2009 Summer Beekeeping Field Day On June 6 (Saturday), the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association, in cooperation with the Walter T. Kelley Company, will hold a beekeeper field day as its summer meeting event. The Walter T. Kelley Company will host the event on their factory grounds and will provide lunch (I’ve heard that Paul Stone from the Audubon Beekeepers Association is making a batch of his famous barbecue – that will get me there). Hands on – in the apiary – classes will be held in the Kelley Company’s apiary. Tentative topics (subject to change) include: hive inspections, making splits and divides, how to mark queens and re-queen hives, grafting queen cells, varroa mite treatments and mite monitoring, small hive beetle trapping, pollen trapping, Ross Rounds and comb honey production, pulling honey techniques, honey extraction and more.  Instructors for these apiary sessions will include: Dr. Tom Webster, Kentucky State University Apiculture Extension Specialist; Kent Williams, past KSBA president and EAS Master Beekeeper; Gordon Vernon, past KSBA president and Kentucky queen producer; Martin Hickey, current KSBA president; Harris Overholt, Kentucky beekeeper and pollen producer, and Phil Craft, State Apiarist. And like all beekeeping field days, lots of fellowship between beekeepers and “talking bees” will be part of the day. For those new beekeepers who attended one of the Kentucky beekeeping schools this year, consider this field day as the next stage of your beekeeper education.  The fun will start at 8 a.m. Central time and will last until about 3 p.m. The only cost is your current KSBA membership dues ($10) if they are not current, free if your 2009 dues have been paid.  If weather should not permit opening hives, an alternative indoor program will be presented. KSBA would like to get an approximate head count for this event to help them prepare for lunch. So if you are planning on attending, please contact Joe Taylor, KSBA at (270) 879-8654 , shopteacher@gmail.com or shop_teacher@yahoo.com, and say “count me in for June 6”! You can also contact Joe if you have any questions regarding the event. _______________________________________________________________________________________ 2009 Fall meeting Date: Nov. 14, 2009 (Saturday) Location: Warren County Extension office, Bowling Green Guest speaker: TBA