PPBA

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING INFORMATION

The PPBA meets from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm on the third Thursday of the months of January,
April, July and October. We are looking for a permanent location for our meeting but in the
meantime, please be aware that the meeting locations may change from meeting to
meeting.

The first half hour (6:30-7:00) of the PPBA General Membership meetings is reserved for
socializing and general questions. The formal portion of the meeting will start promptly at
7:00 pm and will include association business and the presentations for that meeting.
There will be time for questions during or after the formal portion of the meeting, but those
questions should be limited to the topics being discussed.

Thursday, April 18th, 6:30pm: GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The April 2024 meeting will be in the Fellowship Hall of the Saints Constantine and Helen Church (Holy
Theophany Orthodox Church on Google Maps) at 2770 N Chestnut St, Colorado Springs, CO 80907.
The speaker at our January meeting will be fellow beekeeper Mike Daetwyler, who will be talking about mite
control. Bruno Mattedi will also discuss dead-outs.

2024 MEETING AND EVENT DATES

April 18th General Membership Meeting
July 18th General Membership Meeting
October 17th General Membership Meeting

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN – DUES ARE DUE!

PPBA MEMBERSHIP DUES FOR 2024! PPBA annual dues are $15.00 per family (non-prorated, payable by
cash or check by March 31st each year). If you missed the January meeting, or you are new, please mail the
membership form (attached) and a check for $15 to PPBA, PO Box 75771, Colorado Springs, CO 80970-5771.
You can also pay and fill out the form at the next meeting. If you have questions or would like to check your
membership and payment status, please email PikesPeakBeekeepers@gmail.com.
HELP OUT PPBA – VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES!

MENTORING! If you’ve been a beekeeper for a while and would like to be a mentor, contact
PikesPeakBeekeepers@gmail.com to update the roster and get hooked up with a beekeeper who may need
some help!
PPBA Guest Speakers. PPBA gets lots of requests for guest speakers at schools, service organizations and
local expos or events. Most speaker requests are just for a one-hour long presentation on beekeeping. If you
could speak about beekeeping to a school or group, please email PikesPeakBeekeepers@gmail.com

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

HOSTING BEEHIVES! If you want to put a hive on someone’s property – we have people who want bees but
don’t want to be the beekeeper! Some are in town (Colorado Springs) and some are out east of Colorado
Springs. Contact PikesPeakBeekeepers@gmail.com for more info!

PPBA ON FACEBOOK! Join the “Pikes Peak Beekeepers Association” group on Facebook! You
do not have to be a member of PPBA to join, but membership is limited to beekeepers, interest in
beekeeping, and Front Range.

WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GETTING YOUR BEES AND QUEENS FROM!!
PPBA members – just a reminder: please use caution when ordering queens and bees …
please ensure they are NOT from the southern tier of states (including Texas, southern
California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida). There have been reports of “hot” queens
(Africanized) coming out of those states. As one queen producer states on their website:
“Inter-breeding with feral Africanized bees does undoubtedly continue but we take measures to minimize their
influence.” They try to make sure their mating yards are primarily “safe” drones, but as you can imagine, there’s
no guarantee that Africanized drones are not present and are not mating with their queens. We want to prevent
importing any Africanized bees into Colorado. Be sure you know where your bee supplier is getting those
bees from!!

INTEGRATED HIVE MANAGEMENT FOR COLORADO BEEKEEPERS. This booklet is published by Colorado
State University and is now available on-line! The sub-title is “Strategies for Identifying and Mitigating Pests and
Diseases Affecting Colorado’s Honey Bees” and it covers everything from mice to mites! Check it out on this link.
We also have two hardcopies in the PPBA library for check-out. CO-IHM-Book-for-Print-2020.pdf (colostate.edu)
BEAR DAMAGE!! If you have bear or wildlife damage to your hive, contact the Colorado Division of
Wildlife at Colorado Parks & Wildlife – Game Damage (state.co.us) for information about filing a claim.

DRIFTWATCH: “DriftWatchTM is a tool for identifying specialty crop sites and to further enhance communications
between producers of specialty crops and pesticide applicators that promote awareness and stewardship
activities to help prevent and manage drift effects that sometimes occur from spray operations.” You can register
your beehive location and they will notify you before any pesticides are applied (in rural areas; not intended for
sites less than 1⁄2 acre).

EXTRACTOR RENTAL: To rent one of the PPBA extractors (we have three manual extractors
and most of the other extractor equipment you’ll need), visit http://www.pikespeakbeekeepers.org,
select the “Extractor Rental Info” tab and follow the instructions there. Remember, the
extractor and equipment will be clean when you pick it up and it will need to be cleaned
prior to return or you will forfeit your deposit. Hot water and soap at the coin operated car
wash is the quickest and easiest method for initial cleaning. Then, thoroughly rinse with clean
water at home. There’s also a link on the website to a video about cleaning the extractor.

BEES IN THE NEWS

March 3, 2024: Climate change is making it tough on bees, butterflies, and other pollinators; now the state may try
to protect them
March 24, 2024: Lafayette beekeepers take great care of bees, local environment
April 12, 2024: The Striped Workers Keeping Colorado Wonderful
Pollinator Week June 17-23, 2024: Pollinator Week | Pollinator.org