As beekeepers we give the bees a house, we check in on them periodically, we feed our bee friends through the dearth and bring them water when there’s a dry spell. We hope we’ve done right by them and that they have everything they want and that they will repay us with a harvest of honey.

But are we giving them the best conditions?

That is the question we will ponder that the next meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association, featuring a presentation on Natural Beekeeping and Cutouts by Bill Kaufman where he will share what he has learned over his many years of examining feral bees from cutouts and what their hives look like.

The next meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association will be held at 6:30 p.m. with the presentation starting at 7 p.m. on October 22, 2026, in the Louis C. Jones Center at the Fenimore Farm and Country Village (formerly The Farmers’ Museum) at 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown.