Focusing on beekeeping practices, our goal is to facilitate a broad spectrum of education and promote healthy natural systems where people, honeybees and other pollinators can adapt and thrive.


Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 27, 2024 6:30-8:30 p.m.

STL Bees Club is now meeting on the 4th Tuesday of the month
at Powder Valley Nature Center Auditorium

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Saint Louis Beekeepers
Tuesday, February 27.
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

American Bee Journal and the Golden Age of Beekeeping

Eugene Makovec
An extraordinary collection of individuals arose in beekeeping in the mid-19th Century men like Lorenzo Langstroth, Samual Wagner, A. I. Root, Charles Dadant, Moses Quinby and their discoveries and innovations revolutionized beekeeping in ways that are still with us today.

American Bee Journal and the Golden Age of Beekeeping, our featured speaker and Editor of American Bee Journal will detail some of these important industry milestones and inventions and follow the history of the ABJ as it documented and shared the evolution of modern beekeeping with devoted readers from 1861 to the present.

Eugene Makovec has been Editor of American Bee Journal since 2018. He is a third-generation beekeeper with 28 years of experience, and currently keeps about a dozen colonies in Lincoln County.

Eugene served six years as President of Three Rivers Beekeepers, and 11 years on the board of the Missouri State Beekeepers Association. He is a two-time Missouri Beekeeper of the Year.
2024 is the club's "Organically Grown" themed meeting year. We'll introduce you to (or re-acquaint you with) local & bi-state experienced beekeepers, professionals and pollinator advocates from your community who we should all know, follow and support.

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 4th Tuesday of the month, 6:30 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
Tuesday, January 23rd.
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Regenerative native planting to support bees and pollinators

Eleanor Schumacher
Charlotte Ekker Wiggins
"Eco-Beekeeping...and why St. Louis is the best place for it!"
Eleanor Schumacher, is the "east side" Illinois State Honey bee Inspector and Illinois' Project Wingspan's State Coordinator. She will detail Project Wingspan's 2024 workshop schedule along with a new St. Louis area pollinator protection initiative that's currently forming; how you can participate in regenerative native planting for your bees.
Charlotte Ekker Wiggins is an award-winning author, blogger, Certified Master Beekeeper and Master Gardener Emeritus. She has been keeping native and honey bees for 15 years and gardening on her hillside for 42 years. Her one-acre Missouri limestone hillside garden, where her neighbors said nothing would grow, is now regenerated to support a working apiary, certified wildlife garden and Monarch Way Station. She also supervises Rolla Bee Club's Great Plains Master Beekeeping teaching apiary.

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 4th Tuesday of the month, 6:30 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, November 14th
6:15 - 8:30 p.m.

Over-Wintering for
Spring Success
with Paul Landsberg


Paul is from Clinton, Missouri and is the owner of Paul's Honey Farm, established by his father in 1983 when Paul was age 3. The business passed to Paul in 2015 under tragic circumstances. With a commitment to honor his father's memory and preserve his passion, Paul poured many long hours and dollars into the business and in 2019 was able to make it a full time operation, allowing Paul to retire from his "day job."

Paul sent his first load of bees to California for almond pollination in 2020 which proved to be profitable and he plans to grow as the bees multiply and produce honey.

Currently Paul's Honey Farm, LLC runs 1,000 hives, raises VSH queens, sells nucs as well as bulk and retail honey.


Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Here's a link to the last month's presentation with William Hesbach

Here's a link to an additional interview with Dr. David Peck and William Hesbach on the topic of thermoregulation and condensing hives

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, October 10th
6:15 - 8:30 p.m.

Winter Management: How honey bees thermoregulate and survive in cold climates
with
William Hesbach


Bill Hesbach is the President of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association, a Connecticut native with a background in engineering where he teaches bee biology and various beekeeping methods at regional beekeeping club meetings.

He's an Eastern Apicultural Society Certified Master Beekeeper and a regular guest speaker at national beekeeping seminars. Bill was presented with the Distinguished Speaker Award at the 2019 EAS conference. 

Bill also operates a sideline bee business called Wing Dance Apiary in Cheshire, CT. producing artisanal raw honey and other natural hive products.
 
Bill is a published author with articles in American Bee Journal and Bee Culture magazines. 


Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, September 12th
6:15 - 8:30 p.m.

Mead Making
with John & Ken


John Pashia and Ken Heitkamp will present how to make mead, a wine made from fermented honey. Mead is the oldest known alcoholic beverage (older than beer), discovered in clay vessels found in Asia to be ~9,000 years old and is mentioned in much of Nordic mythology.


John and Ken will share their favorite tools, processes and recipes and will answer questions for anyone interested in making mead.

John Pashia is Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association Vice President
Ken Heitkamp is Great Plains Master Beekeeper St. Louis, MO Open Apiary Coordinator

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, August 8th
6:15 - 8:30 p.m.

Randall Cass
Iowa State University
Bee Extension Specialist

Join us in August for a fun talk from our keynote speaker Randall Cass who will share research that suggests beekeepers need to get stung with some frequency to avoid becoming anaphylactic.  

He’ll also share ISU's published research on the effect of in-field contour buffer strips and edge-of-field filter strips having a positive affect on honey bee colony health, improving colony health and honey production in an agricultural landscape.


Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, July 11th
6:15 - 8:30 p.m.

Missouri's Honey Law
“Packaging and Selling Honey in Missouri:

A Guide for small and medium-sized Beekeeping Operations”
with Eugene Makovec

Eugene Makovec is a 28-year, third-generation beekeeper with about a dozen colonies in Lincoln County. He has been Editor of American Bee Journal since 2018, and is serving a second stint as President of Three Rivers Beekeepers. He served on the board of the Missouri State Beekeepers Association for 11 years, and is a two-time Missouri Beekeeper of the Year (2006 and 2015).

Eugene will discuss the laws for bottling, labeling and selling honey in Missouri — the kitchen rules he help to change in 2015 and the various rules and exemptions on sales tax, and where and how to register your business to go legit.

Missouri State Fair
Honey Competition

Learn how you can earn a blue ribbon with your honey and hive products at the Missouri State Fair in August. Ken Heitkamp and Bob Finck will walk you through what they’ve learned after winning 176 ribbons over the last 30 years.

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, June 13th, 2023
6:15 - 8:15 p.m.

Varroa Mite Control

with David T. Peck, Ph.D.

Dr. Peck's doctoral work in Cornell University's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior focused on the transmission of mites between bee colonies, as well as the mite-resistance traits of the untreated honey bees living in Cornell's Arnot Forest. After earning his degree, he has continued to research varroa/bee interactions, including fieldwork in Newfoundland, Canada (where varroa still have not arrived) and Anosy Madagascar (where varroa arrived only in 2010 or 2011).

Dr. Peck is currently the Director of Research and Education at Betterbee in Greenwich, NY, where he assists in product development and research, and also teaches classes and develops scientifically-sound educational materials.

Dr. Peck has kept bees for more than a decade, though his home apiary is often full of mite-riddled research colonies so he doesn't usually produce much honey!.

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, May 9th, 2023
6:15 - 8:15 p.m.

Raising Local Queens

Jane Sueme,
Co-founder of Saint Louis Beekeepers

Jane will present on the Saint Louis Beekeepers Sustainable Stock Apiary's work to raise local, regionally-adapted queen stock. Jane will share the story of how their project was inspired by Randy Oliver with Scientific Beekeeping and SLU bee researcher Geraldo Camillo. 

The team of Saint Louis’ Sustainable Stock Apiary (SSA) beekeepers were awarded USDA-SARE grants in 2017 and again in 2021 to financially assist their queen-rearing project. Jane will detail how the grants supported their efforts to make local queens available to the St. Louis beekeeping community.

Link to the recording of the meeting
Link to the SSA PowerPoint on Raising Local Queens

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, April 11th, 2023
6:15 - 8:15 p.m.


