Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association
Charter: For the charitable purpose of promoting interest in honey bees and beekeeping by encouraging good beekeeping practices in Illinois, promoting the utilization of honey, pollination of agricultural crops, and the dissemination of information about bees and beekeeping in northern Illinois.”
The Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association (NIBA) meets six times a year in Woodstock, Illinois. Membership is open to all interested in beekeeping and related activities. NIBA is affiliated with the Illinois State Beekeepers Association (ISBA) and its members will receive the newsletters and membership benefits from both organizations.
NIBA Members: Please take our NIBA membership survey before the September meeting!
Next Meeting *** Friday,
Oct. 17, 2008 ***
The Program will be Elections (Important!), Honey Tasting (bring yours!), and Winter preparation. We will also be having a raffle of donated beekeeping items to benefit our club. Please bring your "Swap and Sell" items for the table (beekeeping-related items only please.) as last month was quite successful. We look forward to seeing you there.
Please get the word out to ALL INTERESTED BEEKEEPERS who might want to attend!
NIBA Meetings
NIBA Meetings are held at 7:30pm on the third Friday of the month (February, March, April, May, September, and October of each year) at the McHenry County Farm Bureau (1102 McConnell Road, in Woodstock, IL). Please come join us
as everyone is welcome! The remaining NIBA meeting dates for 2008 are: October 17. We will be holding elections at October meeting!
Meeting Dates for 2009 will be February 20, March 20, April 17, May 15, June 19, September 18, October 16. We would like to have a Summer Outing in July or August and then we have the McHenry County Fair from July 29 through August 2, 2009.
NIBA sincerely thanks the McHenry County Farm Bureau for providing us with a convenient meeting place. They coordinate “Agriculture in the Classroom” every other year and feature Beekeeping and its benefits to agriculture. That’s important to us all. Please consider joining the Farm Bureau. There are numerous discounts and benefits available to all IFB members at a modest cost in support of their objectives.
IMPORTANT Announcements
· The McHenry County Fair was a success thanks to all of those who helped out and/or donated honey in support of our educational and
information dissemination purposes. Some photos will appear on the Photobucket site soon. We also have an great insight to beekeeping in the form of a “Beekeeping Equation” that was penned on the Official Price List for the Fair.
· Speaker Needed – The Woodstock Garden Club is looking for a guest speaker
Consider Joining Us
Membership is open to anyone interested in beekeeping or in bee, honey, or related activities.
NIBA dues include membership in the Illinois State Beekeepers Association so you also receive their newsletter and benefits like discounts on the two Beekeeping Journals. Dues for 2008 will be $15 and may be paid at any of the club meeting or mailed to our Treasurer Doug Hawthorne. We must receive your dues payment by the
Download our Membership Form and return with the appropriate payment(s). Please make checks payable to Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association. Bee Orders are due by March 28, 2008 meeting.
c/o Doug Hawthorne
7517
Status of the C.C. Miller Collection at
C.C. Miller (born Charles C. Miller although he was always referred to as C.C.) became an important figure in beekeeping in this country. Of meager roots he became a physician but his nature and his health did not permit him to become successful in his actual practice. He eventually settled in Marengo, IL and is reported to have became a beekeeper as a result of a swarm of bees that took residence on the porch of his home in 1861. He became a rather prominent figure in beekeeping by way of his writings and has been described as the largest comb honey producer in this country at that time.
Miller began his personal account of the honey business in 1886 with “A Year Among the Bees,” in which he announced he had "made the production of honey his exclusive business" for eight years. This was expanded into “Forty Years Among the Bees” (1903, 2nd ed. 1906),
and then into his classic, “Fifty Years Among the Bees” (1911), culminating with “A Thousand Answers to Beekeeping Questions” (1917). Miller also edited the “American Bee Journal” and produced a popular monthly advice column answering reader's questions. In honor of his fifty years of writing about apiculture, and his gift of his personal beekeeping library, the
Jill Rosenshield, currently Curator of the C.C. Miller collection at UW Madison, reports that they have nearly completed cataloging the books in the Charles C. Miller Memorial Apicultural Library. You can go to http://www.library.wisc.edu and type in the author: “Charles C. Miller Memorial Apicultural Library” to see the 2361 + titles. Eventually the collection will be digitized by Google, although a rather large number of titles will not be able to be digitized because they are too fragile or because they are bound together (i.e. several distinct titles in one volume). Further updates on the progress of this project will be reported here.
NIBA Officers and Volunteer Positions
President: Erik Whalen-Pedersen - NIBA(at)mchsi.com
Vice President: Kevin Keyfauver - Keyfauver(at)gmail.com
Treasurer: Doug Hawthorne – foodman52(at)aol.com
Secretary: Rand Graham - randgraham(at)sbcglobal.net
Director/NewBee Coordinator: Larry Krengel – lkrengel(at)mc.net
Director/SweetStuff Editor: Josef Magyar – sweetstuff(at)epros.com
Director: tbd
Historian: Father Time (We need someone … )
Librarian: Dewey Decimal (We need someone … )
Senior Web Lackee: Erik Whalen-Pedersen – NIBA(at)mchsi.com
NIBA Summer Meeting Coordinator – Janice Franco - JKFranco(at)aol.com
McHenry County Fair Coordinator – Lynn Rosemann
Our Sponsored 4-H Beekeeper: Bob Stockwell (Good showing at the Fair, dude!)
Essential Information for All Beekeepers in Illinois
Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act
Illinois Administrative Code - Bees and Beekeeping
Illinois Apiary Registration Form (Required Annually for ALL Beekeepers!)
Illinois Apiary Inspectors
Illinois Apiary Inspection Regions
NIBA Member Information – Fair Info, Newsletters and Events
Illinois State Beekeepers Association
Illinois State Beekeepers Association Discussion Forum
Bee-L - Discussion of Beekeeping Issues & Bee Biology
BeeSource - Discussion Forum
Beekeeping Resources (Bee Supplies, Publications, DIY Plans)
Midwest Beekeeper - Free Newsletter Download
A Rogues Gallery of Common Stinging Insects
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Bees
Our "Don't Try This at Home" Page
Email NIBA - Whether you're just interested in Beekeeping in Northern Illinois or are you are a member in need of some additional information, you can contact us by sending an e-mail: NIBA(at)mchsi.com
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