honey-bees

Set up a new hive, and learn why this one died this month with the LBA.

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These bees looked to be healthy, other than being dead. Find out what happened at the next meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association.

This month learn all about setting up that first hive, featuring a hands on demonstration on installing packages and nuclues colonies with Richard Lercari.

Then Steve Davis will present on his Dead Out inspection at an LBA members bee yard. Learn about the difficulties bees face going into winter, the hazards of the transition between winter and spring, and what we can do as beekeepers to help.

Annual dues are also due by the end of the month. $10 for an individual or $15 for a family. Attend the monthly meeting, get access to the clubs honey extractor, and learn from experienced local beekeepers.

Members who attend this meeting will be entered to win a nucleus colony from Kutick’s Everything Bees to get started with this Spring.

In other business we will also be holding our elections for club officers, including the office of the president. So bee there or bee square. 

The monthly meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association will be held Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m. at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown.

Thank you attendees to the “To Bee or Not to Bee” short course

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The Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association would like to thank the more than 40 attendees of our “To Bee or Not to Bee” Introduction to Beekeeping short course on Saturday, February 24.

Together we learned about our insect friends the Apis mellifera who are responsible for pollinating so much of our food crops, what is needed for us to care for them as beekeepers, and some of the challenges they face.

As each of us contemplate the coming year here are a few reminders from the class.

Our next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday March 28 at The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. (The meeting will be held in the back classroom due to an event the museum is holding.) At this next meeting we will be raffling off a nucleus to an attending member of the association. This is a great opportunity to either expand the apiary or get a jump start on a new beekeeping endeavor.

The Beekeepers’ will have a booth at the OCCA Earth day festival on April 20. We look forward to seeing you there. If a member would like to help staff it please contact our secretary Richard Lercari at honeychef3@gmail.com.

Check back here and on the facebook page for other beekeeping news.

We look forward to seeing you again and welcome to the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association.

Learn about winter feeding with the Beekeepers’

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Punxsutawney Phil might have predicted an early spring this past Ground Hog day, but we as beekeepers know that winter is an unpredictable beast.

Learn how you can help your bees make it through the winter to that first spring flow.

Steven Davis will be presenting “Winter Feeding and Bee Nutrition” at this months meeting of the Leatherstocking Beekeepers’ Association. Learn the best type of feed to use at this dangerous part of the winter, what nutrition they need as the prepare for the spring build-up, and how to deliver it to our winter bees.

The meeting will be held in the ‘back room’ of the main barn at The Farmers’ Museum, at 5775, State Highway 80, Cooperstown at 7 p.m.

There’s still time to register for the “To Bee or Not to Bee: Introduction to Beekeeping Short Course” to be held February 24, 2024 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Attendees will learn the basics of how to take care of the bees in their first year. The $45 fee includes snacks, lunch, and a book on beekeeping. And if you attend the March meeting, we will be raffling off free bees, courtesy of Kutik’s Everything Bees (must be a members of the association to qualify).

We’ll Bee seeing you there!