Understanding Varroa Mites
and their impact on our honey bees

Dr. Juliana Rangel-Posada, Texas A&M University


Juliana has a Ph. D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and is currently Associate Professor of Apiculture in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University. She is an active member of the Texas Beekeepers Association and has spoken to dozens of beekeeping associations across the USA and internationally.

Juliana's presentation will cover basic biology of varroa mites and their dispersal phase, how varroa parasitize both castes (worker and drone) of the Western honey bee but only up to a certain point. She will also explain how this behavior differs from varroa's behavior in its original host apis cerana, the Asian honey bee. Juliana will also share how varroa has an observed behavior of seeking out nurse bees and will detail her research on the nurse visitation rate and how it increases varroa invasion rates. 

See Juliana's full biography

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
6:15 - 8:15 p.m.


Know Your State Apiarist

Lee Conner


Lee Conner has been with the Missouri Department of Agriculture since 2014 and Missouri's State Apiarist since 2017.

Lee will be talking about the state of Missouri’s Apiary Inspection Program including the state's requirements for transporting hives. He will also detail what a typical state inspection consists of.

Lee's been a beekeeper for 8 years and currently has 10 hives at his home in Jefferson City.

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
6:15 - 8:15 p.m.


Bees and Trees...
and shrubs, and flowers, and...

Pat Ward
Retired Director of the Missouri Arboretum at Northwest Missouri State University & owner/operator
Happy Hollow Nursery

Pat will talk about the favored plants bees visit for pollen and nectar; where to find these plants and how well they grow in the Midwest.Both native and introduced species will be discussed.

Pat and Barb Ward live on nearly 50 acres in southern Morgan County, Illinois. In 1979 Pat started Jacksonville (Illinois) Landscape Nursery and subsequently Happy Hollow Nursery. Pat recently retired as Director of the Missouri Arboretum at Northwest Missouri State University.

Pat and his wife Barb run up to 12 colonies themselves.and are founding members of the Apple Creek Beekeepers Club which meets in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Pat is an avid birder, leading bird tours throughout the Unities States and in other countries. In recent years, Pat and Barb have been making maple syrup.They are able to tap about 200 trees on their property.

Please join us at Powder Valley Nature Center beginning at 6:15 for "This Month In Beekeeping" and member Q&A with our panel of local beekeepers.

We'll be meeting in Powder Valley's auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:15 - 8:15 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
and
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association
combined club meeting
Tuesday, January 10th, 2023
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

A Beekeeping Winter
When to Conserve, When to Renew

EMBA and STL Bees are pleased to welcome
 Kent Williams
EAS Master Beekeeper

Looking forward to the new year, Kent will share his current thinking on all things beekeeping, including the two halves of a honey bee colony's winter.

Kent has been keeping bees in Kentucky for 30+ years. He is currently a nuc and queen producer and rents colonies for pollination of vine crops, managing 600 hives.  Kent is also historian for the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association.

Please join us! Beginning January 10th, we'll be meeting along with EMBA in the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center auditorium every month, on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Enter the building from the left side entrance door just off the parking lot. The main door will be closed for the evening.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
our next meeting
Friday, December 9, 2022
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Small Hive Beetle
What is its behavior and should you be concerned?


Dr. Dan Schmehl is pollinator specialist and science fellow at Bayer CropScience. Dan’s expertise are in honey bee husbandry, pollinator ecotoxicology, and Varroa. His postdoc training was in the lab of Dr. Jamie Ellis at the University of Florida, where his perspectives on Small Hive Beetle management strategies were largely developed.

His primary responsibility with Bayer CropScience is to conduct environmental risk assessments aimed at reducing non-target effects of pesticides to pollinators and other species. He participates in multiple external research collaborations and working groups aimed at advancing our understanding and methodology for assessing pesticide risks to pollinators. You can read about his work in pollinator ecotoxicology in the December issue of Bee Culture, the Interview Issue.

Dan has a wife and two energetic boys that run a small honey business and love being outdoors, going on hikes and bike rides, and playing frisbee.

NOTICE: WE ARE ON THE MOVE IN 2023
December is our last Friday evening meeting as we will be moving to a new night and new time in 2023. Starting January 10th, we'll be meeting in the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center auditorium on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Get to know The Stingless Honey Bee
with Edwin Tobias
Friday, November 11, 2022 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Edwin Vásquez Tobías is a native of Guatemala, who graduated with a B.S. from the University of Florida in Entomology and Nematology, with a Plant Protection Specialization. As a student, he focused on the biocontrol of exotic weed species using insects as a mechanism of control. Since returning to Guatemala, he has focused the biology of some species of native stingless bees and apitourism using stingless bees (Meliponiculture) at the Lake Atitlán Basin. Tobías promotes tours that focus on the importance of stingless bees and encourages the creation of gardens for insect pollinators using native plants near the stingless bee centers in the town of San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala.


Treatment-free Beekeeping
and Varroa Integrated Pest Management
Friday, September 9

This month's meeting will explore the current treatment-free beekeeping concepts and how they can be incorporated into an Integrated Pest Management plan. Come ready to share your experiences - good and bad or otherwise.  We'll try to answer all your questions and provide resources for specific questions we can't answer.


Our special guest Jeremy Idelman with BeeFound.org will share information about his local organization, their work to engage with veterans and first responders in the St. Louis area and beyond to get involved with the beekeeping community and this fascinating hobby.

Mark your Calendars
Saint Louis Beekeepers will not have an October meeting
Instead, we encourage you to make plans to attend the MSBA (Missouri State Beekeepers) Fall, 2022 meeting in Cape Girardeau, October 14th & 15th

Welcome Beekeepers!
This is a special meeting on a special date.
August 9, 2022

Saint Louis Beekeepers and Jefferson County Beekeepers are co-hosting Cory Stevens for a combined meeting at a larger venue.. We are meeting on Tuesday, August 9th from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Fenton Methodist Church, 800 Gravois Road. In addition, the meeting will be offered and recorded remotely via Facebook Live.


Cory Stevens comes to us from his 27 acre farm in Bloomfield, MO, which he manages for wildlife and pollinator habitat. Cory and his wife Jaime own Stevens Bee Company where they select for mite resistant VSH stock. Cory is a Past President of Missouri State Beekeepers Association, and earned a MS in entomology from University of Lincoln, Nebraska. He was certified as a Master Beekeeper by EAS in 2013, and trained by Sue Cobey in 2014 to instrumentally inseminate queen bees. He slips bees into random conversation with strangers, and annoys his wife by constantly talking about bees. 

Saint Louis Beekeepers
May Meeting - Friday, June 10th, 2022

We're now meeting on the 2nd Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
at 761 Gravois Road, Fenton (next to Isabee's store)


Gut microbes influence behaviors in the honey bee
Honey bees recognize their sisters because their gut microbes make them smell similar

Cassondra Vernier, PhD, University of Illinois

Dr. Cassondra Vernier is a biologist interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that underly animal social behaviors.

She earned her PhD in Evolutionary Biology from Washington University in St. Louis in May 2019, where she worked in the lab of Dr. Yehuda Ben-Shahar. As a graduate student she studied how honey bee nestmate recognition cues develop as bees transition from nursing to foraging behaviors, and discovered that the bee microbiome plays an important role in defining differences in nestmate recognition cues between colonies. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Gene Robinson’s lab at the University of Illinois, where she continues to study the role of the microbiome in honey bee behavior.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
Meetings @ 761 Gravois Road
Fenton, MO
We are excited to be meeting again and we want to see and hear from you! If you can't attend in-person, you are welcome to join the meeting remotely via Facebook Live.
Saint Louis Beekeepers
May Meeting - Friday, May 13th 2022

We're now meeting on the 2nd Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
at 761 Gravois Road, Fenton (next to Isabee's store)


Swarms - Preventing and Collecting
We are in the heart of swarm season! let's talk about how to prevent and collect now!
Guy Tinker, Tinker Bees

Guy Tinker, of Tinker Bees & Pure Ray Honey will present on swarm capturing in the St. Louis metro area.

