MEAD DAY is coming this Saturday, Aug 5, from 10am-2pm!! If you've EVER been curious about mead, this is the event to attend. Bring a friend or two! Mead Day Activities will include: * Bus rides to site from Midwest available (contact alboyce(a)bigfoot.com ) * Mead Day t-shirts, etc available - http://www.cafepress.com/meadday/ - STORE CLOSES AUG. 6th!! * Curt Stock, past Meadmaker of the Year, presentation at 10am - get there EARLY! * Varietal honey tasting * Tour of working beehives * Demonstration of honey extraction * Mead tasting * Mead making * Selection of MhBA Champion for AHA National Club-Only Mead competition * Honey for sale - bring money! * AHA Memberships available (new and renewal) at a $5 discount ($33). NEW MEMBERS will get a FREE COPY of Ken Schramm's "The Compleat Meadmaker" from the AHA! (See Al Boyce, AHA Club Liaison if you're interested. NEED NOT BE AT MEAD DAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS!) * Pot-luck snacking. Bring some snacks to share also (something to soak up the mead would be good....) This year, we will be having a joint meeting with the Minnesota Hobby Beekeeper's Association (the OTHER MHBA!) Mead Day will take place at a working bee apiary, at: Russ and Winnie Johnson's farm 23114 Variolite St Elk River, MN 55330 According to MhBA President John Longballa, honey will be for sale, perhaps only from the Johnsons (who have hundreds of pounds), but perhaps from the beekeepers who show up. It was mentioned in the bee newsletter to bring honey to sell to the homebrewers. If you're making mead, as long as we've got sanitizer, 6-10 packages of yeast, O2, nutrients, and a hydrometer or refractometer, we should be good to go. Some folks might need to heat the must to dissolve the honey, and a spoon wouldn't hurt, but there probably won't be tons of beekeepers making mead that day, IMHO. The Johnsons have well water out of the hose, so no worries about chlorine. EAT BEFORE YOU COME, and if you're coming by car, bring a designated driver! WHAT TO BRING: * Mead to Share * 2 bottles of Mead for our hosts * 1 bottle of Mead for Wilbur, our bus driver (if you're taking the hbus) * Pot-luck snacks to share * Stuff for making mead (if you're interested) * Light-colored clothing - bees tend to react agressively to darker colors (advice from Rick Oftel) * WEAR your Mead-Day t-shirts, if you bought them (ALL light-colored! :-D) * MONEY (if you want to ride the mead bus at 8:30am from Midwest - returning by 3pm - $15) * MONEY (if you want to buy honey from Russ and Winnie, or other beekeepers - $??) * MONEY (if you want to join/renew the AHA - American Homebrewer's Association - $33... $5 discount!) * MONEY (if you want to join/renew the MhBA - $15) See you all there! - Al ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Electronic Privacy Notice. This e-mail, and any attachments, contains information that is, or may be, covered by electronic communications privacy laws, and is also confidential and proprietary in nature. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you are legally prohibited from retaining, using, copying, distributing, or otherwise disclosing this information in any manner. Instead, please reply to the sender that you have received this communication in error, and then immediately delete it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. ==============================================================================