Benefits of being a part of this great community of beekeepers are the opportunities to continue to learn. Below is an learning opportunity offered by the Bowie Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association (BUMBA) and Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association for their “Beekeeping Year 2 And Beyond” (BY2AB) Class. The purpose of the BY2AB class is to assist beekeepers who have at least one year of beekeeping experience and an eagerness to learn, an engaging ten-week class which delves deeper on honeybee biology and anatomy, yearly and seasonal hive management, pest and diseases, splits and resources, and honey show preparation.  The course is structured to meet weekly on Monday evenings via Zoom from 7:00-9:00 or until everyone has their questions answered. This weekly class will be recorded and available for those to review. There will be reading assignments and weekly (ungraded) quizzes. Participants should allow for an hour per week of reading time. The class will be primarily taught by Kim Mehalick, Mike Mehalick, and Allan Storm via Zoom.  However, the first class, Monday, Feb 19 will be in-person in the Bowie area.  A Google drive will be used to store documents, references, homework answers, and the recordings. More information will follow.   Cost: $150.00 which will include the textbook “Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping” Caron/Connor (3rd Edition) and a Maryland State Bee Association T-shirt.    This class is meant to increase your knowledge to make you a stronger more successful beekeeper. To sign up send a message  with title BY2AB with your name, email, city, unisex tshirt size, and phone number to kimnmike89@verizon.net (mailto:kimnmike89@verizon.net)  you will receive a paypal invoice from AABA .

Did you know there are 20 different beekeeping related organizations (HCBA being one of them) in the state of Maryland? Did you know the Maryland State Beekeepers Association (MSBA) was founded over 110 years ago in 1908? Are you interested in learning more about beekeeping in the state of Maryland? Annual Membership is $20/individual Join MSBA Here (https://www.mdbeekeepers.org/membership/) The next MSBA meeting will be on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at UMBC from 8:30AM-4:00PM and is offered In-Person and Online. Click Here for Meeting Details(https://www.mdbeekeepers.org/2024-february-10-meeting/) LEARN - TONS! Insulating Hives, Pollen, Breeding, Drones, Yellow Legged Hornets & More SPEAKERS - Bill Hesbach, Garett Slater, Cybil Preston, & MORE Bill Hesbach A Connecticut native with a background in engineering.He's an Eastern Apicultural Society Certified Master Beekeeper, a graduate of the University of Montana's master beekeeping program, and the President of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association. Bill also operates a sideline bee business called Wing Dance Apiary in Cheshire, CT., producing artisanal raw honey and other natural hive products. Bill will present on Thermoregulation and Ventilation and Pollen Garett Slater a Postdoctoral Fellow for the USDA. He obtained his PhD from Purdue University in 2022, with a thesis focused on applying modern genetic tools to honey bee breeding. Previously, he completed a MS in Nutrition and Queen Quality at North Dakota State University. Garett’s current research focuses on developing genomic tools for beekeeping, including selecting for natural defenses towards Varroa, pathogens, and other diseases. He has worked as a scientist and technician with the Bee Informed Partnership at the University of Minnesota for two years, directly supporting 30 commercial beekeepers in North Dakota. Garett has 12 years of beekeeping experience, including 8 years working for a large commercial beekeeper in North Dakota. Garett will present two talks: Genomic Breeding and My Drone Resarch YELLOW LEGGED HORNET - Update The Georgia Department of Agriculture will give MSBA a private update on Vespa velutina - the Yellow-Legged Hornet (Formerly call the "Asian Hornet")The first confirmed detection of a live Yellow-Legged Hornet was August 2023 Savannah, Georgia. The yellow-legged hornet poses a threat to honey bees and other pollinators.Join our meeting to learn the latest.

A few of our members have outyards at Christ Episcopal Church 6800 on Oakland Mills Road in Columbia. Beacuse of this relationship, the women's group at the church has shared information related to their upcoming Flea Market/Craft Fair being held on Saturday, September 16 (rain date 9/23) from 9am to 2pm. This is not an HCBA sponsored event. Anyone registering will be doing so as an individual. Attached are two files associated with registration. Good luck!

