Polk County News
6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 16, 2017
Beekeeper shares interest
George Woodward talks all about bees at Polk County Fair display
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
RICKREALL — George
Woodward likes Oregon
honeybees.
OK, so technically, honey-
bees aren’t native to Oregon
or the United States, but
they have been beneficial
since being introduced.
Woodward, a master bee-
keeper, speculates bees im-
ported from states like
Hawaii and California react
to Oregon the way people
do — thinking it’s beautiful
and plant-filled, but what’s
with all the dreary rain?
“I figure they are beach
bums,” he said. “They are
used to warm weather.”
He gets his bees from
people who raise them in
the Willamette Valley.
Woodward talked about his
“more than hobby” at the
Polk County Fair on Friday
and Saturday at the Polk Soil
& Water Conservation Dis-
trict booth.
He picked up beekeeping
out of curiosity. Members of
his family had been bee-
keepers, so he decided to
give it a go.
Woodward found a men-
tor while picking up his
Christmas tree several years
ago. He noticed a bee box at
the tree farm.
Woodward asked the
owner about the bees, but
the tree farmer said: “Ah.
You don’t want to do bees”
and walked away. The next
year, the farmer did the
same thing.
Finally, on his third try,
Woodward got the tree
farmer to talk about bees.
“He said, ‘You want to do
bees, come back after
Christmas,’ so I came back
after Christmas,” he said.
Woodward said the
farmer sat down with him
and helped him pick out
equipment and gear from
supply house Mann Lake.
Woodward bought two
hives and was off and running.
During the first year, some of
his queen bees fell victim to
what could be described as
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Polk County Fair attendees check out a hive of George Woodward’s bees on Saturday.
Woodward gave an “intro to beekeeping” presentation on Friday and Saturday.
helicopter parenting.
“I was in my bees all the
time,” he said. “Sometimes
every other day or at least
once a week, I would get in
there to check them out to
see how they were doing.”
It was too much. He
ended up killing a few of his
queens.
He learned a few more
lessons on the way, such as
how easy it is to turn two
hives into eight without
meaning to.
Early in his beekeeping
days, his backyard hives
were getting out of hand.
One was about to swarm,
meaning half the hive was
getting ready to fly off with
the queen and find a new
home. At that point, he was
limited to five hives.
“I’m in West Salem with a
backyard beekeeping per-
mit,” he said. “They actually
have laws about this stuff.”
He and his mentor re-
arranged his hives before
the bees swarmed, but then
they had another problem.
After moving the bees
around, he had eight hives,
more than allowed in a
backyard.
“My wife’s like, ‘umm,
that’s illegal,’” Woodward
recalled.
Four years into his hobby,
he spends two days each
week working with his
bees — he’s also a full-time
electrician — and maintains
a bee yard on a 41-acre
property off Kings Valley
Highway.
As a DIY kind of guy, he’s
quite happy with his honey-
making hobby.
Those who are interested
can order equipment and
bees from supply houses. He
recommends getting a suit,
smoker, hive tool, hive box
and feeder to start out with.
You can customize your
equipment as much as you
want from there.
He said keepers can find
more bees by putting them-
selves on a list to collect
swarms when people call to
have them removed from
their property.
His advice is to find a
local beekeeper who is sell-
ing what are called nucleus
colonies or “nucs” that have
hive and queen that are al-
ready compatible. Packaged
bees can sometimes reject
the queens placed with
them — and local nucs
come with another benefit.
“They know what they are
getting into with the rain
and what we’ve got for
weather,” Woodward said.
Most important, Wood-
ward said would-be bee-
keepers should attend “bee
school.”
Most beekeeping clubs
offer it in some fashion.
Chemeketa Community
College has a three-night
course to teach you about
what you are in for.
“Excellent head start,”
Woodward said. “They really
give you a hand up. ... They
cover everything under the
sun.”
For more information
about beekeeping:
Willamette Valley Beekeep-
ers
Association:
wvbahive.org/.
For more on pollinators,
see next week’s I-O. For bee
trivia go to www.polkio.com.
Recycle this
newspaper.
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Dash McNett won three ribbons for his photos.
