October VBA Workshop

Wrapping and Winterizing the Colonies

Online Workshop

October 6th, 2026

7:00 to 8:30 pm

via Zoom

Learn about wrapping and insulating hives for winter in this online workshop with Andrew Munkres and Fred Putnam Jr.

Register on the VBA website calendar.

VBA membership and login are required.

 BCBC September meeting in Arlington Sept. 10th

Good day Bennington County Beekeepers,

The club will again be meeting in at the Arlington Public Library. The meeting will start with a potluck at 6:30. Try to bring a dish to share if you can and utensils. Club business will start at 7:00 and we will have a speaker from Betterbee.

Address: Martha Canfield Memorial Free Library

528 East Arlington Rd

Arlington, VT 05250

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Liz Baker

Club Secretary

 Support the VBA by Selling your Honey!

The VBA Fair Committee is once again soliciting honey and other bee-related products to be sold at the Tunbridge Fair, Sept. 17-20. This activity is the largest annual fund-raiser and promotional event for the VBA.  Last year over 30,000 people were in attendance, and our booth is very popular with fair goers.

Check the VBA website for details and drop off locations or contact Mary Stoddard for any questions.

Many thanks,

Tunbridge Fair Committee

 

Prepping the Colonies and Hives for Winter

Online Workshop

September 8th, 2026

7:00 to 8:30 pm

via Zoom

Hosted by Fred Putnam Jr. and Andrew Munkres, this workshop will teach you how to:

• Weigh hives and target hive weights

• Feed for winter weight gain

  • how to know if feeding is really needed or when to stop feeding.

• Hive winterizing basics - wraps, insulations, windbreaks, etc.

Register on the VBA website calendar.

VBA membership and login are required.

August BCBC Meeting 8/13/2026

Good day Beekeepers,

The August meeting of the Bennington County Beekeepers Club will be held at The Canfield Library in Arlington. 

We are excited to host Brooke Decker who will be updating us on the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets' Apiary Program. We will meet at 6:30 for a potluck and at 7:00 have a brief meeting before the  presentation.

Best regards, Liz Baker

Best regards,

Liz Baker

 

 Tunbridge World’s Fair

September 17-20, 2026

The VBA Fair Committee is once again soliciting honey and other bee-related products to be sold at the Tunbridge Fair. This activity is the largest annual fund-raiser and promotional event for the VBA.  Last year over 30,000 people were in attendance, and our booth is very popular with fair goers.

Please consider selling some of your honey or honey related products at the fair for an 80/20 percent split with VBA.  We will be selling one pound jars for $15 retail.  That means $12 for you and $3 for the VBA.  It’s excellent exposure for your products and helps VBA cover Fair expenses, promote Vermont honey and make a slight profit. You can set your price for other honey related products you may wish to sell. Check our website for details and drop off locations. It’s a long article but please read through it. Please contact Mary Stoddard for any questions.

Many thanks,

Tunbridge Fair Committee

VBA workshops and events for the month of August 

Join the Vermont Bee Lab

to learn about UBeeO

August 4th, 2026

4:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Burlington, VT

Join the Vermont Bee Lab to learn about UBeeO, a way to measure hygienic behavior in bees! In this workshop, we will demonstrate how to perform UBeeO assays and hopefully find some high-scoring colonies.

We will discuss guidelines for reliable testing in the Northeast and discuss our experience using UBeeO in various selection programs.

Register by sending Deb Rubin an email directly from the VBA website

VBA Board Meeting

August 5th, 2026

7:00 to 8:30 pm

via Zoom

The VBA’s monthly Board Meeting is open to all. Zoom info is available on the VBA website.

Harvesting the Crop Workshop August 8th, 2026 10:00 am  to 1:00 pm Cornwall, VT Hosted by Andrew Munkres at his beeyard, in this workshop you will learn how to: light a smoker remove bees from supers uncap frames extract honey properly label honey and more… Register on the VBA website calendar. VBA membership and login are required. Vermont Women in Beekeeping Workshop Open Hive August 23rd, 2026 1:00 to 4:00 pm Shelburne, VT The VBA Women in Beekeeping enthusiastically invite you to join Kathy at Bee Tender Farm in Shelburne for a hive inspection and honey spinning demo. We will have a chance to observe the basics of late summer hive management and spinning frames for honey extraction. This will also be a great chance to network and connect. Beekeepers of all genders and experience levels are encouraged to attend. Register on the VBA website calendar. VBA membership and login are required.