Guy and his wife Tracy are in the 7th year of beekeeping, managing about 40 hives in North St. Louis County. They rescue a lot of swarms every year and will share their tips on what equipment works and how plus tips on making sure the bees stay in your box!

Jane Sueme, Co-founder of Saint Louis Bees will present on swarm management and control including management techniques you can employ to keep your hives from swarming every season, how to read the signs and keep your bees home!

Saint Louis Beekeepers
Meetings @ 761 Gravois Road
Fenton, MO

We are excited to be meeting again and we want to see and hear from you! If you can't attend in-person, you are welcome to join the meeting remotely via Facebook Live.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
April Meeting - Friday, April 8th, 2022

We're now meeting on the 2nd Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
at 761 Gravois Road, Fenton (next to Isabee's store)


Many Paths to One Sweet Goal: Comb Honey!
Tim Fredricks

Comb honey is a specialty - old-fashioned, unfiltered, the freshest form for enjoying, and gets a premium retail price. Successful production often requires specific equipment and good management skills. Tim will share his expertise and tips for successful comb honey production for the upcoming season.

Over the past 10 beekeeping years, Tim has developed a passion for science based hive management decisions, actively managing varroa mites, the state fair apiculture competition, and experimenting with beekeeping techniques. Tim manages 30-40 hives in St. Charles county for everything from honey, wax, queens and nucleus colony production.

During the week Tim is an Environmental Engagement Manager with Bayer Crop Science where he has the opportunity to participate on the Honey Bee Health Coalition and work at the intersection of agriculture, pollinators, and habitat conservation.

Tim and his wife Kristin are raising 3 young girls, gardens for produce and native habitat plantings, has a flock of chickens and ducks and taps trees for maple/walnut sap.


We are excited to be meeting again and we want to see and hear from you! If you can't attend in-person, you are welcome to join the meeting remotely via Facebook Live.


Saint Louis Beekeepers
Meetings @ 761 Gravois Road
Fenton, MO
We are excited to be meeting again and we want to see and hear from you! If you can't attend in-person, you are welcome to join the meeting remotely via Facebook Live.
Saint Louis Beekeepers
March Meeting - Friday, March 11th 2022

Welcome Beekeepers!

Spring Management & Swarm Control
Jane Sueme
Certified Master Beekeeper
Co-Founder, Saint Louis Beekeepers

Spring is right around the corner and mid-March is the beginning of management season in our area. We'll review spring tasks including...

spring rotation
spring management
when and what to feed, or not
managing signs of swarming
swarm baiting and collection
installing packages and nucs

Please join us for this important refresher meeting

Saint Louis Beekeepers
February Meeting Schedule

We are happy to announce we have scheduled our next club meeting for Friday, February 11th. 2022

Mistakes Beekeepers Make
Gregg Hitchings
Certified Master Beekeeper
MSBA Education Committee Chair

Gregg Hitchings has recently retired after a nearly four-decade career in wildlife law enforcement. He holds a certified master beekeeping certificate from the University of Florida, is chair of the Missouri State Beekeepers Association’s Education Committee and was named MSBA Beekeeper of the Year in 2020. Currently, Gregg is leading implementation efforts for the Great Plains Master Beekeeping (GPMB) program in Missouri.

In retirement, Gregg is in his fifty-sixth year of enjoying beekeeping while helping others become successful in the craft. He operates Belleview Valley Apiary in Iron County near the Elephant Rocks State Park.

It's just a great time & place to get together!
Saint Louis Beekeepers
December Meeting Schedule

Welcome Beekeepers!


We are happy to announce we have scheduled our next club meeting for Friday, December 10th. 2021

Oxalic Acid for control of varroa mites in honey bee hives

Join past EMBA Beekeeper of the Year Bob Cantrell, members Ken Heitkamp and Jane Sueme for a panel discussion of different methods of treatment with oxalic acid.

We are so excited to be meeting again and we want to see and hear from you! If you are vaccinated or masking, please join us in-person. If you are not yet ready to attend a meeting in-person, you are welcome to join at 7:30 p.m. via 
Facebook Live (Check back for Facebook Live link).

Saint Louis Beekeepers
Meetings @ 761 Gravois Road
Fenton, MO

Friday, November 12th. 2021

Natural Beekeeping
and
Darwinian Black Box Breeding

Jane Sueme will share natural beekeeping and black box breeding concepts recently learned through the Montana Continuing Education program. As well, we'll talk about the newest research on oxalic acid treatment for varroa from the Eastern Apicultural Society Conference held this past summer.

We'll provide a progress report on the Sustainable Stock Apiary queen rearing project and how you can participate in a 2nd USDA-SARE grant for that local, survivor-stock queen rearing program.

We are so excited to have a meeting again and we want to see and hear from you! If you are vaccinated or masking, please join us in-person. If you are not yet ready to attend a meeting in-person, you are welcome to join at 7:30 p.m. via Facebook Live.

Saint Louis Beekeepers
It's just a great time & place to get together!
Saint Louis Beekeepers welcome
Bob Finck


 Bob will share his wisdom regarding when to inspect and seasonal inspection goals.
SPECIAL MEETING TIME AND PLACE
Fenton United Methodist Church
800 Gravois Road
Tuesday, March 10th, 2021
7 pm - 9 pm

Saint Louis Beekeepers and Jefferson County Beekeepers
are holding a joint meeting to welcome
Grant Gillard


 Grant Gillard started keeping bees in Minnesota in 1981 following his graduation from Iowa State University.  His hobby spiked upward when his family moved to Jackson, Missouri in 1993 where he ran around 200 colonies, selling honey at three different farmer's markets.  In 2018, in order to move closer to family in the greater Kansas City area, he relocated to Holden, Missouri to establish his presence in the world of beekeeping.

SPECIAL meeting space...
FOR MARCH ONLY
Fenton United Methodist Church
800 Gravois Road
Tuesday, February 25th 2021
7-9pm

Gerardo R. Camilo, Ph.D. :SLUH Bee Lab
Bee diversity in cities: What we do and don't know


Recent research across cities in North America and elsewhere has demonstrated that cities can serve as refuge to many bees and other insect pollinators.  Given that cities are human-dominated landscapes composed of built and managed spaces, how can bees survive, and at times thrive, in such environments?  Research in my lab, and that of other investigators, have shed light into some of the essential components that many bees require.  Also, the way that individual homeowners manage their properties matter for many bee species.  Still, we know little about the interactions between human social, cultural and economic activities and the native bee community and how these change over time.  

Camilobeelab.com

Tuesday, January 28th, 2021
7-9pm

Spliting colonies using the "On The Spot"
method with Dale Friedhoff



Dale Friedhoff is a club member who started beekeeping in 2015. When he was down to 1 surviving colony in 2017, ready to give up, Dale came across Mel Disselkoen's videos and book titled "OTS Queen Rearing." Using Mel's program for the past 3 years, he is now up to 10 colonies. Dale is able to raise summer queens, produce split and sell nucs from his best stock and practice varroa mite management, all at the same time.

Tuesday, November 26th, 2020
7-9pm
Creating Native Plant Perennial Beds
for Pollinators around your Home
By Dave Tylka


Dave Tylka author of
Native Landscaping for Wildlife and People
Dave will explain how you can successfully establish and maintain perennial beds in your home landscape by analyzing sunlight amounts and intensities, compass directions, soil ingredients, and basic moisture content of your soils.

