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Individuals who attended the May WVBA meeting were asked to complete a one page 10 question survey of interests in raising queens in conjunction with the talk I presented. The talk illustrations are in article posted preceding this report. Thank you to the 36 respondents who returned the survey. Some individuals offered multiple choices for the fill-ins - others did not respond to all the questions on the survey. Question one asked if your bees had replaced their queen this y

Dewey M. Caron Emeritus Prof U Del Affiliate Faculty OSU dmcaron@udel.edu The attached pdf titled Queens WVBA , is the accompanied slide presentation to Dewey's talk on Queen Rearing.

WVBA members were encouraged to complete a web-based survey document in a continuing effort to define overwintering losses/successes of backyard beekeepers in Oregon. This was the 17th year of such survey activity. I received 442 reports from Oregon beekeepers keeping anywhere from 1 to 49 colonies; Willamette Valley members sent in 41 surveys, twenty-four more than last year, double the average return for past 6 years = 20%. Maximum colony number was 22 colonies. Overwint

It has become obvious that we cannot reduce the stress that varroa mites cause to our honey bee colonies by starting our mite control in the fall. Although it is the dispersal (phoretic) mites feeding on colony adults or reproducing mites in capped pupae cells that we control, the real issue is that mites enable the spread of the deformed wing and paralysis viruses that lead to colony death. Most of you have had a chance to look at bees this spring. We MUST flatten the mite g