This month our conversation is going to be about bee stings and how they work. It’s inevitable that you’ll be stung as a beekeeper and Andrew Artmann shares with us how our bodies react to bee stings. Andrew is a Registered Pharmacist, a local beekeeper, and a member of our club.

We will be able to learn what is normal and abnormal reactions to a sting and how we should deal with a sting. Because Andrew is also a beekeeper, he will be able to share what it takes to prevent stings and what to do when we are stung.

Maybe we will learn something about bee stings vs wasp stings because there seems to be a difference in pain and reaction levels.

This meeting will be all about harvesting honey, getting it from the hives, and into the bottle. It will cover a lot of information and if you are new to beekeeping, this is the meeting for you. There are a lot of different tricks and techniques for harvesting honey and if you haven’t done it before it, it’s helpful to hear the steps from somebody else. It will save you a fair amount of hassle and sticky fingers.

The presentation will be presented by David Willis from Central Alabama Honey & Apiary. He has been at this many years and knows a thing or two about harvesting honey. What is great about David is he has plenty of hives to harvest honey from but is also a backyard beekeeper. So even if you don’t have any bees, you’ll be able to understand how honey processing works.

This meeting will be presented by Anne Marie Fauvel of the Bee Informed Partnership. Anne Marie taught Biology, Environmental and Food Systems Studies but now works for the Bee Informed Partnership with the Tech Transfer teams.

These teams are on the front line of field research among commercial beekeepers and help research and identify best practices in both commercial and backyard beekeeping.

Topic: Selling honey at Farmers Markets and what the rules of selling to the public are.

Speaker: Lisa Beasley

Growers Permits are available as well, bring your Gov't ID with you if you would like one.

Topic: Making swarm traps and catching swarms

Speaker: Wayne Boshell

Swarms happen each year like clockwork starting in March, so we are going to chat about it in February. There is a lot to learn about swarms and why they happen (and most importantly, how to catch them). Come to our February meeting and learn with us.