Dave will also discuss some of the best pollinator perennials found locally around St. Louis.  The best plants lure pollinators to their flowers by offering pollen and nectar and by evolving visual and olfactory cues, such as nectar guides, color and fragrance.  He will focus on which bottomland and upland shade perennials are the most attractive to pollinators.  Then he will discuss which sun-loving native species attract pollinators in prairie-like beds versus glade-like beds around your yards.

Dave Tylka is a semi-retired Professor of Biology at St. Louis Community College at Meramec, where he taught full time for over 20 years.  He still teaches native landscaping and Ozark ecology courses.  When not in the classroom, he and his wife are outside enjoying their home native landscape where they grow over 100 different species of native plants—they love biodiversity.  Dave was the first St. Louis Urban Biologist for the Missouri Conservation Department...
more
Tuesday, October 22nd, 2020
7-9pm
How climate change affects 
what plants we grow

Daria McKelvey
Supervisor, Kemper Center for Home Gardening
Missouri Botanical Garden

Daria will be talking about the affects of climate change and the effects it could have on Midwest gardening (plants and pollinators), changes in hardiness zones and pest and disease issues.  She will also talk about the plant adaptability testing they are conducting at the Climate Garden at Kemper.

Daria is the Supervisor for the Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where she oversee the Garden's information resources - Plant Doctor Desk, Gardening Help website and a team of over 70 Master Gardener Volunteers. 

Tuesday, September 24th, 2020

Lee Conner
Missouri Dept. of Agriculture
State Apiary Inspector

Lee Conner is the central region Plant Protection Specialist for the Missouri Department of Agriculture as well as the state Apiary Inspector. Lee has been with the state (in this position) for 5 years after receiving his bachelors in Forestry from the University of Missouri- Columbia in 2012. His hobbies include beekeeping, hunting, fishing, and amateur archeology.  He's been a beekeeper for 3 years and grew up helping his father and other family friends work bees.

This month is a special meeting 
of the Saint Louis Beekeepers 

Tuesday, August 27th, 2020
at our
Sustainable Stock Apiary

Field Day at STL Bees Queen Rearing Yard

Please join us on Tuesday evening, August 27th at the club's SSA queen rearing yard from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, at 1250 Stephen Jones Avenue, Wellston, Missouri, 63133.

email contact@saintlouisbeekeepers.com

Saint Louis Beekeepers
SSA Bee Yard
1259 Stephen Jones Ave
St. Louis, MO  63133

street parking only, for this evening.


Tuesday, July 23rd, 2020
7 pm - 9 pm 

Keeping hives healthy going into Winter

We'll discuss what to do to keep hives healthy and get them prepared for winter. We'll cover varroa and tracheal mite concerns, symptoms and treatment options; nutrition needs and hive configurations for the winter months.  We'll also discuss the pros and cons of fall requeening.

PLUS
We'll have a report on the success of the Sustainable Stock Apiary (SSA) local queen rearing group along with information on local queen stock available for you to purchase.

PLUS
Bring a sample of your early season honey harvest for a group tasting.
Any snacks to share with the group is appreciated.
Tea and water are provided and you may bring beverages to the meeting room.
Please join us.


Tuesday, June 25th, 2020
7 pm - 9 pm 

Where's the Honey?

This season is shaping up to be a stellar year for honey production in our area.  Are your hives supered?  Are you going to have a harvest for the first time?
 
We'll discuss what plants produce nectar and when in our area, how the bees turn it into liquid gold, when the beekeepers collect it and what to do with it, including options for extracting.

We'll discuss all things honey.
Please join us.

Tuesday, May 28th, 2020
7 pm - 9 pm 

Swarms on Memorial Day?

When is swarm season in St. Louis? What is swarm behavior? How do you capture a swarm? What are the signs and what can you do to prevent your hives from swarming?  

We'll discuss all things about honey bee swarms.
Please join us.

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2020
7 pm - 9 pm 

Comb Honey Production
Missouri's premier comb honey producer 
Ray Nabors

presents on small scale production 
of comb honey for Missouri beekeepers. 
(And other beekeeping topics he wants to share)

STL Bees meeting
5200 Shrewsbury Avenue
St. Louis, MO  63119
  Shrewsbury City Center
http://cityofshrewsbury.com/


Tuesday, March 26th, 2020
7 pm - 9 pm 

Shrewsbury City Center
5200 Shrewsbury Ave. at Hazel Ave.
Meeting Room 210

Use sidewalk under the arch. 
The path curves to the right to the main door.  
Follow signs inside - take elevator to 2nd floor

Management Cause & Effect

Club co-founder Jane Sueme will present on key spring beekeeping, new Small Hive Beetle control options and the possible resurgence of Tracheal Mites in our area.
 
Jane will explain how you can assess your own colonies to be able to respond appropriately and have healthy, happy bees!

Tuesday, February 26th, 2020
7 pm - 9 pm 

Saint Louis Beekeepers welcomes
Eugene Makovec & Bob Finck
Eugene will talk about his new position as
Editor of American Bee Journal
Bob Finck
Commercial honey producer
With 40 years of experience, Bob will share his insights covering management needs for us to consider in the next two months, after such a  cold and wet winter.

Brew Hub Taproom Now serving food. See menu here.
 
Come early for a bite to eat,
meeting and presentation from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

We'll discuss beekeeping tasks for the Jan/Feb/Mar,
we'll talk about upcoming classes and workshops in the bi-state area, and
we'll recap our Sustainable Stock Apiary (SSA) progress and plans for 2020.

TUESDAY, Nov. 27, 2019
"Selling Honey for $20/lb: Crafting and Marketing a Premium Product"
with Leo Shrashkin

Learn how your hive management choices affect the honey, how to produce the highest-quality honey with highest nutritional value, and how to market it successfully at the premium prices it deserves.

Dr Leo Sharashkin is a full-time natural beekeeper from the Ozarks in southern Missouri. His remote forest apiaries are populated entirely with survivor stock from wild swarms, housed in easy-to-manage horizontal hives. Dr Leo holds a PhD in Forestry from the University of Missouri, plus studied marketing at France's top business school. He is editor of "Keeping Bees With a Smile" and "Keeping Bees in Horizontal Hives" - comprehensive books on natural beekeeping. His website (with free hive plans and advice): HorizontalHive.com

.

MONDAY, Oct. 22, 2019

The Future of Beekeeping
with Jerry Hayes

Jerry Hayes past Apiary Inspector for the state of Florida’s Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Bureau of Plant & Apiary Inspection and is now vice president North America for Vita Bee Health to help beekeepers improve and maintain the health of their honey bees. Jerry will discus the future of beekeeping...honey bee technology, trends in the commercial and hobby industry, and the prospects for bee health.

  Please join us!

MONDAY, Sept. 22, 2019

Fall Management and Winter Preparation
with John Pashia

John has been a beekeeper since 2006, is a member of STL Bees and Vice President of Eastern Missouri Beekeepers.  John will walk us through fall and late season management tasks for successful overwintering. 

  Please join us!

This month is a special meeting
of the Saint Louis Beekeepers
Tuesday, August 28th, 2019
Sustainable Stock Apiary

Field Day at STL Bees Queen Rearing Yard

Please join us on TUESDAY, August 28th at the club's SSA queen rearing apiary from 6:00 to 9:00pm.

Along with enjoying the evening with friends and food, we'll talk about our queen rearing challenges, successes and lessons learned at this location and what the plans are for next season.

The next meeting of the Saint Louis Beekeepers is 
MONDAY, July 22, 2019 at 
 
We gather at 6:30 p.m., meeting and presentation from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  Please join us.

Small Hive Beetle and Varroa Mites

These two invasive pests have the greatest impact on your honey bee colony's health. August is when inspection, detection and management is critical to your bee's health and survival for the rest of the year. We'll be sharing important information about identification and control options.

MONDAY, June 25, 2019 

We will hear from James "Otto" Ottolini, Chief of Brewing Operations with Brew Hub and learn about their new St. Louis brewing facility and restaurant, their brewing partners and how they help local brewers work on unique and nontraditional brews in small batches.

