Interested in Beekeeping?

Want to review the basics?

The Bennington County Beekeepers’ Club is offering an Introduction to Beekeeping course six Thursday nights: March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, and 10; 7-8:30 PM. Later in the spring there will be a visit to a bee yard.

The course will cover basic beekeeping principles, honeybee biology and health, pests and parasites, hive management, and how to get started setting up your own bee yard.

The cost of the course is $25 per person, which includes a one-year family membership in the Bennington County Beekeepers’ Club. Attendees will need to purchase or locate the textbook on their own. Classes will take place in-person at the Bennington Free Library on Silver St. in Bennington.

To sign up, or for more information, contact Erin: benningtonbees@gmail.com.

 January BCBC Meeting, the first in 2025

Hello All,

We're planning to gather next Thursday, 1/9/25, at 6:30 with a potluck and a 7:00 meeting upstairs in the Bennington Free Library.  Bring a dish to share and your own plate and utensils. Please come! 

We'll be discussing how your bees are doing and what measures you've been taking recently.  We'll have a raffle so if you have a donation please bring one, it doesn't have to be honey bee related. 

If you've had losses so far please consider getting a sample of dead bees tested by the UVM Bee Lab or the USDA Bee Lab.   

Follow the links below.

https://www.vermontbeelab.com/diagnostics/

https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-agricultural-research-center/bee-research-laboratory/docs/bee-disease-diagnosis-service/

We'll have a discussion about topics and leadership going forward.  Dues are due!  $15 individual and $20 family.  You can pay on Thursday or send it to Jeanne Davis 173 Pratt Rd. Pownal VT 05261  Checks made out to BCBClub! See you soon, Jeanne

 Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association offers Beginner Beekeeping Class

Beginner beekeeping class registration is open! It is a 4 week class with 2 live and 2 virtual classes. Classes start January 23rd at 7:00. For more information and to register go to https://www.sababees.org/ In order to keep bees, you must learn about bees and beekeeping.

 Thursday, October 10 Meeting at Bennington Free Library

The Bennington Beekeepers' Club is glad to announce that our October meeting will take place Thursday, October 10, from 6:30--9:00 p.m., in the Rotary Room of the Bennington Free Library. The library is located at 101 Silver Street in Bennington, and on-street parking is available.

This month's meeting will feature the screening of a session recorded in August by the Vermont Beekeepers' Association (VBA), where Andrew Munkres, past president of the VBA and owner of Lemonfair Honeyworks, discusses different approaches to winterizing and winter preparations.

The meeting will consist of a potluck and chat from 6:30--7:00, a business meeting from 7:00--7:30, and the webinar screening and discussion on winterizing will follow until the raffle commences at 8:45. Donated items will be welcome.

 August Club Picnic

Mid-August greetings! Pursuant to upcoming events, one announcement and a few reminders:

First, please feel welcome to attend our Club picnic on Thursday, August 29 from 4--7:30 p.m., which will be generously hosted by Peggy Apple-Woods at her home (619 West Mountain Road, Shaftsbury---off of Route 7A). The picnic will be a potluck, and while you're welcome to surprise us, we'd be grateful if you'd let folks know what you're bringing by filling in the spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jCkhpbKY_AuWxRQtRqPCQaNugFT7Mkr6aDffdiR0a_o/edit?usp=sharing , which will also serve as your RSVP for the event. On the next blank row of the spreadsheet, please fill in your name, how many people in your party, and what you're bringing. For tech help with the spreadsheet, please e-mail Erin Kiley at benningtonbees@gmail.com .

If you would like to carpool to the Picnic with other Club members, please follow the link here: https://www.groupcarpool.com/t/59ceso . You can add yourself as a Driver by clicking the blue 'Add' icon; you can join someone else's car by clicking their green 'Join' icon; or if everyone's car is full and you still need a ride, you can join the Passenger Waitlist by clicking the orange 'Waitlist' icon. You can also add people to your car from the Waitlist by dragging them to the appropriate spot on the Drivers list. If you need help figuring out how to use the carpool site, please e-mail Erin Kiley at benningtonbees@gmail.com .

 Informal Bee Yard Visit this Saturday June 8th (tomorrow), 10 AM-12 noon in Pownal

It looks like the weather might hold out! Please feel welcome to join the Bennington Beekeepers' Club tomorrow, June 8, for an informal bee yard visit at the home of former Club president Jeanne Davis, at 173 Pratt Road in Pownal. Please bring your gloves and protective clothing (remember: it's good biosecurity practice, as well as a friendly gesture, to wash your gloves & suit or jacket in unscented detergent the day before visiting someone else's bee yard, as it reduces the risk of spreading pathogens between yards). Should you have questions, Jeanne can be contacted at JeanneDavis59@gmail.com  .

With apologies for a very last-minute notice, but in hopes of seeing you on Saturday!---

Erin Kiley

 Next Meeting Thursday, May 2, 6:30pm at Bennington Free Library

the next meeting of the Bennington Beekeepers' Club will take place Thursday, May 2, from 6:30--9:00 p.m., in the Rotary Room of the Bennington Free Library. The library is located at 101 Silver Street in Bennington, and on-street parking is available.

The topic of Thursday's meeting will be an open discussion on spring colony management, including when to 'swap boxes', how to prevent swarming, and how to best leverage the very rapid gains that healthy overwintered colonies can begin making once the weather warms up. We can also talk about installing new packages and nucs as needed.

The first half-hour of the meeting will be a potluck dinner to encourage mingling among attendees: while it's not required that you bring anything, we encourage you to bring a dish to share with the group, as well as a cup, flatware and a plate/bowl for yourself, if possible, to cut down on waste (there is a kitchen sink where you can wash your dishes before leaving). At the conclusion of the meeting, there will be a raffle of donated items: should you wish to donate raffle items, please bring them (items need not be directly related to honeybees or beekeeping). Raffle tickets will be sold during the potluck dinner ($2 each or $10 for 6), and during the raffle, stubs will be drawn until all items have been claimed. Any dues-paying Club member who brings one or more items to donate to the raffle will be given one free raffle ticket.

While the potluck portion of our meeting begins at 6:30, the Library building's front doors close at 7 pm. If you intend to arrive after 7, you will need to notify someone who is at the meeting to let you in. The Library has specifically asked us not to prop open the building's exterior doors, due to issues they've had in the past with unwanted overnight visitors (human and non-).