Young photographer
shines at Polk fair
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
RICKREALL — Dasheill
“Dash” McNett, 7, enjoys
taking photos with his
Canon Rebel — and, if the
number of ribbons on his
Polk County Fair submis-
sions suggests anything, he
has an eye for photography.
“I just do it because it’s
fun,” he said.
His repertoire includes
animals, people, land-
scapes and other various
projects organized by the
Dallas Photography Club.
In one club-led experiment
in water photography, you
can barely make out a Lego
Batman figure. The piece is
titled “The Dark Knight
Sinks.”
Strolling through the
photography exhibits at the
fair, Dash’s name can be
found in each category.
Here, a panoramic shot
of Oregon’s Painted Hills.
There, a collage of his soc-
cer team playing a match.
“My mom and I decided
which one was the best pic-
ture and put the rest
around it,” Dash said. “It
was my soccer team.”
Fortunately, his coach
didn’t mind him sitting that
match out to practice his
photography skills, Dash
said.
His mom, Marita Barth,
said she gave Dash his
Rebel when she upgraded
her own camera. Both
using Canons, they can
share lenses.
Dash won a first-place
award at the fair for a por-
trait of his friend’s dog.
“They said they would
pay me for taking a pic-
ture,” he said. So far, it’s
been his only paying job.
With his skills, it likely
won’t be his last.
Dash is pleased with how
well he did at the fair —
three ribbons, so far. He
said he wasn’t sure “partic-
ipant” ribbons should
count.
Barth said her son’s work
is very different from what
she sees.
“I tend to dampen
things, he’s, ‘Brighter!
Louder!’” she said. “Both
can still be good.”
FCC rule affects
Dallas’ decision on
meeting recordings
Itemizer-Observer staff report
Join us for a celebration 70 years in the making!
In 1947, Dallas Retirement Village opened its doors as a small care
center for seniors in Dallas. Over the years, we evolved into an active,
flourishing neighborhood providing all the opportunities and
conveniences residents want and need. You’re invited to help us
celebrate 70 wonderful years of fellowship, friendship and fun.
Thursday, August 24 • 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
The Lodge Clubhouse 225 NW Jasper St., Dallas, Oregon 97338
8th Season! Thursdays!
• Enjoy delicious appetizers and refreshments.
• Experience the new Lodge Clubhouse,
featuring the Cascade Commons and Clubhouse Grill.
• Mix & mingle with residents.
May - Sept 10 am - 3 pm
RSVP for yourself and a guest 503-623-9211
Share your memories.
If you have any historical photos or
memorabilia of Dallas Retirement Village,
please contact Lindsey Horton at 503-623-1747
prior to the event.
Still need to stock up on
groceries before the
BIG eclipse weekend?
Come shop with us to pick up your
fruits & veggies, meat (yak, beef,
pork & rabbit), poultry (duck and
chicken), eggs (duck and chicken),
canned goods, fresh cut flowers,
Artisan breads, pastries,
confections, shrubs, glazed nuts,
dipping sauces, wine and more! We
have a full house of vendors this
week to serve you!
• NO LINES
• NO HASSLE PARKING
• FRESH LOCAL GOODS from those
who grow it or make it
• HOT FOOD
• LIVE MUSIC: Cash & Company
11am to 1pm
DALLAS — The city of Dal-
las recently began looking
into making videos of its
council meetings, but a pro-
posed Federal Communica-
tion Commission rule may
prevent that.
The proposal would re-
quire closed captioning on
videos, greatly increasing the
cost of providing the service,
said Dallas City Manager
Ron Foggin.
Councilor Micky Garus in
July suggested the city inves-
tigate ways to take video of
meetings.
“No sooner had we start-
ed looking into that that the
FCC has decided that it’s
going to require every agency
that offers any kind of public
hearing or public video of
their meetings to require
them to do closed caption-
ing,” Foggin said at the coun-
cil’s Aug. 7 meeting. “We are
actually having to slow down
on that idea because until
the FCC decides that, that
would be extremely, ex-
tremely expensive.”
He said government agen-
cies that already provide the
service are weighing in on
the potential rule, saying it
would force them to stop be-
cause of the expense.
“We want to do it. We are
anxious to do it, but this rule
might change that,” Foggin
said.
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