Ottolini received the 2012 Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Craft Brewing and serves as an adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He holds a B.A. in French Literature from the University of Kansas and an Executive M.B.A. from the Olin School of Business at Washington University. 

We will also hear from Kayla Flamm, GIS Specialist with Missouri Botanical Garden.  She will present on her recent experience meeting beekeepers in  Kyrgyzstan.

Seasonal Round Table & Small Hive Beetle

We want to hear from you! This month's meeting will feature round-table discussion on the season to-date. How did you do with splits, moves, requeening, supering? What worked and what didn't?

We'll also have an update on SHB (small hive beetle) behavior and management so you can be prepared to deal with them this season.

Please note, we will be meeting on the patio at Schlafly's Bottleworks for this meeting. Please dress appropriately.

Apitherapy with Mary Reed
(aka Bee Sting Therapy)

This month's featured speaker is Mary Reed from Farmington, Missouri.  Mary has been a beekeeper and practicing apitherapist in Missouri for many year and is considered to be the expert on the history and practical use of apitherapy in our area.  She will share her knowledge, insights and techniques to help us be healthy beekeepers.

Spring Splits for Swarm Control

STL Bees and EMBA member Ken Heitkamp will walk us through his spring management tips & techniques  for swarm control, plus getting your hives set up for spring and early summer honey production..

Honey Testing, DNA and You

Jim Gawenis of Sweetwater Science Labs will explain adulteration testing for natural sweeteners. This includes carbon-13 isotope analysis, sugar adulterant marker analysis and screening for antibiotics and pesticides. We will be discussing why large and small honey producers should be testing their honey.

Sweetwater Science Labs started as Coastal Science Labs in 2012.  Jim and his team are dedicated to serving and educating beekeepers and honey producers to the importance of ensuring quality of foods and food products through sound science and communication.

Dr. James (Jim) Gawenis received his PhD in Chemistry from Mizzou in 2001 and his MEd from the University of Utah in 2008. His passion for instrument and methods development is matched only by his passion for teaching others.

Kent Williams, EAS Master Beekeeper

Kent will share his current thinking on all things beekeeping, including the impact and control of Small Hive Beetles (SHB).

Kent has been keeping bees in Kentucky for 30+ years.
and is currently a nuc and queen producer and rents colonies for pollination of vine crops, managing 600 hives.  

Kent is also historian for the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association.

We gather between 6 and 6:30 p.m. with the meeting and presentation from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 

We hope you can join us!

The next meeting of the Saint Louis Beekeepers is Tuesday, November 28th.  We gather between 6 and 6:30 p.m. with the meeting and presentation from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

STL Bees is pleased to welcome 
Keith Seiz with the National Honey Board

Keith's topic is "How Brewers Have Embraced Honey"

For the last six years, Keith has traveled the country helping food and beverage manufacturers use more honey in their products. It's his passion, and one that has him working with companies ranging from retail bakers to craft breweries. Before working for the National Honey Board, Keith served as editor and associate publisher of a trade publication
that covered the wholesale baking industry. 

Tuesday, October 24th, 2017

STL Bees is pleased to welcome back
Grant Gilliard as our featured speaker. 
Grant's presentation will be titled "Better Beekeeping"

Grant has been keeping honeybees since 1981 and currently operates around 200 hives in southeast Missouri.  His methodology attempts to keep his bees as natural as possible with sustainable practices, including raising his own locally-adapted queen honey bees from survivor stock.  Grant has published several books on the topics of beekeeping and personal growth.

September 26, 2017

James & DesChene Brochtrup
will present the FDA's 2017 regulation
for antibiotic use to treat honey bee colonies
The US Food & Drug Administration classifies antibiotics approved to control American foulbrood (AFB) and European foulbrood (EFB) as medically important antibiotics because they are used to treat diseases in people. The agency also classifies honey bees as a food-producing animal because people consume the hive products. Veterinary oversight is now required to administer medically important antibiotics in the food or water of food-producing animals. Beekeepers must involve their veterinarian before using antibiotics to treat honey bee hives.
DesChene (DC) Brochtrup, DVM, DACVR graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004 and completed a 3-year Residency in Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS from 2009-2012.  DC practiced in the St. Louis area from 2004 to 2009 including equine ambulatory medicine, small animal and exotic general practice, and small animal emergency medicine.  DesChene joined VIS - Mobile in St. Louis in 2012 and is a member of AVMA and ACVR.  

James Brochtrup graduated from William Jewell College with a BA in Physics in 1998 and went onto study Industrial Health and Safety, Environmental Health and Safety, and finally Information and Network Technology. In 2013, James took on rebuilding a farm Ste Genevieve County and brought their first honey bee hives in 2014.
 
We hope you will join us to learn about this important information.

 

August 22, 2017

Patrick Martin: Mead maker
Martin Brothers Winery

Patrick started making mead while he was an undergraduate studying biological sciences and general chemistry at the Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla.  Since graduating he applies all of his laboratory experience towards recreating the most ancient of all alcoholic beverages: mead.  

Along with his brother Derek, Martin's primary goal at Martin Brothers Winery is respecting honey's character while simultaneously highlighting the flavors and character that make each variety and each harvest of honey unique.  

Patrick's presentation will be about issues of traditional mead fermentation with regards to respecting the varietal characteristics of honey, as well as what mead is and its history."
 
We hope you will join us.
 
View a Feast Magazine's story 

June 27, 2017

Treatment Free Beekeeping
with Solomon Parker

Solomon Parker of Parker Bees and the Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast is our featured speaker this month.  Solomon will explain what treatment-free really means, why and how it's an viable management option.

Solomon Parker is committed to educating new beekeepers who choose the treatment-free path.  He is the creator of the Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast and the founder of the Treatment-Free Beekeepers' Facebook group which now has over 14,000 members.  He has been keeping bees treatment-free since he started in 2003 and he lives in Medford, Oregon where he was born and raised, with his wife and children and bees.

Please join us this coming Tuesday at Schlafly's Bottleworks from 6:30 to 9!

May 23, 2017

Honey Harvesting

This meeting will cover honey harvesting techniques and equipment, including extracting, bottling, marketing and storage.

For your information, the club has recently received a generous donation of equipment from a local area beekeeping including some extracting equipment, which will be available to club members for rental.  We'll provide details at this and upcoming meetings.

Congratulations PlasmaBots!

The team of 6th-7th graders from the Boston area, who presented at our April meeting competed at the Lego FLL World Championships held here in St. Louis on April 28th and 29th.  The team of Aly Hodge, Morgan Su, Pria Sawhney, Bradley Winters and Gabriel Shiu with Tech mentor Anhad Sawhney were awarded the First prize in Research for their device designed to treat honeybees for varroa mites, called "Mitigate". The entire competition involved over 255,000 participants in 32,000 teams from about 88 countries.

As published in their local newspaper - "This group of three sixth grade girls and two seventh grade boys, assisted by an 8th grade technical mentor all from William Diamond Middle School had spent countless hours: reading books by Nobel Laureates, summaries of PhD theses, websites, books, even a graphic novel on bees. They made many field trips: to an organic farm, backyard bee hives, processing center of an urban apiculture company even the Bee Lab at the University of Texas, Austin! They met bee swarm directors, hobbyist bee keepers, scientists, Congresswoman Clark and many Lexington residents as they worked on the three components of the First Lego League competition: Research, Robotics and Core Values."

They did a great job presenting their concept and design and we'll keep track of their progress and testing results.

