Monday, October 25, 2010

Regular Meeting, October 20, 2010

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Attendance today was 25, including guests Dave & Linda Grahek, Bob Sharkey, Christine Tikkanen, Linda Lowell, and Elden Johnson,President of Houghton Rotary.

President Tim reminded the Club of the following dates:

Ø Friday December 03: Bell Ringing at Pat’s IGA in Calumet.

Ø Tuesday February 15, 2011: Club Visioning project at 5 p.m. at the Irish Times. We need and Expect all members to attend. No Wednesday meeting on February 16.

Ø Friday March 11, 2011: CLK annual Rotary Community Spaghetti Dinner project at Irish Times.

A variety of announcements and happy dollars: Tom Tikkanen introduced his daughter Airman Christina Tikkanen. She has just graduated from the USAF Intelligence training school and is enjoying a short leave. Amy Roberts announced she had BSA popcorn for sale and raffle tickets for CLK Jr. Hockey.

Elden Johnson gave a brief update on the CHOICES program. Last year 400 students received the program. This year over 500 area students will see the CHOICES message. Elden, and Jim Lowell, our CHOICES chairperson. need more Rotary members to train as presenters.

Program: Jim Lowell talked about his experiences as a bee-keeper. Jim demonstrated how a hive was assembled and explained the function of the brood hives as opposed to the Super where the honey is produced.

We learned the queen uses the brood hives for laying eggs that produce worker bees. The worker bees fly to the various flowers & plants to collect nectar. That process also pollinates plants. Jim told us the true value of bees is their ability to pollinate. A secondary value is the honey.

One of the questions asked was how the bees are prepared for winter. Jim said he removes the Supers and leaves only brood hives. He wraps the hive (containing several brood hives) in waxed cardboard for insulation. The bees will stay inside until temps exceed 40 degrees then they will leave for a cleansing flight. Jim explained one of the threats was ice build up over the combs which stops the bees from having food and they starve. He needs to remove moisture to reduce the chances of ice buildup.

A very interesting program. Thanks Jim!

Request: I need a CLK Rotary member to help write this blog. Would be good to have 2 authors and rotate every quarter. Contact Dan Dalquist.

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