The monthly general SIBA meeting occurs the third Thursday of each month.

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We have a special treat for all of you this month. We've assembled an elite group of SIBA members to talk about pests and diseases. These members all keep bees within a 50 mile radius of Garry's Workshop so the pests and diseases discussed should be very relevant to all of us!

Andy Wigam and Karen Ferguson will start the meeting in Garry's apiary with an alcohol wash on a bee hive. This is probably the most important tool in the beekeepers toolbox. You need to have a wash kit, and an understanding on how to use it to monitor the mite loads in your beehive. Only when the beekeeper is aware, can they do something about the mites. Bring your veils and be on time! We'll start in the hive promptly at 6:30pm.

Once done, we'll move inside where Jim Orem will follow with announcements and other annoying club business.

Brian Wingerberg will then take over talking about mites. He'll turn it over to Garry Reeves and Jason Morgan to give an update on the OA shop towels and other pertinent information about options for dealing with mites.

Dave Rieman will follow up about hive beetles (SHB) and wax moth. Dave will hand things off to Dave Broxterman who will cover nosema and fowl brood. He'll also be our clean-up hitter to cover alternate pests or disease. We hope this will turn in to a club discussion and members are free to chime in!

We at SIBA believe that mites are our biggest problem as far as pests and diseases go. Mites are the invisible enemy when you are not looking. They are responsible for mid-season, late-season and spring warm-up deadouts. It's just that simple. If your colony has a mite load that is over the threshhold, then they are already getting sick with viruses. Being proactive on identifying mites at lower levels will allow you to make the decisions you need to reduce those numbers, and maintain more healthy hives. When hives have low mites, it's amazing how most other things just take care of themselves.

Hope to see you at Garry's Workshop on Thursday, July 15 at 6:30pm!