April 25, 2017

Local Queen Rearing with
Featured Speaker Stu Jacobson
Stu started keeping bees on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1973.  After getting his PhD in biology, he spent one year studying Africanized bees in Venezuela; he has also conducted research on honey bee management, overwintering nucs and on small hive beetle (SHB).  Stu is retired from the University of Illinois, Springfield, where he conducted education programing for university extension.  He coordinates the Illinois Queen-rearing Initiative (IQI) where he obtained two USDA grants for increasing the production and use of locally-adapted, disease and mite resistant queens.

We will also meet and hear from special guests, a team of 6th-7th graders from the Boston area, who will be in town to participate in the annual First Lego League (FLL) World's Robotics competition in St Louis the week end of April 29th and 30th.

The Plasmabots team will share the story about their prototype for varroa mite control that won the Massachusetts state competition.

March 28, 2017

This month's featured speaker is John Pashia 

John is Vice President of the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association, member of the Saint Louis Beekeepers, third generation beekeeper and honey bee enthusiast with about 15-20 colonies in Pevely, MO. 

John has kept bees for the last 12 years and has mastered many DIY opportunities that beekeeping provides, from building equipment to making candles, lip balms and mead. 

John will present on "Minding Your Beeswax", helping to answer the question, "Now that I harvested my honey, what do I do with all this wax?" He will share his methods of processing wax into a useful product, making solar melters and will discuss filtering options.

We'll also enjoy sampling of the honeys provided for the club's 5th Honey, Mead and Wine tasting, that took place on February 17th.

February 28, 2017

This month's featured speaker is Phil Ebert
commercial beekeeper from Lynnville Iowa 

Phil Ebert began Ebert Honey in 1980 with only ten colonies.  They sat in the backyard of his Fairfield, Iowa home and at that time, one five gallon bucket of honey seemed like a large amount.  Once the honey was bottled, it was mainly sold out of his house.

Today, Ebert Honey maintains nearly 1,200 hives near Lynnville, Iowa which produced 70,000 lbs of honey in 2016.  Processing and bottling takes place in a steel building erected in 1996.

Phil will share how he started and built up his business and will talk about how commercial beekeepers handle their bees.

We'll also enjoy sampling of the honeys provided for the club's 5th Honey, Mead and Wine tasting, that took place on February 17th.

Save the Date
Honey, Wine & Mead Tasting, 2017

The 5th Annual Honey, Wine and Mead tasting has been set for Friday, February 17th

We will be partnering again with the Saint Louis Culinary Institute at Hickey College and select Missouri wine and mead producers and crafters.

January 24, 2017

This month's featured speaker is 
local beekeeper Greg Stout

Greg manages 25-30 Russian colonies and produces nucs near Elsah, Illinois.  He will share his insights into the unique management practices he believes critical to be successful with Russian honey bees.

Greg has been keeping honeybees for 20 years and treatment-free Russian colonies since 2002, raising queens from the hardiest traits from his own stock. 

In the spring of 2016, Greg and his wife Connie started a 20 acre prairie for pollinator habitat.

We hope you join us any time after 6 p.m. for refreshments or a meal with meeting and presentation beginning at 7 p.m.

Club Book Swap

Bring any beekeeping or related title with you when you attend a meeting and swap it for something you've yet to read.

The next meeting of the Saint Louis Beekeepers at Schlafly's Bottleworks is Tuesday, November 28th.  We gather between 6 and 6:30 p.m. with the meeting and presentation from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

STL Bees is pleased to welcome 
Keith Seiz with the National Honey Board

Keith's topic is "How Brewers Have Embraced Honey"

For the last six years, Keith has traveled the country helping food and beverage manufacturers use more honey in their products. It's his passion, and one that has him working with companies ranging from retail bakers to craft breweries. Before working for the National Honey Board, Keith served as editor and associate publisher of a trade publication
that covered the wholesale baking industry. 

Tuesday, October 24th, 2017

STL Bees is pleased to welcome back
Grant Gilliard as our featured speaker. 
Grant's presentation will be titled "Better Beekeeping"

Grant has been keeping honeybees since 1981 and currently operates around 200 hives in southeast Missouri.  His methodology attempts to keep his bees as natural as possible with sustainable practices, including raising his own locally-adapted queen honey bees from survivor stock.  Grant has published several books on the topics of beekeeping and personal growth.

September 26, 2017

James & DesChene Brochtrup
will present the FDA's 2017 regulation
for antibiotic use to treat honey bee colonies
The US Food & Drug Administration classifies antibiotics approved to control American foulbrood (AFB) and European foulbrood (EFB) as medically important antibiotics because they are used to treat diseases in people. The agency also classifies honey bees as a food-producing animal because people consume the hive products. Veterinary oversight is now required to administer medically important antibiotics in the food or water of food-producing animals. Beekeepers must involve their veterinarian before using antibiotics to treat honey bee hives.
DesChene (DC) Brochtrup, DVM, DACVR graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004 and completed a 3-year Residency in Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS from 2009-2012.  DC practiced in the St. Louis area from 2004 to 2009 including equine ambulatory medicine, small animal and exotic general practice, and small animal emergency medicine.  DesChene joined VIS - Mobile in St. Louis in 2012 and is a member of AVMA and ACVR.  

James Brochtrup graduated from William Jewell College with a BA in Physics in 1998 and went onto study Industrial Health and Safety, Environmental Health and Safety, and finally Information and Network Technology. In 2013, James took on rebuilding a farm Ste Genevieve County and brought their first honey bee hives in 2014.
 
We hope you will join us to learn about this important information.

 

August 22, 2017

Patrick Martin: Mead maker
Martin Brothers Winery

Patrick started making mead while he was an undergraduate studying biological sciences and general chemistry at the Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla.  Since graduating he applies all of his laboratory experience towards recreating the most ancient of all alcoholic beverages: mead.  

Along with his brother Derek, Martin's primary goal at Martin Brothers Winery is respecting honey's character while simultaneously highlighting the flavors and character that make each variety and each harvest of honey unique.  

Patrick's presentation will be about issues of traditional mead fermentation with regards to respecting the varietal characteristics of honey, as well as what mead is and its history."
 
We hope you will join us.
 
View a Feast Magazine's story 

June 27, 2017

Treatment Free Beekeeping
with Solomon Parker

Solomon Parker of Parker Bees and the Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast is our featured speaker this month.  Solomon will explain what treatment-free really means, why and how it's an viable management option.

Solomon Parker is committed to educating new beekeepers who choose the treatment-free path.  He is the creator of the Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast and the founder of the Treatment-Free Beekeepers' Facebook group which now has over 14,000 members.  He has been keeping bees treatment-free since he started in 2003 and he lives in Medford, Oregon where he was born and raised, with his wife and children and bees.

Please join us this coming Tuesday at Schlafly's Bottleworks from 6:30 to 9!

May 23, 2017

Honey Harvesting

This meeting will cover honey harvesting techniques and equipment, including extracting, bottling, marketing and storage.

For your information, the club has recently received a generous donation of equipment from a local area beekeeping including some extracting equipment, which will be available to club members for rental.  We'll provide details at this and upcoming meetings.

Congratulations PlasmaBots!

The team of 6th-7th graders from the Boston area, who presented at our April meeting competed at the Lego FLL World Championships held here in St. Louis on April 28th and 29th.  The team of Aly Hodge, Morgan Su, Pria Sawhney, Bradley Winters and Gabriel Shiu with Tech mentor Anhad Sawhney were awarded the First prize in Research for their device designed to treat honeybees for varroa mites, called "Mitigate". The entire competition involved over 255,000 participants in 32,000 teams from about 88 countries.

As published in their local newspaper - "This group of three sixth grade girls and two seventh grade boys, assisted by an 8th grade technical mentor all from William Diamond Middle School had spent countless hours: reading books by Nobel Laureates, summaries of PhD theses, websites, books, even a graphic novel on bees. They made many field trips: to an organic farm, backyard bee hives, processing center of an urban apiculture company even the Bee Lab at the University of Texas, Austin! They met bee swarm directors, hobbyist bee keepers, scientists, Congresswoman Clark and many Lexington residents as they worked on the three components of the First Lego League competition: Research, Robotics and Core Values."

