RIBA May Monthly Meeting

May 20th @ 2:00 pm

Arnold Mills Community House

75 Hillside Road

Cumberland, Rhode Island

Topic:  How to Make Splits

Speaker: Everett Zurlinden

Have you bought a package, but you're unsure about how to install it?

Come to a demonstration of package installation Saturday, April 14 at 2pm on the RIC campus in Providence. Ed Lafferty will be installing packages in the two RIBA-sponsored hives behind the historic Yellow Cottage. Anyone who wants to see a package hiving should attend!

The Yellow Cottage is on RIC's East Campus. The Cottage is across from the Forman Center. Park in either of the nearby lots. The hives will be behind the Cottage, on a knoll.

It's time for the Spring Dinner and Annual Meeting! This year we'll be holding our dinner and meeting at the Twelve Acres banquet facility in Smithfield, RI on Saturday, April 21st at 5pm.

The program includes our speaker, Dr. Heather Mattila of Wellesley College. She'll discuss her research into the benefits of genetic diversity for your colonies. What does it mean for a queen to be "well mated"? And why do hives with well-mated queens outperform others?

We will be be holding the election of officers at the Annual Meeting following our speaker and dinner. If you want to be on the ballot for an office, please contact a member of the Nominating Committee. (See the attached form for details.)

Print, fill out and mail the registration form to our Treasurer Tony DiGiulio at the address listed on the form. We need to give Twelve Acres a count of attendees the week before the dinner, so please make your reservations by April 13th! (A special note - Twelve Acres can accommodate vegetarian and gluten-free diets, so please note those requests on your reply.) 

Hope to see you there!

RIBA Spring Dinner & Annual Meeting Announcment

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Want to be an officer in 2012? Or, know someone who would make a good officer? The Nominating Committee is taking nominations for President, Executive Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer,  and Member-At-Large.

Patrick Pedder is chairing this year's Nominating Committee, along with Martha Faella. If you want to run for office contact Pat at (401) 568-3345, or Martha at (401) 783-7437 / marthafaella@yahoo.com.

Patrick Pedder

(401) 568-3345

Martha Faella

(401) 783-7437

Sunday, March 11th at 2:00 PM

Rocky Hill Grange

1340 South County Trail

East Greenwich, RI

Our own Everett Zurlinden will be presenting on swarm management. We've had a mild winter, and after meeting last fall's challenge of treating for varroa mites, your next challenge with surviving colonies will be swarm control.  Everett will talk about various swarm prevention techniques for the backyard beekeeper, a timely subject as we gear up for the spring build up of our bee colony populations.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Refreshments will be served after the meeting. Members with last names beginning A-M please bring desserts, N-Z please bring finger food and appetizers. Beverages will be provided.

Directions:

Take I-95 North or South to Exit 8

Make a right onto Route 2 (Quaker Lane)

Go through the traffic lights at Division St., keeping the Walgreens to your left

The Grange is located just past the Walgreens on Route 2

Sunday, February 12th at 2:00 PM

Rocky Hill Grange

1340 South County Trail

East Greenwich, RI

Come learn about beekeeping in Egypt and Africa, from ancient to modern! Fellow member, beekeeper and anthropologist Richard Lobban will present a wide-ranging overview at our next meeting.

Did you know that honey and wax were used in ancient Egypt for food, medicine, even mummification? Bees were so important that one of the the Pharaoh's titles was "Bee King", and the hieroglyph for Upper Egypt was a honeybee.

He'll also present on beekeeping in modern Africa, where beekeeping is an important modest-investment source of income for many. Top-bar hives are used all over Africa, sometimes even hanging high from trees to avoid robbing predators … and just how do they keep elephants away from that tasty honey?

Richard just returned from a trip to Egypt, and he'll have several jars of Egyptian honey for tasting.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Refreshments will be served after the meeting. Members with last names beginning A-M please bring finger food and appetizers, N-Z please bring desserts. Beverages will be provided.

Directions:

Take I-95 North or South to Exit 8

Make a right onto Rt-2 (Quaker Lane)

Go through the traffic lights at Division St., keeping the Walgreens to your left

The Grange is located just past the Walgreens on Rt-2

RIBA is sponsoring a group package run for bees this spring!

We estimate each package will cost $70, saving as much as $20 per package!

We're taking deposits of $70 for each package ordered. The final package price will be the total cost of the order, plus travel and fuel expenses, shared across all of the orders.

The deadline for orders is March 15th. Packages are due to be delivered on April 14th.

Print and fill out the attached order form. Mail the form along with a check to Christine Dwyer before the March 15th deadline at the address list on the form.

Christine Dwyer

3 North Howard Ave., Unit 8

North Providence, RI 02911-1545

Here's to a good 2012 beekeeping and honey season!

Sunday, January 8th at 2:00 PM

Rocky Hill Grange

1340 South County Trail

East Greenwich, RI

Happy New Year to Everyone!

We've winterized our hives, and we're already thinking about the upcoming beekeeping season. That includes thinking of all the positive uses for the honey that our bees will produce this year. To start us off on the right foot, Dr. Allen Dennison will present "Healing Wounds With Honey". Honey has numerous properties, biological and chemical, that make it uniquely suited for healing. Dr. Dennison has spent years working with honey in medicine, and he'll share his experiences with us. 

Refreshments will be served after the meeting. Members with last names beginning A-M please bring desserts, N-Z please bring finger food and appetizers. Beverages will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Directions:

Take I-95 North or South to Exit 8

Make a right onto Rt-2 (Quaker Lane)

Go through the traffic lights at Division St., keeping the Walgreens to your left

The Grange is located just past the Walgreens on Rt-2

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Come to RIBA's Holiday party! No controversy here, Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanza, we'll be celebrating! Come, mingle, talk, exchange stories, celebrate or commiserate about the past year.

Sunday, December 11th at 2:00 PM at the Rocky Hill Grange in East Greenwich.

Rocky Hill Grange

1340 South County Trail

East Greenwich, RI

We'll have a member-to-member sale. Bring bee-and-honey related products, candles, balms, bee-ware, knickknacks and hot pepper jelly to sell, and money to buy from your fellow beekeepers.

Also RIBA will be making a donation to the Food Bank, so please consider donating honey in plastic jars (no glass), canned goods, peanut butter, etc. to help those in need.

There will be several entrées to choose from. Members with last names beginning A-M please bring desserts, N-Z please bring finger food and appetizers. Beverages will be provided.