MPBSA Meeting Minutes – March 17, 2018 APPROVED

M-PS Beekeepers Assoc. March 17/18 9:30, Raymond Hall

Rob welcomed everyone and introduced Sarah Martz from OMAFRA.

Sarah gave us a talk about Understanding Ontario’s’ Label Requirements for Honey:
-Ont Regulation 119/11 and Food Safety Requirements
-OMAFRA’s honey monitoring program – will check colour class, grade(moisture) and drug and lead residues.
-Labels – in 2016 only 17% of retail honey were compliant, 46% at farm gate
-over 150 gr – honey/miel
-grade and colour class
-name and address
-net weight
-country/province of origin
Farm gate – sold directly to consumer from producer’s place of residence
-Honey/miel
-address
Retail – needs grade and colour class as well
-grade=moisture – use a refractometer
– colour – can use colour chart, Pfund Scale Honey Grader

Standard Container Sizes are for Retail, sizes do not apply for Farm Gate sales

Comb honey label must say Comb Honey/miel en rayon. Does not need grade and colour class.
Honey substitutes are not regulated – ie honey and cinamon etc.
Federal requirements – Consumer Packaging and Labelling act – nutrition label, allergen alerts

Sarah offered to look at any of our member’s labels to check them before we would get them printed.
sarah.martz@ontario.ca, Teresa Ferreira teresa.ferreira@ontario.ca.

50/50 draw was the biggest ever – for $50!! Winner is……Roland

New.. Website set up by Craig Nakamoto, www.muskokaparrysoundbee.ca. Minutes will be posted on the website, plus dates of upcoming meetings.
Rob suggested we get a logo for the association – put the request out to our creative members.

Bee yard tour – visiting other bee yards. June 2, with rain date being 9th. We will try to have the new bee inspector, Tim Greer or our retired bee inspector Claude Dupuis. Rob was asking for a volunteer to head up a Gravenhurst/Bracebridge tour this year. Contact Rob if you would be open to having us visit your yard.

Future speakers:
May 11, Gord Sleeman – honey judging
Sept 7, Tech Transfer Team

OBA conference, March 21 – 23, BlueMountain. Check out OBA site

Registration for new beekeepers. All beekeepers must be registered with OMAFRA, it is free. This is a good thing that helps us all. Most importantly it helps to keep track of any diseases and can warn nearby beekeepers.

Liability insurance is through OBA. $96/yr., 5 million liability. You need to be a member of the OBA. Also check your home insurance. Insurance is mandatory if you sell at farmers’ market.

Upcoming courses:
Tech Transfer Team
Canadore College, Parry Sound – Beginner’s, Queen Rearing, and IPM advanced.
Classes are also offered by Scott Ferrier, Kearney.

A good source of info on beekeeping is the videos from Univeristy of Guelph.
Devon Rawn –youtube videos are another good source.

Medication update. As of December, we will need a prescription from a vet in order to buy our Oxytet antibiotic. It was suggested that Hailey from Martin Veternary services will be a good connection.

Treasurer’s report:
Crofters education grant of $2000 has now been all used. Jane will send a letter of appreciation.
$2278 on hand.
32 members have signed for 2018.

Next meeting is April 21, 9:30

Meeting adjourned at 11:00. Jim Smith moved, seconded by Roland Lalond. Passed.

OBA’s Spring Meeting – March 22,23 2018

The OBA’s Spring Meeting is set to bring you the best, most timely learning and networking just as the 2018 beekeeping season begins.

Click here to download the registration file as a PDF.

Honey Producers Day takes place on Thursday. This year there is no Honey House Tour. Instead, we’re offering simultaneous presentations that focus on honey bee health and on mead, timed to allow you to flow easily between sessions, depending on your interest. We’ve also added more content, including two keynote (and top-of-mind) presentations by Dr. Pierre Giovenazzo from Université Laval.  His first is on Selection of Varroa Sensitive Hygiene Behaviour in Honey Bees; his second on Sustaining Honey Bee Health with Probiotics.

 You’ll also learn about:

–          Ontario’s Healing Honey

–          The opportunities and challenges of Making & Marketing Mead

–          How to get ready this year for new Antibiotic requirements

–          Infrared Imaging for Winter Inspections

–          Essential practices for beekeepers

–          Best practices for transporting your bees

–          U of G’s ambitious new plans for the Honey Bee Research Centre

–          Honey labelling – always a sticky issue!

Friday’s program is aimed at anyone interested in bee breeding. Learn more about constructing Queen cell incubatorsoverwintering Queen banks, and infrared monitoring. You’ll also find out the latest on bee breeding from the ORHBS program – Ontario’s own breeding program –  and BeeOmics, the national honey bee genome project.

Bring your shopping list and meet with vendors right onsite. And plan to connect or reconnect with old friends and colleagues, while building your industry network.

We’re back at Blue Mountain due to popular demand, based on an exceptional experience in 2016. We can’t promise snow, alas. But we can promise you a memorable and content-rich experience at one of Ontario’s best-known winter resorts.

The spring meeting registration form is attached.

See you there!

Regards,

Lorna Irwin,
General Manager

Ontario Beekeepers’ Association
8560 Tremaine Rd., Box 476,
Milton, ON  L9T 4Z1
Phone (905) 636-0661  Fax (905) 636-0662

www.ontariobee.com