They did a great job presenting their concept and design and we'll keep track of their progress and testing results.

April 25, 2017

Local Queen Rearing with
Featured Speaker Stu Jacobson
Stu started keeping bees on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1973.  After getting his PhD in biology, he spent one year studying Africanized bees in Venezuela; he has also conducted research on honey bee management, overwintering nucs and on small hive beetle (SHB).  Stu is retired from the University of Illinois, Springfield, where he conducted education programing for university extension.  He coordinates the Illinois Queen-rearing Initiative (IQI) where he obtained two USDA grants for increasing the production and use of locally-adapted, disease and mite resistant queens.

We will also meet and hear from special guests, a team of 6th-7th graders from the Boston area, who will be in town to participate in the annual First Lego League (FLL) World's Robotics competition in St Louis the week end of April 29th and 30th.

The Plasmabots team will share the story about their prototype for varroa mite control that won the Massachusetts state competition.

March 28, 2017

This month's featured speaker is John Pashia 

John is Vice President of the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association, member of the Saint Louis Beekeepers, third generation beekeeper and honey bee enthusiast with about 15-20 colonies in Pevely, MO. 

John has kept bees for the last 12 years and has mastered many DIY opportunities that beekeeping provides, from building equipment to making candles, lip balms and mead. 

John will present on "Minding Your Beeswax", helping to answer the question, "Now that I harvested my honey, what do I do with all this wax?" He will share his methods of processing wax into a useful product, making solar melters and will discuss filtering options.

We'll also enjoy sampling of the honeys provided for the club's 5th Honey, Mead and Wine tasting, that took place on February 17th.

February 28, 2017

This month's featured speaker is Phil Ebert
commercial beekeeper from Lynnville Iowa 

Phil Ebert began Ebert Honey in 1980 with only ten colonies.  They sat in the backyard of his Fairfield, Iowa home and at that time, one five gallon bucket of honey seemed like a large amount.  Once the honey was bottled, it was mainly sold out of his house.

Today, Ebert Honey maintains nearly 1,200 hives near Lynnville, Iowa which produced 70,000 lbs of honey in 2016.  Processing and bottling takes place in a steel building erected in 1996.

Phil will share how he started and built up his business and will talk about how commercial beekeepers handle their bees.

We'll also enjoy sampling of the honeys provided for the club's 5th Honey, Mead and Wine tasting, that took place on February 17th.

Save the Date
Honey, Wine & Mead Tasting, 2017

The 5th Annual Honey, Wine and Mead tasting has been set for Friday, February 17th

We will be partnering again with the Saint Louis Culinary Institute at Hickey College and select Missouri wine and mead producers and crafters.

January 24, 2017

This month's featured speaker is 
local beekeeper Greg Stout

Greg manages 25-30 Russian colonies and produces nucs near Elsah, Illinois.  He will share his insights into the unique management practices he believes critical to be successful with Russian honey bees.

Greg has been keeping honeybees for 20 years and treatment-free Russian colonies since 2002, raising queens from the hardiest traits from his own stock. 

In the spring of 2016, Greg and his wife Connie started a 20 acre prairie for pollinator habitat.

We hope you join us any time after 6 p.m. for refreshments or a meal with meeting and presentation beginning at 7 p.m.

Club Book Swap

Bring any beekeeping or related title with you when you attend a meeting and swap it for something you've yet to read.

Nov. 22, 2016

Oxalic Acid - One Year After EPA Approval

Dwain Jansen, President, Three Rivers Beekeepers and
Jane Sueme, Co-Founder, Saint Louis Beekeepers

Dwain and Jane will present on their use of oxalic acid as a treatment for varroa mites this season.  Each used a different protocol for vaporization and will present data on their results.

We will review varroa mite biology, what the beekeeping community is currently working on and what treatments are recommend for the coming winter and spring.

We'll also discuss winter feeding.  Bring your questions and ideas!.

Oct. 25, 2016

Cory Stevens 
Certified Master Beekeeper and VSH Queen Breeder

Saint Louis Beekeepers is excited to have Cory Stevens back for a "homecoming" meeting at Schlafly's Bottleworks.  Cory was our very first presenter when we moved to the Crown Room, or current meeting location. 

Cory and his wife Jaime are parents to two children, Jade Olivia and Camden Lane and manage 80-100 colonies with a queen breeding operation in Dexter, Missouri.  The Stevens' focus is on pest and disease resistant traits (VSH and hygienic genetics) in their breeding stock.  To propagate and select the hardiest of genetics, Cory avoids treatments in his colonies. He is "focused on breeding disease-resistant honey bees; bees that can naturally keep a clean disease-free brood nest."

As a 2013 Certified Master Beekeeper by Eastern Apicultural Society of North America Education (EAS) and trained and outfitted by Susan Cobey in 2014 to instrumentally inseminate queen honeybees, Cory's queen breeding operation has proven success.

Cory has served as Past Southeast Director for Missouri State Beekeepers Association and is in high demand to instruct quality queen rearing workshops all across the bi-state area.

September 27, 2016

Native Plants: Beyond Beauty - Plants that REALLY work!
Presented by
Bill Ruppert, on behalf Grow Native!,
a program of the Missouri Prairie Foundation

Native plants, beyond their inherit beauty, contribute significantly to both natural and human created landscapes.  From providing a valuable food and fiber source, to mitigating rainwater at both residential and commercial landscapes, to providing beneficial wildlife habit for human benefit and enjoyment, native plants realize truly sustainable and healthy landscapes.  Learn how the use and conservation of native plants can bolster your quality of life! Grow Native! resource information will be provided.

Corey Gunnell, Vice President of Pop Up Prairie, will be discussing the organization's mission of Habitat Re-fragmentation and why they are excited to work in an urban environment. 

August 23, 2016

Our featured speaker is Pete Snyder with the National Agricultural Genotyping Center (NCGA), a not-for-profit orginzation with new offices here in St. Louis.
Pete will present on the NCGA's work concerning honeybee diseases.

Snyder is President & CEO with NAGC, a not-for-profit organization that has been funded by agricultural producers. Its mission is to translate scientific discoveries into solutions for production agriculture, food safety, functional foods, bio-energy and national security.
 
Prior to joining NAGC, Snyder headed up Snyder Consulting in 1999 and worked with clients like the St. Louis Police Officers Association, EnTech Engineering, the St. Louis Fire Sprinkler Alliance, and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
 
Snyder is a graduate of Cornell University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences where he took classes in beekeeping. 

July 26, 2016

Varroa Mite Control
Mite Testing and Treatment Options

This month's meeting will cover varroa mites - life cycle, known impacts to your colony's health, testing and treatment options.  

Jane Sueme and Ken Heitkamp with demonstrate treatment tools and products including oxalic acid.. 


JULY
EVENTS and ORGANIZATIONS SPOTLIGHT

June 28, 2016

"Honey Harvesting"

This month's meeting will cover honey production and harvesting.  We'll demonstrate uncapping, extract and bottle from some medium frames for liquid honey.  We'll cover how to get the honey boxes off the hives, best practices for harvesting and bottling, as well as storage options for honey supers.  Plus, we'll share ideas for what to do with your wax cappings.

Please join us and share your tips and tricks. 

