Haywood Beekeepers Meeting February 2

The Haywood County Beekeepers Association will have their next monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 2, at 7:00PM at the Haywood County Extension Center located at 589 Raccoon Road. The topic of the night is "Spring Build Up" and will be presented by Phil Holbert, a long time beekeeper from neighboring Henderson County. All are invited! For more information call the Extension Center at (828) 456-3575.

Born & Bred in NC

The NC State Apiculture Program is pleased to announce a new state-wide training initiative. We have recently secured a grant through the Golden LEAF Foundation to hold numerous workshops on queen rearing and clinics on bee breeding.

Most beekeepers acquire new stock by purchasing newly mated queen bees from large commercial queen producers, mostly located in the Southeast (GA and FL) or the west coast (CA), and then introducing them to their hives. This large-scale, national queen production strategy has several inherent problems, most notably an unreliable supply of queens, difficulties in obtaining queens when they’re needed, and a lack of local genetic adaptation. We believe that local, small-scale queen producers located across NC is a viable alternative model for obtaining queens, which will enable individual beekeepers to control the genetic destiny in their own hives. In doing so, we hope to elicit every beekeeper in North Carolina to implement their own queen-rearing program if they so choose.

We will hold numerous queen-rearing workshops during the spring of 2010 in various locations all across the state. The purpose of the workshops will be to educate a large number of beekeepers in basic queen-rearing techniques (e.g., creating cell-builder colonies, grafting, establishing mating nucleus hives, etc…). Each workshop will be open to all beekeepers and the general public, capped at a maximum enrollment (roughly 50 participants, depending on the venue) on a first-come first-serve basis (concurrent sessions will be considered if demand warrants). In doing so, we will conduct separate workshops in each of the major geographic areas across the state to take advantage of the appropriate seasonality: roughly March for Eastern NC, April for Central NC, and May for Western NC. At each event, we will conduct hands-on training exercises that participants can implement immediately, and we will incorporate evaluations and surveys to collect information on each participant for subsequent follow up. These trainings are geared towards all beekeepers at all levels and aimed at helping to provide the tools and know-how in raising your own queens.

We are currently coordinating the logistics of these workshops and clinics, and we will announce the dates and locations as they become available. As more details emerge, we will post them on our web site at:

http://entomology.ncsu.edu/apiculture/BornAndBred.html

If you are interested in participating in any of these exciting opportunities, please fill out the contact information form and send it in to the NC Apiculture Program. We will contact you as offerings become available. Of course, information will be strictly confidential and used only for direct mailings and not further disseminated.

We are very pleased to be given this opportunity to offer trainings in queen rearing and bee breeding, and we look forward to working with the beekeepers in North Carolina on this initiative.

2010 Bee School

Want to get started with Honey Bees? Intimidated by your bees? Don’t know what to do with your hives? Want to learn about swarms? Varroa mites? More advanced beekeeping techniques? Want to work towards your Certified Beekeeper qualification? Then the Beginning Beekeeping School sponsored by the NC Cooperative Extension Service and the Haywood County Beekeepers Association is just for you!

This six week course on Monday nights will feature lots of practical lessons and demonstrations and will benefit not only the beginning beekeeper but the experienced one as well. Not only will you have the opportunity to learn much about honey bees and beekeeping, but you will also meet others in our area that are interested in bees.

Beginning Monday, February 1, and held every Monday through March 8 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at the Haywood County Extension Center, 589 Raccoon Road, Waynesville, NC, 28786. A class fee of $25 will cover the cost of materials. Pre-registration is requested by calling the Extension Center at 456-3575.

Haywood Beekeepers Association Officially Forms

Haywood County now has a beekeeping group all its own. Some 40+ beekeepers came together late in 2009 and formed the Haywood County Beekeepers Association. General membership is $10/person, or $15/couple, or $5/student. As another benefit/option, you can also join the NC State Beekeepers Association through the local club for a $15 fee.

Officers elected include Kathy Taylor as President, Allen Blanton as Vice President, and Sheryl Cuppy as Secretary/Treasurer.

The club meets at the Haywood Extension Center, 589 Raccoon Road, at 7:00PM on the first Tuesday night of each month.

Make plans to come join us!