Author: Scott Davis

Make sure you’ve eaten before you come to our next meeting, June 1st, because the bee club is providing the dessert! Have you ever been to The Hop ice cream shop? Ever eaten honey IN your ice cream?  The Hop has agreed to try out a new recipe using honey (remember our “make it with honey” contest later this summer!), it’s called honey lavender Vanilla vegan, and we’ll be serving it up at our meeting, along with a tub of vanilla and a tub of chocolate. BUT, we invite you all to bring in your favorite ice cream toppings -anything you fancy! The club will provide the dishes, napkins, and spoons. While you’re eating your ice cream, we’ll learn more about the re-labeling of pesticidesRead More

Newbees and intermediates both sometimes have trouble lighting a smoker, and then keeping it lit! It definitely takes some talent and finesse to be a good smoker.  Do you know who’s a really good professional Smoker?  Our friend and Master Beekeeper Edd Buchanan from Black Mountain! He’s going to provide tips and opportunities to light YOUR smoker and there’s word that there will be a contest involved!  Bring your smoker in for a tune-up and a refresher course – and stay after while Edd reviews the Spring honey flow. There will also be  a raffle/drawing for a hive, complete with Bees, at the meeting. This is a continuation of the hive raffle that was started at the CHBR bee school this past weekend. Members will againRead More

Hi BCBC Members- Have you been studying or keeping honeybees for a year? Are you a member of our parent organization NC SBA (we can sign you up, if not)? Have you been to a Bee School? Then, YOU ARE READY! The 30 minute written Initially Certified test (multiple choice) will be given on Thursday between 1 – 5 pm on Thursday, April 16, 2015. Meet upstairs above Ag Extension (follow signs) at 94 Coxe Ave. Either park in the lot across the street or park at that second floor entrance accessed by Hilliard Ave. The Master Beekeeping Program is our state’s NC SBA stair-step program to help you gain sufficient knowledge about the honeybee to be a good beekeeper. We want you to be aRead More

Do you know how to build your own bee hive?  Curious about observation hives?  This post bee school hands-on workshop/Meeting is for you! Aprils meeting will let you visit different workstations to extend what you learned at bee school, or simply pick up a few new skills as a beekeeper.  Bring your equipment to the meeting and lets build it together! got questions on how to do a real hive inspection? Come take a hive apart and do a guided inspection! What’s up with frames? how does that work? Visit the frame workstation and get answers to your questions. Bring your fames and lets build them together! Feeding? Feeders? how do they REALLY fit on a hive and work? how do you feed in a Top BarRead More

Come to tonight’s BCBC meeting and let’s get in the mood for spring beekeeping! We’re going to pack a one-two punch using the talents of Sarah Eshan as tonight’s emcee. Brother Allen from Haywood county Beekeepers is our new regional NCSBA representative. he will give us a short update on NCSBA activities. Next is a  slideshow of some of our members’ bee yards with a bit of discussion of the pros and cons of  each in terms of location, light, wildlife, etc. Then Sarah will discuss the needful things of new beekeepers in terms of equipment.  Should be a great program with lots of information! Members will again have the opportunity to renew their membership to BCBC.  Membership applications/renewal forms are available here. —————————————————————————————————————————- Reminder, if youRead More

a HUGE thank you to Dave Cowart and Jon Christie for a very educational, enjoyable session on what to look for in our Bee Yards this time of year. They brought in demo hives, complete with a ‘Dead out’ to show what to look for, and how to learn from our deadouts. This time of year can be very troubling to manage our hives. its very easy for the Queen to start laying lots of  brood on days like we have had recently. Lots of brood results in lots of bees early in the year, which raises the possibility of starvation early or swarming earlier than usual. Everyone should be diligent on watching their hive activity and ensuring there are plenty of resources available ifRead More

Everyone, The BCBC meeting for February has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 9th due to the weather. Our policy follows Buncombe County School policy. Buncombe county schools are closing 3 hours early today due to weather concerns. There are also concerns about black ice on the roads this evening. We are rescheduling our meeting to take place on Monday, Feb 9th. The meeting will start at 7pm sharp. our speakers have already confirmed their availability as well! Don’t forget that this week is the Joint NCSBA/SCBA meeting. The meeting is being held in Monroe, this coming Thursday/Friday/Saturday. We strongly urge everyone to attend as the sessions are informative and fun! More information can be found at NCSBA/SC Joint Meeting Dont neglect your hives this timeRead More

Tonight’s main topic will be presented by Dave Cowart and Jon Christie. It will be a fun and informative meeting! As of 10am we do plan on having our meeting tonight at the regular time. The weather , while iffy, is showing signs of clearing up already. Please check the website later today in case the weather turns for the worse. We will also send email announcements to the membership as needed throughout the day. Also, a reminder to everyone that joined the state NCSBA. You will be able to pick up your membership cards tonight at the meeting, if you joined NCSBA through the club. They will be available at the check-in table this evening. You can click on the link at the bottomRead More

Have you ever taken a look at your bee yard and saw something going on that you just couldn’t identify?  Why are they walking around on the ground, looking confused? Why are there bees flying and poking around the lid of my hive? Are the “thousands” of bees flying around my hive just happy-go-lucky and glad to be outside, or are they being robbed? If you’ve had these experiences, or any others of note, you’ll be glad you came to our February 2nd monthly bee meeting at Groce Methodist Church.  We’ll have help with these conundrums, hear those of other beekeepers, and provide you with some answers! Do you have a “trick” you tried in your bee yard that you were sure would fix “that”Read More