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What to do? February
What to do? February
Feb 1 all-day
Your queen should still be tucked away in the cluster of bees. There are still no drones in the hive at this time. cleansing flights will be seen more often as you may start to[...]
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CLUB MEETING – Kamon Reynolds – The Ranch 6:00 pm
CLUB MEETING – Kamon Reynolds – The Ranch @ The Ranch
Feb 20 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Club meeting at The Ranch SPEAKER(via zoom):   Kamon Reynolds Three Keys to successful beekeeping   – Queen rearing  – Advanced Mite control  – Running a sideline small scale business Kamon Reynolds is the co-founder of one of[...]
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Feb
20
Thu
2025
CLUB MEETING – Kamon Reynolds – The Ranch @ The Ranch
Feb 20 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Club meeting at The Ranch

SPEAKER(via zoom):   Kamon Reynolds

Three Keys to successful beekeeping 

 – Queen rearing
 – Advanced Mite control
 – Running a sideline small scale business

Kamon Reynolds is the co-founder of one of North America’s largest honey bee conferences, The North American Honey Bee Expo, is the founder of Tennessee’s Bees and has been keeping bees in North Central Tennessee for 20 years. Kamon keeps 250 hives with his wife Laurel.

 

zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83130190430?pwd=jbjkZI7NhXbaUwGAiBsONLjmwBHFfT.1

Mar
1
Sat
2025
What to do? March
Mar 1 all-day

March is the month when your bees could die of starvation if you did not leave them with enough honey stores in the fall or feed them well in autumn. The days are growing longer and the queen knows this. She will increase her egg-laying rate. This means they will definitely need food as the colony increases in size. If their honey stores are depleted, now would be a good time to start feeding if they have depleted their own honey stores to get them going for the spring. Drones should also start to appear in the brood.

As the beekeeper, you should not be getting in the hive unless the days are above 45-50 degrees, and there is no wind or breeze. It’s best not to remove frames if you do get into the hive unless you are inspecting on a day much warmer than 50 degrees.
You should only need to peek at the top to see how their honey stores look. If it appears that they have used all their honey stores, you may want to do some emergency feeding of sugar water to get their energy up and to keep feeding until you notice they are bringing in their own food supplies.
Now would also be a good opportunity to do a varroa mite treatment or at least do one soon if this is something you treat for in your hive in your location.  
With the bee population increasing, now would be a good time to remove the entrance reducer and mouse guards so help alleviate traffic jams at the door.
Now would also be a good time to reverse your brood boxes. put the lower empty one above the upper fuller one. This will help reduce the chance of your hive swarming you. Another would be to add an empty honey super to give the hive more room.
If you left a honey super on in the fall, just leave it on for them to get an early start refilling.  Now if you haven’t ordered your hardware, you’re going to be hitting the suppliers at their busiest time. You really need to have ordered in January.

 

Mar
7
Fri
2025
Are bees bringing pollen? Be prepared to split!
Mar 7 all-day

Pollen is used to create royal jelly to feed the queen. she is gearing up for some great egg production and laying.   large amounts of pollen can also create more drone production.  Your hive is ramping up! be prepared to split or it will swarm. 

Mar
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Thu
2025
CLUB MEETING – SPLITS and SWARMS – The Ranch @ The Ranch
Mar 20 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Club meeting at The Ranch

SPEAKER:   TBD

We will be discussing various ways to do splits in your bee yard. what to look for, how to do a split and when. 

We will also be discussing swarming. Splitting is one method to help prevent swarming.  Also what to do when you have a swarm. 

zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83130190430?pwd=jbjkZI7NhXbaUwGAiBsONLjmwBHFfT.1

Apr
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2025
What to do? April
Apr 1 all-day

The days are warm and long. But there is that chance of a cold snap happening. You will notice the bees bringing in more nectar and pollen. The queen should be laying at full capacity and you’ll see your hive population growing.

As the beekeeper,  keep feeding your weaker hives. Stronger hives you shouldn’t be feeding. No supers should be on your weak hives. Inspect your hives, and look at the brood boxes. Can you find your queen? do you see eggs? how is the laying pattern? is it solid or scattered?  if it is not solid, you may want to replace your queen. If you are finding your weak hives continue to struggle, you may want to consider combining the weak hive with another.  Stronger hives are better at keeping away pests and diseases.  Swarm season is here!  swarming is the method bees use to grow their populations. It is not that you did a bad job with the hive, this is completely natural. So keep some extra hardware on hand so that if and when your hive swarms, you can capture it and provide a space for the swarm. To help prevent swarming, add one or two honey supers to your hive to give the hive more room and feel less cramped.

 

Apr
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2025
Bearding and Swarming
Apr 7 all-day

keep an eye on bearding and during inspections look for swarm cells!

 

Apr
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2025
CLUB MEETING – Honey Tasting – The Ranch @ The Ranch
Apr 17 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Club meeting at The Ranch

SPEAKER:   Lisa Boesen

Topic:  Honey Tasting –

Are you interested in providing a honey tasting but not sure how to do or what to include? Join us in April for Honey Tasting 101. 
Lisa has created a honey tasting PPT deck and format for NCBA members to use to educate the community on the value of local honey including how to discuss NoCo terroir.
This is not a sensory class or honey sommelier class. You will learn how to use the education materials, create your tasting “center” and share some lexicon on how to describe honey with your customers, friends or family.
 
You will taste honeys but the purpose is to educate our members on how to share the nuances of NoCo honeys.
 
Hope to see you there!

 

zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83130190430?pwd=jbjkZI7NhXbaUwGAiBsONLjmwBHFfT.1

May
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2025
What to do? May
May 1 all-day

Your hives should be at their full operation. You should see lots of nectar and pollen being brought to the hive. You should not be feeding your hive at this time. Brood chambers should be full of eggs and larvae. Make sure your brood boxes are not looking congested as this will encourage swarming.  Your bees should be busy filling honey supers. You can create a small entrance at your supers by drilling a 1″ hole in a super or by adding a small entrance spacer.

 

May
20
Tue
2025
World Bee Day
May 20 @ 9:53 pm – 10:53 pm