Meeting are held in Marritt Hall at the Ancaster Fair Grounds, the third Thursday of each month, starting at 7:30 pm. Scroll down to see all the details about upcoming & past meetings.
Thurs. May 19 2023 hybrid meeting 7:30pm – Open meeting with time for questions and answers. Show & tell is always encouraged.
Thurs. Apr. 20 2023 hybrid meeting 7:30pm – Guest speaker: Alison Van Alten from Tuckermore Bee Company.
Alison grew up in a hobby beekeeping family on the west coast of Newfoundland.
While studying apiculture at the University of Guelph, Alison began to keep bees herself.
For fifteen years, Alison worked for the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association Tech-Transfer Program conducting honey bee research. Her passion for bees and a desire to follow a dream, inspired her to become a full time beekeeper in January of 2010.
Thurs. Mar. 16 2023 hybrid meeting 7:30pm- No guest speaker, we will discuss topics of current interest to beekeepers.
Thurs. Feb. 16 2023 hybrid meeting – Special guest speaker, beekeeper extraordinaire Michael Palmer.
Presentation topic details to follow.
Thurs. Jan. 2023 hybrid meeting – Special guest speaker, author Tom Seeley.
Thomas D. Seeley, biologist and writer, is the Horace White Professor in Biology Emeritus at Cornell University, where he is a member of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. From 1980 to 2020, he taught courses on animal behavior and conducted research on the behavior, social life, and ecology of honey bees. Tom is also an avid beekeeper. He began keeping bees when he was a high school student, in Ithaca, New York, in the late 1960s.
Besides writing more than 200 research papers to report his findings to other biologists, he has written five books to make his research findings accessible to beekeepers: The Wisdom of the Hive (1995), Honeybee Democracy (2010), Following the Wild Bees (2016), and The Lives of Bees (2019). The fifth book, titled Piping-hot Bees & Boisterous Buzz-Runners, consists of 20 scientific short stories about honey bee behavior. It will be come out in Spring 2024. In recognition of his scientific discoveries, he has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the German National Academy of Sciences. He has also been awarded numerous scientific prizes, including a Gold Medal for Best Science Book (The Wisdom of the Hive) at Apimondia in 1997 (Antwerp). He writes: “These honors are gratifying, but for me the most important ‘prizes’ by far are the discoveries that I have made about the natural lives and inner workings of honey bee colonies.”
See you January 2023!! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
There is NO regular meeting for November this week. Some of you have made reservations with Roy to attend the year-end food-eating gathering (not a potluck). There is also no meeting in December so our next meeting will be in January 2023.
Thurs. Oct. 20 hybrid meeting – In person at the Fairgrounds or on Zoom 7:30pm
Topics: Honey bees & native pollinators coexist on the same flowers with other insects photographic discussion by member Jacqueline Gray.
We will have an open discussion & questions dealing with fall & winter beekeeping. Roy may have additional beekeeping business to deal with.
Thurs. Aug 18 Hybrid Meeting – In person at the Fairgrounds or on Zoom 7:30pm
Tired of buying NUCs each year?? Les & Roy share tips on maintaining & carrying for bees so you will be purchasing far fewer (or none at all!) NUCs each spring.
Also a reminder of our Aug. 27th trip to University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre 2pm.
Thurs. July 21 Hybrid Meeting – In person at the Fairgrounds or on Zoom 7:30pm
Open meeting. We can discuss all things bee related. Seasonal issues, how everyone is doing with their colonies, Q&A plus everyone is invited to talk about neat things they are trying this year.
We will be holding a Queen Auction! Queen breeders in the club are invited to bring a couple of their Queens and talk about the genetics, how they choose which Queens they graft from and then we can have bids on the Queens. All proceeds will go to the club and people must be present at the meeting (not on Zoom) in order to make bids.
Thur. June 16 Hybrid Meeting – In person at the Fairgrounds or on Zoom 7:30pm
Guest speaker this month will be Dan Borges. Topic: Bee Stress and Climate Change and a TTP update with a quick course overview on what he teaches at Niagara College with a Q & A.
If time permits Dan will briefly mention what Bee Courses are available at Niagara College.
Thur. May 19 Hybrid Meeting – In person at the Fairgrounds or on Zoom 7:30pm.
Open meeting. We will show 2 Paul Kelly videos on NUC installation & Marking the queen which will stimulate timely discussion.
Thur. April 21 Hybrid Meeting – In person at the Fairgrounds or on Zoom.
Tony Van Oostrom’s Zoom presentation will cover several topics: mite control, swarms, creaming honey & winterizing bees. Tony’s inspiration to keep bees came from his father & grandfather.
Amanda Henderson will attend in person & share her knowledge from 12 years of beekeeping, her 75 hives & her work at Tuckamore Bee breeding queens. She will speak about what to look at in deadout colonies to determine why they died over winter.
We’re back! Starting with our March 17th meeting, we will be gathering at the Ancaster Fairgrounds.
The only COVID requirements is that people wear face masks unless they are eating or drinking. Zoom will run concurrently for those who wish to participate remotely. This is an open meeting, focusing on seasonal issues, Q&A, and members can bring in items for a “show & tell” discussion. Also a Zoom presentation on American…
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