Steve Porter, last month’s speaker and Past President of the Roanoke Beekeepers will be having a field day at his house – June the 15th at 6:30 PM!!! There will be refreshments and snacks available as we are all invited to go through Steve’s bee yard with members of the Roanoke club.

There are sure to be lots of knowledgeable beekeepers there for all you new folks, as well as things to learn for those of you who have been keeping bees for awhile!

His address is 9150 Sontag Rd – Rocky Mount VA 24151

Our speaker for the May meeting will be Steve Porter, Past President of the Blue Ridge Beekeepers Association in Roanoke.

Steve will be discussing bee biology and the reasons why bees swarm as well as methods for swarm prevention and capture. He is an experienced beekeeper and presenter and his program is sure to be one you won’t want to miss!

A short bio on our guest can be found below:

    Steve rebuilds starters, alternators and generators and has his own rebuild shop in Boones Mill, VA (Porter’s Automotive Rebuilders) since 1984.

He has been a beekeeper since December 2011 and was going to name his bee farm Steve’s Bees, but after his daughter Abigail was injured in an ATV accident Steve changed the name to AB-BEES.

Steve is a member of the VA, N.C., and WVA state beekeepers associations and enjoys going to all the State meetings. In 2014 he became vice president of Blue Ridge Beekeepers in Roanoke, VA and was President from 2016 and 2017. He is also a member of Moonshine Beekeepers in Franklin County.

Steve has done many basic beekeeping speeches for beginners for his clubs and the Bedford library systems. Currently, Steve is an apprentice level in the VA. State Master Beekeepers Program and has taken the journeyman level test and is waiting on the results.

Above all else, he enjoys sharing his love for bees with other beekeepers.

Important note: There will be a field day to inspect hives at Dadant, Sunday afternoon (04/09/17) around 2-3pm.

Our monthly meeting this month will be on 04/13/17 at 7pm at Dadant. During this meeting we will be talking about different ways by which to raise queens. This discussion will cover the ‘why and the how’ of queen rearing and will go over different methods as well as some of the equipment used in those methods.

Sneak peak at some of the equipment and methods that will be covered:

THIS SATURDAY – MARCH 25TH AT 1PM WE WILL BE DEMONSTRATING A SPLIT AT THE DADANT BRANCH LOCATION AS WELL AS TAKING TIME TO ANSWER QUESTIONS DURING A LIVE HIVE INSPECTION.

February 9th at 7pm

Please come out and listen to our speaker of the month – Jessica Loque!!!

Jessica runs approximately 85-100 test hives for Smithers Viscient/Bayer on her farm in Snow Camp NC testing different applications of pesticide and their affect on the bees. As well as running these scientific studies she is also a contributor in the periodical Bee Culture. Jessica is a well respected beekeeper, author, and scientist and is sure to enlighten all with her presentation on her operation she runs with her husband Bobby.

2017 Bee School Cancelled.

Unfortunately not enough people signed up, if you are still interested in keeping bees or have any bee related questions please come by our monthly meeting at Dadant – 820 Tightsqueeze Industrial Rd. Chatham VA 24531. We meet on the second Thursday of every month at 7pm.

Come join the Pittsylvania County Beekeepers for our upcoming meeting on August 11th! We will be joined by our friend and regional beekeeping resource Jim Zeigler for a program covering a number of topics:

What’s happening in our hives? – “I thought we were in the dearth period”

Do I have varroa mites? When and how should I treat them?

What the heck is honeydew and how do I know it when I see it?

Is there such a thing as Zombie Bees?

See you there!

Come this Thursday, June 9th at 7pm and hear Larry and Martha Hupp give a talk on how to make and market creamed honey! Should be a good one!

The May meeting has changed to a round table discussion. All are welcome to come as we touch base on the state of the bees for this month (how has rain affected production, beetles, honey crops, etc)