Beekeeper’s Buzz Coming this month… COBA Bee School February 8 Franklin Park Conservatory, 1777 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH COBA Board Mtg. February 14, 7:00 pm La Chatelaine French Bakery & Bistro, 1550 W. Lane Ave All members are invited. COBA General Mtg. February 16 Franklin Park Conservatory, 1777 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 6:15 pm-Roundtable discussion 7:00 pm-Speaker: Woody Drake, of Brothers Drake Meadery
Inside this issue: February Speaker: 2 Woody Drake
Volume I, Issue 2
February 2011
Trip to Wooster Workshop, March 5, 2011 The 33rd annual spring season beekeeping workshop will once again be hosted by Ohio State University Extension and the Tri-County Beekeepers’ Association, at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) of The Ohio State University in Wooster, Ohio. The theme of the workshop is “Honey Bees—Back from the Brink” Once again, COBA members are being offered the opportunity to travel together on a bus to this day-long workshop. Members who went in 2010 unanimously attest that this was a wonderful event. Total cost is $70.00 per person. The COBA package includes:
Transportation to and from the workshop in a comfortable bus (with a rest room) and with plenty of storage for purchases Snacks and entertainment on the bus Pre-registration for the workshop at a special discount rate No need to stand in line upon arrival (registration packets and name badges will be distributed on the bus)—go directly into the event Hot lunch Door prizes
The location to meet the bus is different from last year. New location: Lakefront Bus Office, 3152 East 17th Ave., Columbus OH 43219-2353. Park in their fenced and gated lot. Meeting time is 6:30 a.m. for check in and loading. The bus pulls out at 7:00 sharp. Members who would like to preview the various workshops should refer to the following .pdf file on the Green Country beekeepers Web site [pdf]. However, COBA members who plan on traveling on the bus should not send their registrations separately. Your registration is part of the COBA package. Bakers, take note: There is information about a “Honey Bake Off” in the .pdf document. It would be wonderful if COBA members could have a strong showing in this event! If you wish to participate, please send a check for $70 (per person), payable to COBA, to:
President’s Corner 3 What’s New on Our Web Site
3
2011 Spring Beginning Beekeeping School
4
Congratulations Scholarship Winners
4
Susan Valentine-Cooper 2653 Northwest Blvd. Columbus, OH 43221 svc@nwcs.com 596-3600 Please send Sue your e-mail address as well. She will communicate with participants via e -mail, so please watch for her emails as the date draws closer. Deadline for receiving registrations is February 16, the date of the next COBA members meeting.
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Beekeeper’s Buzz
February Speaker: Woody Drake By Evelyn Van Til
Woody Drake, founder of Brothers Drake Meadery
COBA will again send a bus to the Wooster TriCounty Workshop. Price of the bus trip, including transportation, entry fee, box lunch will be $70 this year. We have room for 42 For more information and to make your reservation, contact Sue Valentine Cooper svc@nwcs.com or 614-481-0705.
At our next COBA meeting on February 16 at the Franklin Park Conservatory, Woody Drake, founder of Brothers Drake Mead in Columbus, Ohio, will be coming to show us how to make alcohol out of honey. One of us will help Woody make the mead and be going home with a gallon of mead we just made!
from the best from the source closest to Ohio.
Brothers Woody and Eric Drake started making mead in 1994 and after winning numerous homebrew awards, the idea of forming a business took hold. Ten years later they sought funding, got a liquor license and started looking for a space. Finally, in 2008, Ohio’s first meadery, Brothers Drake opened at 206 Oak Street in the 270N/23N area. They have just moved this winter to 26 E. 5th Ave in Weinland Park, a neighborhood of the Short North Arts District.
Embrace creativity: Mead can be paired with artisan cheeses, gourmet appetizers, and entrees, as well as used in cooking and in mixed drinks.
Brothers Drake continues to grow and expand a selection of exquisite meads made locally in Columbus, OH from as raw local wildflower honey as they can get and all natural ingredients sourced as organically as is possible in Ohio. Like most things, there are various ways to make mead. At Brothers Drake, their philosophy on making mead is based on the following principles: Start Local: Buy local honey, support local agriculture, and produce a local product. Honey is not all the same! Use the Best: Look for the highest quality local product on the market, ordering
No Heat: Do not boil honey. This keeps honey flavors true to the source and a better mead. No Added Sulfites: Unlike grapes, which have wild yeast growing on them, honey is naturally antiseptic and antibiotic, so no sulfites needed. Build community: Share knowledge openly and be grateful to people everywhere who ask questions, share their perspective, and engage in an open collaborative dialogue on mead-making.
