[size=14]Great weather for our girls to be flying and producing honey. Our boxes have tripled with honey and comb already. How about yours? Anyone who has cages from AWS bees Dave and Leo will be at the meeting to collect them and return your deposit checks. Swarm season is coming upon us and this will be out topic this month. Dave Anthony and Leo Stevens will be talking on events leading to Swarming and how to prevent it. Just a reminder that our July meeting will be held on the 2nd Wednesday of the Month July 9th followed by the Michigan Honey Festival on July 12th from 10-5 held in Frankenmuth, MBA Picnic held July 26 held at the Octagon Barn Gagetown Mid Michigan Beekeepers Picnic 2nd Saturday in August, See you at the meeting[color=blue]

[size=14] Good Afternoon Fellow Beekeepers,

This Thursday May 1st we will be having our club meeting at the Forest Township Hall 130 E. Main Street Otisville MI.
Doors open at 6:30 pm, meeting starts at 7:00 pm. Jim Withers will be talking on installing package bees, and open
floor up for questions. Any beginning beekeepers can meet with Bob Hollis in another area.

We are gearing up to pick up our bees on Friday May 2nd, pickups will be at Wilda Dodders on M-15 5 Miles south of
the township hall we meet in now or 5 miles north of the hall we met in at Richfield township hall. There will be a big
honey sign by the road on the east side just before Mount Morris Road west.

Bob Hollis has queens available $23.00 a queen please see him or call him if your interested 810-338-1523.

Don Schram has 5 frame nuc's available 248-318-8205

Look forward to seeing you both days and Have a great week.

Hello Fellow Beekeepers,

Weather permitting we will be meeting at 130 E. Main St., Otisville at the Forest Township Hall Doors open at 6:30 meeting starts at 7:00pm will be taking the orders so please have half the payment down and the other half by April or you can pay in full. Angie Forster will be doing demonstration on body whipped lotion bees wax. Please watch the website and TV channel 5 and channel 12 for cancellation of the meeting. March 7 and 8 is the MBA and are weak and conference at MSU in Lansing register online to save some money and you don't have to stand in line and you will have to find other hotels if you want to stay as the rooms the MBA blocked all sold out. All the other information is available at Michigan bees.org website

The 2013 MBA Fall Conference is (a lot) closer than you think and it is time to start planning to attend!

The conference will be held in Flint, Michigan, at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center on Friday, October 25, 2012 and Saturday, October 26.The featured speaker will be Jane Burgess, recently retired CEO from Walter T. Kelly (a national bee supply and catalog company).

There will be break-out sessions on both days covering a wide range of topics that should be of interest for both the beginner and advanced beekeeper alike. And, of course, the ever-popular vendor area will be back so that you can see all of the latest beekeeping equipment in one place.

Pre-registration is available on-line and we encourage all attendees to do so. When you pre-register, your conference material will be available for immediate pick-up… no waiting in line. And, you get a discount too!

Before you pre-register, please note that in order to get the MBA member discount you must be a current member of the MBA. The 2012 memberships expired on December 31, 2012. So you may need to renew your membership for 2013. Click here to check your membership status.

Note: Pre-registration will close Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
To pre-register on-line, click here.

Registration Fees:
Pre-Registered
MBA Member, 2-Day: $20.00
MBA Member, 1-Day: $10.00
Non-Member, 2-Day: $40.00
Non-Member, 1-Day: $20.00
Spouse/Guest, 2-Day: $10.00
Spouse/Guest, 1-Day: $5.00

Paid At-the-Door
MBA Member, 2-Day: $25.00
MBA Member, 1-Day: $15.00
Non-Member, 2-Day: $45.00
Non-Member, 1-Day: $25.00
Spouse/Guest, 2-day: $15.00
Spouse/Guest, 1-Day: $10.00

Lodging:
MBA has reserved a limited block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center which are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Special MBA rates are $92 per night (single or double). Plus applicable fees, state and local taxes.

If you are planning to stay at the hotel, then we suggest that you make your reservations early. The hotel requests that reservations be made by October 3. Their phone number for reservations are 800-465-4329 or 810-232-5300. Be sure to identify yourself with the Michigan Beekeepers’ Association in order to get the discounted rate.

Schedule of Events:

There will be break out sessions on Friday morning, afternoon and Saturday morning and afternoon. The tentative list of classes include…

New Bee Mentoring – Charlotte Hubbard
Lotions/Creams – Angie Foster
Moisture, Insulation & Reducing Winter Losses – Bob Williams
Marketing – Judy Schmaltz
Creamed Honey – Judy Schmaltz
Beginners Track – Dale Woods & Mike Risk
Making Mead – Mead Mamas
Beekeeping in the UP – Joel Lantz
Michigan Cottage Food Act - Christine Venema
Candles & Rendering Wax- Bob Hollis
Products of the Hive - Rich Wieske
Beekeepers Workshop – Steve Tilmann
Update on Nosema – Dr. Zachary Huang
Summary of Apimondia 2013 (Ukraine) – Anne Marie Fauvel

Click here for complete schedule. This is the schedule as of 10/22/13.
Click here for a description of classes.
Friday, October 25
8a.m. -12 p.m. – registration
9:00 – MBA announcements General Assembly room
9:30 – 10:45 – Jane Burgess Keynote speaker
11:00-12:00 – first breakout sessions

2:00-3:00 – second breakout session

3:00-4:00 – third breakout session

Saturday, October 26

8:00 – 11:00 Registration
8a.m. -12 p.m. – registration
9:00 – MBA announcements General Assembly room
9:30 – 10:45 – Jane Burgess, Keynote speaker

11:00-12:00 – first breakout session

2:00 – 3:00 – second breakout session

3:30-4:30 – General Membership meeting,

Treasurer’s Report
Honey Show results
Election results
Member Resolutions & Discussion

Honey Judging Contest:
Back by popular demand. Read the details and rules by clicking here.

Vendors:
The vendors are always a very popular event. You can see what’s new in beekeeping and purchase equipment and supplies for the upcoming season. Most vendors will bring items to the conference for sale and some are accepting pre-conference orders (you save on shipping!). Please support our vendors, as they help make the spring conference possible.

Anthony Bee Farms
Blackmore-Rowe
Buggsnest, LLC
Dadant & Sons, Inc
doTERRA Essential Oils
Napoleon Bee Supply
S&B Honey
T.M. Klein & Sons
Turlebee Farms

Hospitality Suite
This year you may have noticed that we are not going to have the Friday night banquet. Instead, your MBA will be hosting a swarm in the hospitality room. All queens, workers and drones are welcome! This is shaping up to be a good party. So come and show us your best waggle dance!

Volunteers
Putting on the conference is a lot of work and we can always use volunteers to help us along. We can use help with a short setup on Thursday evening, handing out material in the classes and general session, helping out with the hospitality room, assistance with at-the-door registration and post-conference evaluation. Even if you only have a short time available, any help is greatly appreciated. Contact Steve Tilmann, MBA Treasurer.

Follow next two postings.