you don’t spin off your honey right away, you also need to freeze it for a few days to kill the beetle larva and eggs. When you spin and strain your honey, it gets rid of the beetle stuff. Honey will taste bad if you don’t get out the beetle extracts.
Rosemary is making some fun stuff. She is making body lotion as Christmas presents (body butter). She also sold some and donated the money to the association. The body butter was in little jars with beeswax, coconut oil, cocoa butter that was melted in with lavender and eucalyptus. When making it if it is too sticky, just add more beeswax.
Rosemary also made some fire starters from little pine cones that she coated with slum gum (the old, dark looking beeswax).
Rosemary also had some bee earrings that her brother in law made with a laser thing he has.
Devin brought in his iridescent light bulb invention he uses to decrystallize honey. If you get honey too hot it looses beneficial enzymes and nutrients. He had an extension chord light with a dimmer switch, so he can control the heat of the honey. Certain kinds of honey will crystalize if it is stored at 55 degrees or below (cold garages, concrete floors). If honey has a lot of pollen grains in it, or high sucrose count, it will crystalize easier than other honey. Devin uses a bee super with the light bulb inside, then a metal honey excluder on top that he sits the jars of crystalized honey on, covered with a blanket or something to keep the heat in. He uses a cheap thermometer to try and keep the temperature between 90-95 degrees until it de-crystalizes.
Devin also brought in some silicone molds that he uses to make wax candles from his bee’s capping wax and some candles. You only get about 1% of wax per pound of honey. It takes a lot of honey making to get just a little wax. The pure wax candles burn for a really long time.
Randy also brought in a home made swarm box he made from a cardboard box he had that was just the right size. He painted it with rubberized/polymer paint and bought the door for it.
David has a scale on one of his hives. He keeps track of the weight over the year and the temperature (in green). He can tell when the first honey flow is occurring by the weight of the hive. When the weight starts increasing, he puts on his honey supers. When the weight drops off, he knows the honey flow is done.
He can also tell by the weight of the hive during the day when the bees are coming and going. If the weight doesn’t change, he has a dead out. It is kind of an expensive set up that he purchased from a company based out of Raleigh (https://solutionbee.com/).
Hope to see you at our next meeting, January 20, 2026.