Volume I, Issue 2
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President’s Corner Dan O’Hanlon spoke at our January COBA meeting. Hope everyone that attended enjoyed his talk. He sent me the following: Dana, thanks again for inviting me to talk & for buying me dinner. I really had a good time & hope I gave them something worth thinking about. There was so much enthusiasm & participation. I told Gabe Blatt all about what a great group COBA has become. By the way. We are both interested in ordering some queens from yourJim Tew project. Just tell me where to send the check. Thanks again for the chance to be a part of your extraordinary efforts. I hope to see you again soon. --Dan
What’s New on our Web site We have several new forms available for Member information and sign-ups. Please check out, on our Member Information page (http://centralohiobeekeepers.org/memberinfo/default.htm): Need Help or Want to Help Others? We maintain a database that facilitates matching requests for help with the volunteers who can most effectively provide it. Matches are based upon experience, hours of availability, and geographic proximity. We keep volunteer contact information private, ensure that no request gets forgotten, and that no volunteer gets swamped. We welcome your suggestions and assistance in making this work well for everyone. I Want Help! [pdf] || I CAN Help!! [pdf] Fill out form then either print it and give to any COBA officer or save it and email it as an attachment to Bill Valentine-Cooper at: wvc@nwcs.com For more information contact Volunteer Committee Chair: Bill Valentine-Cooper at: wvc@nwcs.com Also take a look, on our Resources page (http://centralohiobeekeepers.org/resources/default.htm): Need a Speaker about Bees and/or Beekeeping? Within COBA, we have several members who are willing to share their expertise about bees and/ or beekeeping. We are able to present on a variety of topics such as pollination, fruits/vegetables, honey, wax production, health concerns, basic beekeeping, to name just a few. If you are interested in having COBA provide a speaker for your next meeting, please fill out our Request for Speaker form then save and email it as an attachment to centralohiobeekeepersassoc@gmail.com. Be sure to keep checking the COBA Web site for continual updates and information!
COBA Officers President Dana Stahlman stahlmanapiaries@aol.com Vice President Terry Eddy facilitymanagementsupport@ hotmail.com Secretary Gail Walter gailwalter@columbus.rr.com Treasurer Barry Conrad barry@hiveandhoney.com One-Year Trustees Pat Chamberlain jimpat28@sbcglobal.net Mike Hatter Joy Voorhees voorhees3@ameritech.net Two-Year Trustees Nina Bagley ninabagley@spcglobel.net John George jkgeorge1@roadrunner.com Dan Wampler poppawamp@hotmail.com
Tentative Date for the COBA Pancake Breakfast: Saturday, May 14
2011 Spring Beginning Beekeeping School By Barry Conrad
The 2011 COBA Beginning Beekeeping School is set to go and this year and we will not only have two 4 week schools, we have added a Saturday all day school. The February Tuesday evening school and the March Wednesday evening school filled up so fast many prospective new beekeepers were shut out! We decided to try something new - A Saturday all day session which will feature eight instructors and include lunch. We are excited to see how this new concept works out. We'll let you know in a later newsletter. The instructors this year are: Barry and Carmen Conrad, Keith Rogers, John Gesner, Joe and Sue Daly, Bill Barrows, Barb Bloetscher and John George. Others helping with the school are Abby Scott and Mark Knight. Attending the Wednesday evening classes in March will be three Scholarship winners, which each will receive paid admission the school, complete hive set up including bees, and protective gear. The value of these scholarships is in nearly $400.00 each. Two other applicants will receive paid admission to the school. This will bring in five new youth beekeepers to the association. With all three schools, we will be welcoming over 150 new members! Better breakout more chairs and knock out a few walls!!
Congratulations Scholarship Winners !!!!! From Mike Hatterer, Scholarship Committee Chairman
We have two COBA Scholarships and one Masters In The BeeYard Scholarship winner this year. The recipients of these scholarships receive:
One year membership in the Central Ohio Beekeepers Associa
tion Beginning Beekeeper school registration and textbook A set of beehive woodenware and bees for the hive Beekeeping gear: hat, veil, gloves, hive tool, and bee smoker Mentoring by a COBA member for one year
Our 2011 COBA Scholarship recipients are Nathan Sexten of South Vienna, Ohio and Hannah Somerlot of Westerville, Ohio. Our 2011 Masters In the BeeYard Scholarship recipient is Sierra Robison of Columbus, Ohio. Each recipient will be expected to attend and complete the Beekeeping school. They will then keep pertinent written records with dates, photos, and other data to substantiate their progress as beekeepers, on which they will report when they attend COBA meetings and give presentations of their activities to date. In addition, each recipient is expected to attend the BeeYard once a month and to complete two articles for publishing in the Beekeepers Buzz. Each recipient is expected to give an oral final presentation of what they have learned from the program at our two annual meetings. A Certificate of Completion and full ownership of the colony and the equipment will be presented when the recipients have met all requirements. Congratulations also to Katie Cattell of Delaware, Ohio and Alex Kilgore of Columbus, Ohio. These two applicants were awarded COBA membership and Beekeeper school registration.