Does anyone have experience with selling pollen? How is it marketed (8 oz, 16 oz jar?) Wondering if there is a going rate? Thanks in advance.

For each of the HCBA Meetings we seek interesting and timely tops to be presented to our members. During a recent brainstorming thread, the idea of how beekeepers could use 3D printers for their apiaries. This is where we a foraging for your help. Do you know a beekeeper who uses 3D printing to help them in their apiary management?

Interesting article about the recent USDA conditional approval of first honeybee vaccine for American foolbrood disease. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/01/09/usda-honeybee-vaccine-approved/11017347002/

I have been looking for a reliable, portable 12v power supply to use for OA application. Can I use a Cen-Tech 4 in 1 power pack as a power source? I know the cables can be used to jump start a car, but I am concerned if that will be too much power for the OA wand. Thanks in advance.

I performed a split at the end of June With the hopes that the queen less colony would develop queen cells from the visible eggs in multiple brood frame. To my excitement, they created 8 queen cells which I timed to potentially erupt on July 6-8. Unfortunately, I went on vacation July 5 so I am not completely sure when she erupted, but today during my inspection I found a new queen. There are no visible eggs or larva. I caught her in queen catcher, but when I went to get my marking pen and plunger she escaped from the catcher. Luckily I left it on top of the frames in the brood box. Two questions. If a queen escapes a queen catcher is that an indication that her abdomen is not enlarged and may not have gone on her mating flight yet? should you wait to mark a queen after she has begun laying eggs?

As a first year beekeeper, I have come to "appreciate" the challenges associated with understanding bee and colony behavior, but boy is it frustrating. Here is the back story... I started with two colonies in May (2021). All seemed well in the apiary throughout the spring, summer and early fall, until I had a wax moth infestation in the weaker hive in September. A combination of the weak colony leaving the hive and robbers absconding with the honey left the hive a mess. My response was to clean out the frames and boxes and have a somewhat satisfying wax moth cremation ceremony in October. The second colony was doing well throughout the season. My initial hive consolidation in October and again at Thanksgiving resulted in a brood box and three supers full of honey. I also switched out my sugar syrup feeders with a candyboard and thought everyone was happy including the queen whom I consulted with. I also "paramothed" and stored thirty plus frames of open comb for next spring. Unfortunately, two weeks later, on another warm day, I noticed unusual activity at the hive entrance. This was not the normal flight and forage activities, but appeared to be frenzied activity by a number of drones. When I opened the hive, most of the thousands of bees were gone and a number of previously full frames were uncapped and empty of honey, with a few dozen bees inverted in the comb slurping up honey. After consultation with my mentor, I pulled the full honey frames to freeze for next spring. BUT there are at least seventeen full frames of honey and my secondary freezer is not large enough. Here is the conundrum: - Do I distributed honey frames (to friends and family) to store in their freezer until the spring? - Do I freeze a certain amount for next spring and enjoy the bounty of the bees? Any opinions and comments are welcome.

At the November HCBA meeting, Tina mentioned the Continuing Education Series that takes place every Wednesday, usually at noon. Is there a place that lists the topics being covered from week to week?

Taking advantage of the warmer day yesterday, I decided to do a quick hive inspection. The colony is pretty active, but I noticed a few new visitors outside of the hive entrance, lady bugs (3-5). They did not seem to both the foragers coming and going (I do have my entrance reducer positioned for the smallest opening to reduce potential robber activity), but given my loss of a colony to wax moths (total decimation!) over the last 6 weeks, I am worried about these latest visitors. Should I be concerned? If so, any suggestions?

I am out of town this weekend and realized that fair items needed to be picked up on Sunday. Would someone be able to pickup thr medium frame display that I entered? Thanks for the consideration.

Over the last week or two, I have found one of my two colonies to be less active. Yesterday, I opened the brood box for the first time since installation on May 1 and found lots of honey stored, but no brood and a couple open Queen cups. The colony still appears to be active and has a lot of bees (at least 5K-10K). I reached out to Woodcamp Farms, but I am also looking for recommendations for acquiring a new Queen for the colony from a member. I tried to find individual member email addresses to send an email directly, but was unable to find the information, so I am resorting to the forum. Thanks.