Everyone, We had an excellent workshop on building a bee yard /installing a bear fence this past weekend. Using our new partnership with the Lords Acre in Fairview, we have established the yard. The workshop attendees were involved in orienting the yard (north , south, east, west), components of fencing, driving fence posts, hanging insulators, stringing wire, installing grounding rods and electrical hookups. Everyone walked away with a better understanding of exactly what they should consider when placing their yard and putting it together. With the pending weather change this coming weekend, and the expectation of having early nucs not materializing, we will be combining this workshop with the workshop in April. That one appears to be on track based on deliveries for bees fromRead More
Workshop – let’s Build a Bee Yard! Joe Jenkins road – Fairview, nc 3/12/16 – 9:30am – 12:00pm
For those that are attending the workshop for ‘Let’s build a bee yard’ , on Saturday, 3/12 – 9:30am through 12:00pm. The location is the Lords Acre, located on Joe Jenkins Road in Fairview, NC. Follow hwy 74A/old charlotte highway as if you were going to lake lure to travel into Fairview. As you come into ‘downtown’ fairview, Angelo’s restaurant is on the left. Joe Jenkins road is on the right, almost directly across the road from Angelo’s. Angelo’s is approximately 7 miles from the blue ridge parkway at the 40/240 intersection. Turn right onto Joe Jenkins road. The bee yard location can be seen from hwy 74a. it is in the center of the large field, marked by a white cross onRead More
Hands-On Meeting
March 7 @ 6:30 Groce United Methodist Church BCBC meeting This is a “Hands On” meeting in stations so participants will be able to examine any of the display materials and ask questions about their uses to experienced beekeepers. The Center for Honey Bee Research’s Bee School will be finished on Sunday and we are expecting a crowd with lots of questions they need to know more about. If you have the experience, please come and answer how-to-get-started equipment questions. There will be displays of all the hive components from the bottom board (screened vs solid) to the tops, (migratory, telescoping and English garden hive tops), tools, smokers and different fuels; queen excluders and bee escapes. We will have some fencing materials on hand, plusRead More
FW: Brrrrr! its cold out! what do we do now in our bee yards!
Join us Monday, Feb 1st, 6:30pm Meeting starts at 7pm. Western NC Apiary inspector, Lewis Cauble; Varroa Destructor We hope everyone is ‘weathering the storm’ well. Its been a tough winter in many ways. Everyone should be doing a ‘heft’ test on their hives to ensure they have plenty of stores. If your hives are light, consider feeding with a candy board, sugar or other supplement for your hives. Remember, bees will not break cluster to go into a hive top feeder. The best approach is a candy board, baggie or jar feeder on top of the cluster. We will have a few examples of the various techniques setup at the next meeting. Our next meeting is Monday, Feb 1st. Gathering/mentoring time is 6:30 toRead More
Happy New Year! We hope it will ‘BEE’ abuzzzzz with activity!
Happy New year to everyone! We sincerely hope that everyone’s bee yards are in good shape, that your ladies are happy, healthy and buzzing with activity in this most unusual winter. 2016 is shaping up to be and outstanding year for beekeepers, beekeeping in general! We are doing our best to bring more educational opportunities to our members, that include more workshops, more hands on activities, more of just about everything ‘bee’ and pollinator related! Our next two meetings are: Jan 4 It may seem too early to be thinking about equipment for Spring, but it really isn’t. Do you have what you need? Does anything need to be updated? Cleaned? Thrown away? Are you going to purchase another nuc or package? Do youRead More
Happy Holidays! – reminder – NO CLUB MEETING this month!
First we want to wish everyone Happy Holidays! We hope everyones bees are warm, snug and happy on these chilly winter days and nights. A reminder that there will be no club meeting in December. Regular club meetings will resume on Monday, January 4, 2016! Now is the time to start planning for spring, which is right around the corner! Don’t forget to stay tuned into your hives during the cold. That doesn’t necessarily mean hive inspections, especially on these chilly days. But do be watchful for activity, do an occasional ‘heft’ test to ensure there is ample resources/honey for your bees in the coming cold days, etc. We will be posting the meeting calendar for next year’s meetings and events very soon. Stay tunedRead More
Come one … come all! It’s time to celebrate a great year in Beekeeping!
Our next meeting will be our annual ‘Cooking with Honey’ contest, potluck supper and discuss any issues anyone may be seeing in their bee yards this time of year. Contest entries will be received between 5:45 and 6:15. After you check in at the front desk, bring your entry to the contest table. Rules for contest entries are: Cooking with Honey Contest Recipes do not have to be original, just yummy. A recipe card must accompany the sample. No names posted on plate. Categories are: 1. Entrée- sample plate of a portion 2. Dessert- sample plate of a portion, can be baked or not 3. Other- sample of sauce, bread, snack, etc. 4. Presentation- a delight to the beekeepers’ eye, the whole plate mustRead More
Fall Test dates for Master Beekeepers Program announced!
Our fall regions testing for Journeyman and Master Beekeepers are set. Test at each location is at 10 am. The date and locations are: Piedmont Region, October 3, 2015 at NC Cooperative Extension Ctr. Chatham County Center 65 East Chatham St. Pittsboro, NC 27312 Mountain Region, October 24,2015 at Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center 455 Research Drive Mills River, NC 28759 Coastal Region, October 31, 2015 at NC Cooperative Ext. Pitt County Center 403 Government Circle, Suite 2 Greenville, NC 27834 Any NCSBA member wishing to test for Journeyman or Master may attend. There is no charge for testing. Signup not required, but if you plan to attend email me at beefarmer1349@gmail.com . — Paul Newbold Chairman, Master Beekeeper Committee beefarmer1349@gmail.com 252-264-0245 HRead More
Toe-Cane Beekeepers Assoc: Natural Beekeeping Author Ross Conrad to speak in Burnsville, NC on Nov 9 — Free Event
Natural Beekeeping Author Ross Conrad to speak in Burnsville November 9th The Toe Cane Beekeepers Association present a special evening with author and beekeeper Ross Conrad on November 9, 2015 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Burnsville Town Center. Admission is FREE. Conrad will be speaking on overwintering and spring management of bees and the evolution of the beekeeper. There will be refreshments and time for discussion as well. Conrad is a former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, a regular contributor to Bee Culture–The Magazine of American Beekeeping, and author of Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture. Ross has given bee-related presentations and led organic beekeeping workshops and classes throughout North America for many years. His beekeeping business, Dancing Bee Gardens, suppliesRead More
come one .. come all! its definitely time for Fall and a little Urban Beekeeping as well!
We hope everyone is ‘weathering’ the beginning of fall this year! We have great diversity in our Buncombe County Beekeepers Chapter in people, hive styles, attitudes, technique, and so forth. We also have a wide variety of beekeepers and where they actually do the keeping. We all know of bee “farmers” out there whose hives are many and in various locations, but we also know about those in city limits who work their beekeeping magic in small apiaries in their back yards. And that’s who we’re going to feature at our October bee meeting, October 5th. We have Charles Meyers and his lovely wife coming to discuss the challenges and rewards of Urban Beekeeping. It’s also that time of year to begin membership renewals forRead More