Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Meghan Milbranth's Varroa Decision Tree

Find this and more on her website, www.sandhillbees.com under the Varroa tab.  It is part of her highly recommended piece, Making a Plan for Varroa which can be found at this link:
/Makingaplanforvarroa_2018.pdf




Sunday, June 17, 2018

June 2018 Newsletter


Correction: 
Under How to do a mite test, ‘kid’s sippy cup holder’ should have said ‘kid’s juice box holder’. They are square.


Thursday, February 15, 2018

Please sign petition for pollinator-friendly planting of solar farms

We are working to convince the City of Afton, MN that the solar development they are planning should have pollinator-friendly, pesticide-free, native, blooming plants installed alongside the panels. this will benefit all pollinators, improve agricultural yields in the surrounding land and be attractive.

Here is the link. Where you sign is down toward the bottom. You can answer no or x out of the handful of further requests the site makes (all well-meaning). It is not a spam-a-palooza and if you do get follow-up emails you don't want-- just use the 'unsubscribe' at the bottom once and change.org will leave you alone.

https://www.change.org/p/plant-solar-farms-with-pollinator-friendly-pesticide-free-blooming-native-plants?recruiter=42709390&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_petition

This case study on the Minnesota Solar Sanctuaries Bill 3353 might also be of interest to you:

http://eanvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Audubon-Case-Study-HF3353-FINAL.pdf

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Caucus Day Today!

Caucuses are interesting and driven by what the participants bring to the table. I believe there will be a straw poll for MN Governor plus opportunities to propose resolutions for your party to adopt.

Here is a fact sheet about some of the pollinator issues you might want to impress upon your candidates and voting community https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5499e7fce4b0ca516ac4d941/t/58ab23b11e5b6ce697ed44d0/1487610815441/MN+Bee+Factsheet+2017+-+legislative+audience+-+Feb.+Update.pdf

Here is a link to find your caucus. http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Decisions are made by those who show up.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Jan meeting moved to 1/29

Due to pending snowstorm for 1/22 we will instead meet on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018 at Family Means at 6:30 PM. Jim will be talking about Bee Nutrition.
              Enjoy the snow, careful with the shovelling, backs are for beekeeping :-)

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Here are links to Ross Conrad's recent series of articles on Neonicotinoid Pesticides in Bee Culture:
italicized summary mine

October 3, 2017 
about the history and Hyper-toxicity of Neonicotinoids

October 27, 2017 
about Neonicotinoid Impacts on Wild Pollinators and other Wildlife

November 27, 2017 
about Neonicotinoid Impacts on Honey Bees

December 21, 2017 
about Mounting Evidence of Synergistic Effects and Push-Back

stay tuned...Part IV is said to be about Pesticide Regulation and the Economic Environment 

If you wish to purchase neonicotinoid free seed or plants, look to these known neonicotinoid educated and abstaining purveyors listed by Pollinator Friendly Alliance: