Author: leatherstockingbeekeepers

Combining Hives, Meadows, and late season beekeeping

/ leatherstockingbeekeepers / Leave a comment

The full flush of summer is the time to prepare for the cold months.

With a month or two, or maybe even three if we’re lucky, before the cold weather sets in how are you going to know what to do to ensure your colonies winter survival. Come down to the monthly meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association to find out what you should be looking for.

This month will feature the presentation “Combining Hives!: A critical decision! When, why and how!” with Richard Burroughs, all about managing the late season hive and what decisions need to be made before the cold weather strikes.

Then our association president Liz Burroughs will continue her series on monthly blooms with the August Blooms, with particular focus on bees in the meadow. Meadows are a part of a bees natural habitat, one of the best sources of forage. This discussion will be on what blooms we find there and what we can do to make it more productive and attractive.

During the business portion of the meeting, members will be invited to listen and discuss club topics including:

Hive Contest updates

Volunteering for the Harvest Festival at the Farmers’ Museum

and finally, whether to sell the club’s honey extractor or not.

The Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association meets on the 4th Thursday of each month (except November and December) at 7 p.m. at The Farmers’ Museum, 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown.

Come see what the Buzz is all about.

Beekeepers’ Meeting July 18

/ leatherstockingbeekeepers / 1 Comment

Surprise! Due to scheduling conflict the Beekeepers’ Association will be meeting a week early! We’ll be in the back classroom at The Farmers’ Museum learning all about our favorite honey bearing insects.

While the music plays in the main room, we will hear from William Roche about the Cullman Child Development Center Summer Series “The Buzz about Honey Bees.” He will also be discussing his visit to one of the homes of Reverend Lorenzo Langstroth in Greenfield, MA. Known as the “Father of American Beekeeping” he is the discoverer of ‘bee space’ and the popular Langstroth hive is named after him.

After Mr. Roche’s presentation, Steve Davis will be presenting on the foraging behaviour of our favorite girls. How do they go grocery shopping, communicate with the waggle dance and what happens during a dearth, when the stores aren’t open (it’s not pretty).

Finally, Liz Burroughs will close out the night by discussing what the bees need as we move through time depending on the season and the environment.

Ahead of the presentations will be the business meeting open to all members where we will discuss and vote on club business from a new logo to the details on the annual picnic. We are a member run organization and so participation in this section of the meeting is highly encouraged.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on July 18 in the classroom (NOT in the Louis C. Jones Center) at the Farmers’ Museum, 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown.

We’ll Bee seeing you there!

Plan for the honey harvest, learn about bees summer forage, and more.

/ leatherstockingbeekeepers / Leave a comment

The summer solstice has passed, the days are shortening (not that we’ll notice for a few months), and the bees are hard at work. So are we beekeepers.

Come down to Cooperstown for the June meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association to share your stories from the apiary, listen to the experience of other local beekeepers, and learn from our presenters.

This month the meeting will start out with a preview of the business meeting which will include discussion of the upcoming apiary visit, the annual picnic, seeking volunteers to man our booth at the Farmers’ Museum Harvest Festival, and discussion of the Most Appealing Hive Contest.

This will be followed by the educational presentations:

“Honey Harvesting” with Richard Lercari.
Mot of us beekeepers are eager to pull some of the sweet stuff out of the hive and share in our bees bounty. Richard will discuss the various aspects of the honey harvest, including the equipment needed.

“Summer Blossoms” with Liz Burroughs.
Our honey bees are a critical part of a much bigger ecological environment. To understand bee
activity you need to know how they interact with the ever changing seasonal foliage.

“The Value of Member Participation” with Stephanie Wardwell.
We have had a wonderful influx of new members. They are always encouraged to participate in
planning activities for the Association. Stephanie will discuss some of the benefits of being an
active member of YOUR Association.

Each presentation is followed by a question and answer session.

All members are invited to stick around for the business meeting after the educational portion. This is where you can make your voices heard while we discuss all the club business.

The meeting will be held June 27, 2024, at 7 p.m. at The Farmers’ Museum, 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown.

We’ll Bee seeing you there!