Submitted by Sharon Christ
Sec.-Treas. West Central Beekeeping
West Central Beekeeping Association has completed yet another successful year in the art and education of beekeeping in our tri-county area.
WCBA provided a free beekeeping class to their members in the spring of 2010, and at the completion of the class, through assistance of grant moneies and cost sharing projects, was able to introduce another 30 plus hives of bees into the local agricultural area.
During the summer of 2010, the association received a grant from the WV Department of Agriculture, which assisted in the purchase of approximately 20 WV raised queen bees, in hopes of developing a more sustainable gene pool of winter hardy bees.
The state beekeeping association has provided an extractor to be shared between the Clay County Beekeeping Association and West Central Beekeeping Association.
Some of the members of WCBA participated in research being done by Fairmont State College on the disease of Nosema, which is one of the major killers of our honey bee population.
WCBA will be offering yet another class, beginning January 22, at the West Fork Community Building, open to anyone who wishes to attend, and will be financed through a small fee charged for the class, along with other fundraising events. This year's class will branch out to include a new Fruit Tree/Berry program, in hopes to provide more fruit type pollen which will, in turn, increase honey production and hopefully healthier bees. The art of tree grafting will be taught in this segment of the class.
We are looking forward to another very active and productive year of beekeeping in West Virginia.
| 
