Buncombe County Beekeepers Club (BCBC) A Website by Beekeepers in Western North Carolina, for Bee Keepers everywhere!

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

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

its September! Fair, Fall Feedings, winter preparations are well under way! First and foremost, this month’s normal meeting date falls on Labor Day. Because it is a holiday, we will not have a meeting in September. It’s also Western North’s State Fair time! Many of us will be busy with setting up the Honey and Beekeeping display at the fair, as well as staffing the booth to help educate the public on Bees, pollinators and beekeeping in general. It’s also a great way to introduce your products for sale to the public as well. Its almost (officially) fall!  Everyone should have their mite assessments done, feeding as needed should be underway. It’s a wonderful time of year to start slowing down and enjoying the seasonalRead More

WNC State Fair – Volunteers needed! We had the opportunity to meet and greet Lewis Cauble, our new Western NC Apiary Inspector. Anyone interested in volunteering to work a timeslot at the Beekeeping exhibit at the WNC state fair can contact Lewis at Lewis.Cauble@ncagr.gov, or call him at 828.230.4544 Remember, if you are working toward your NC Master Beekeeping certificate, these hours count for the community service credits toward your MBP Certification! We will also be needing assistance to setup the booth display for the fair. If you are interested in helping with the setup this year, please contact me  (Scott Davis) at honey@fancybearfarms.com  

From our friends at the NCSU Buncombe County Extension Office… The next Buncombe County Friends of Ag Breakfast, happening August 18th at 7am, will host Phyllis Styles speaking about pollinators and the important work of BeeCity. If you have clients or club members that may be interested in attending, please help circulate the attached flyer.  Thanks!!   august-2015-friends-of-ag-breakfast-flyer.pdf

Thanks to everyone that attended. We covered a LOT of ground on feeding, assessment, treating, WNC Fair entries, WNC State Fair volunteer opportunities and other things. ———–General announcements —————— Bee CITY USA… Bee City USA is partnering with OrganicFest to present Asheville’s 14th Organicfest celebration on Sunday, August 30. The theme for this year is “Bee Organic” with a focus to share the benefits of organics for people AND pollinators! OrganicFest is from 10:00 to 6:00 at Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville. At our booth in the children’s section we will be putting wings and antennae on kids all day, and helping to lead the Pollinator Parade at 1:00.  We will also be talking about bees and other pollinators, passing out literature, and sellingRead More

Can you believe the summer is almost over?  We truly hope everyone was able to enjoy a good honey flow, that your hives are healthy, packed full of honey and pollen, and in decent shape as we start into the fall season. The approach of late summer/early fall brings us the WNC State Fair! As well as (potentially) the dreaded Dearth, Explosions in the mite population, concerns about stores, do we have enough? What do we do if we need to feed? Etc. With that in mind, our next meeting is exactly on these topics! The main presentation will be on feeding, how do we do that? What do we watch for? Following that we will have demonstrations on mite assessments, and.. once you haveRead More

Happy Summer everyone!   I truly hope that everyone’s colonies are happy, healthy and full of life and honey! The sourwood flow is in full swing, and has been for a couple of weeks now. Everywhere you go, you can see Sourwood trees in full bloom! The NC State beekeepers meeting starts Thursday in Lake Junaluska in Waynesville. Since it is so close, I truly hope everyone takes advantage of this golden opportunity to attend the sessions and benefit from it being in our back yard , so to speak. The conference agenda may be viewed here (IF you are a member of the NC State beekeepers association ) There is a group of BCBC ‘Beeks’ that will be taking the Journeyman level certification test forRead More

 You went to Bee School but want to brush up? You didn’t go to Bee School and want to learn more about your honey bees?   Buncombe County Beekeepers Chapter (BCBC is sponsoring a field day for membership and guests on June 6th, this Saturday, 10:30 til about 1:30 in a field off Lake Eden Rd. in Black Mountain. (Look for signs) Bring your own lunch and jaw a while about our NC state insect. There will be many activities in and around the honey bee hives with Jon Christie of Wild Mountain Bees. Bring protective gear! We’re going to get you up close and maybe in the hive! (Port-a-Jon available/ Bring a chair if you want to sit.)  10:30-11:30 Stations set up on; 1. SugarRead More

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