JUNE- JULY
EVENTS and ORGANIZATIONS SPOTLIGHT

Heartland Apiculture Society
July 14-16, 2016

2016 HAS Speakers

Dr. Greg Hunt, Purdue Univ., Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda, Clemson Univ., Dr. Tom Webster, Kentucky State University, Dr. John Skinner, Univ. of Tennessee, Dr. Tammy Horn Potter, Kentucky Dept. of Agriculture, Krispn Given, Purdue Univ., Michele Colopy, Pollinator Stewardship, Mike Studer, Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture, Michael Wilson, Univ. of Tennessee, Dr. Clarence Collison, Mississippi State Univ., retired, Mike Goblirsch, Univ. Minnesota, Marty Matisoff, Kentucky State Univ., Doug Potter, Kentucky State Univ., Laura Rogers, Kentucky State Univ., Gabe Blatt, West Virginia State Beekeeping Assoc., Susan Kivikko, Illinois Dept. of Agriculture, Stu Jacobson, Illinois State Beekeeping Assoc., Kent Williams, Kentucky State Beekeeping Assoc., Rick Sutton, Kentucky State Beekeeping Asoc., Jerry Hayes, Monsanto and American Bee Journal, Shawn Williams, Ohio State Beekeeping Assoc..

May 24, 2016

"Natural Beekeeping"
with Dr. Leo Sharashkin

Dr. Leo Sharashkin is a regular contributor to American Bee Journal, Bee Culture, and The Beekeepers Quarterly (UK). He is editor of "Keeping Bees With a Smile: A Vision and Practice of Natural Apiculture", a comprehensive resource on keeping bees naturally in horizontal hives. He lives on a forest homestead in the Ozarks where he catches feral swarms and raises bees in two dozen treatment-free low-maintenance horizontal hives.
 www.HorizontalHive.com

Successful natural beekeeping requires local bees and locally adapted hives. The vast feral population in the Ozarks can supply hardy local stock, and you can adapt any hive model to create bee habitat that mimics bees' natural ways. If you aspire to simple and healthful treatment-free beekeeping, Dr. Leo's visually rich presentation will offer a broad range of ideas that can be applied to your existing operations, or will encourage you to get started.

"Introduction to Urban Pollinator Study"
with Dr. Gerardo Camilo and Dr. Damon Hall

Insights will be presented from a study conducted by Saint Louis University with support from Missouri Department of Conservation, regarding social and biophysical research on urban pollinator health in St. Louis City.  The study uses long-term bee sampling data and science communication to answer the question 'Can communities plant our way out of a pollinator health crisis?' The research team is lead by Dr. Gerardo Camilo (Department of Biology) and Dr. Damon Hall (Center for Sustainability).  The team has been sampling 15 sites over the past 3 years across the city as well as conducting targeted research at 2 sites this summer to improve foraging resources f
or urban bees.

www.sustainabilitysciencelab.org

MAY- JUNE
STL EVENTS and ORGANIZATIONS SPOTLIGHT

The 6th Annual Sustainable Backyard Tour
The SBYT is to provide an opportunity for neighbors to meet each other and see firsthand how others are transforming their yards from energy intensive lawns to something more sustainable. 
Sunday, June 12th, 2016
11 am to 4 pm

Pop Up Prairie
Pop Up Prairie is focused on the use of native plants in urban landscaping to promote biodiversity for insects, birds and animals. Our mission is to inspire city dwellers to transition their piece of the community from a turf dominated landscape to a functioning, native ecosystem.

April 26, 2016

"Spring Splitting for Swarm Control"
with Steve Moeller

Steve began keeping bees in 1974 and has experimented with many different beekeeping practices over the years. He lives in rural Boone County, near Columbia, managing about 80 hives for honey production. Steve currently serves as treasurer of the Missouri State Beekeepers Association.

March 22, 2016

"But I Know My Honey is Good!" - 
Why Testing Your Honey is Important to You

We will be discussing why large and small honey producers should be testing their honey. 

Jim Gawenis of Sweetwater Science Labs will explain adulteration testing for natural sweeteners. This includes carbon-13 isotope analysis, sugar adulterant marker analysis and screening for antibiotics and pesticides.

Sweetwater Science Labs started as Coastal Science Labs in 2012.  Jim and his team are dedicated to serving and educating beekeepers and honey producers to the importance of ensuring quality of foods and food products through sound science and communication.

Dr. James (Jim) Gawenis received his PhD in Chemistry from Mizzou in 2001 and his MEd from the University of Utah in 2008. His passion for instrument and methods development is matched only by his passion for teaching others.


Help! Please Bring Something for the Lending Library
Winter is when the bees "take a rest" and the beekeepers sit back with a good beekeeping book.  The club's book swapping library needs some serious rejuvenation.  If you've borrowed a book in the past several months, planning to replace it at a future meeting, please do so this month.
February 2016 Events

DETAILS HERE

4th Annual Honey, Mead & Wine Tasting
Friday, February 26th, 7pm - 9pm
at the Culinary Institute at Hickey College
BeeSpeakSTL presents Dr. Tom Seeley, author of Honeybee Democracy
Saturday, February 27th, 11am - 3pm
Shoenberg Theater, Missouri Botanical Garden 4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110

February 23, 2016

General Beekeeping

Please Bring Something for the Lending Library
Winter is when the bees "take a rest" and the beekeepers sit back with a good beekeeping book.  The club's book swapping library needs some serious rejuvenation.  If you've borrowed a book in the past several months, planning to replace it at a future meeting, please do so this month.

January 26, 2016

Saint Louis Beekeepers is excited to welcome Derek Marin, Returned Peace Corp volunteer (2013 - 2015) and beekeeper.

Derek earned a BS in Environmental Biology from Illinois College and an MS in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Science from Texas A&M University.  After college, he served in the US Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa as a Natural Resource Management Specialist where he received his first ever training in beekeeping.

In The Gambia, Derek embarked on the design of a training program called 'Holistic Planned Beekeeping,' which includes theory and practicals in value added product making, bush-craft/natural beekeeping, financial planning, natural resource management, and social planning.

"In The Gambia, 'bee killing' is the traditional way people harvest honey in the forest. This process includes putting fire into the wild hive in the tree, which can cause bush fires, it kills pollinators, and gives an unhealthy end product which is consumed, causing further illness.  With the program, we were able to train locals in nine communities and formed what is now known as the Sami Beekeeping Association in order to create income for locals while saving the forest from these bad habits and attitudes.  It provides a venue for locals to get training, as well as to collect honey and wax for value added products for selling."

Check out the association's progress on Facebook under: Sami Beekeeping Association.

November 24, 2015

STL Bees is pleased to welcome back Grant Gilliard as our featured speaker.  Grant's presentation will be titled "Me and Mel" with Grant sharing his experiences with the innovative techniques of Mel Disselkoen, and Mel's OTS (On The Spot) queen rearing system. (www.mdasplitter.com)

The benefits of Mel's system include:
* guaranteed swarm prevention
* hassle-free queen rearing and requeening
* treatment-free varroa management
* expansion potentials to produce 10 nucs from one hive
* options of honey production or nuc sales, or both

Grant has been keeping honeybees since 1981 and currently operates around 200 hives in southeast Missouri.  His methodology attempts to keep his bees as natural as possible with sustainable practices, including raising his own locally-adapted queen honey bees from survivor stock.  Grant has published several books on the topics of beekeeping and personal growth.

October 27, 2015

Join us for a year-end (or year-beginning) Club Round Table.  We'll open the floor for comments, questions and in-depth discussion of beekeeping topics that are on your mind.  We will also cover winter feeding and recommended winterizing techniques for our area.

Come early to sample local and single source honey.  At 6 p.m. will be set up for a revival of the honey tasting from the inaugural Honey Festival, held on September 26th. You'll be able to taste the People's Choice winning entry.

Bring A Book, Take a book.
Share a beekeeping related title that you're ready to pass along to someone else in the club in exchange for one you'd like to read. 

Sign Up Now for Bob Finck's Mead making Class!

Bob Finck will hold his "6th annual mead class", wine (mead) and cheese/snack party on Thursday, November 12, 2015 starting at 7:00 PM.  First time and previous attendees are welcome.  A handout with complete instructions will bee provided.  Bob will explain every step in the process of making an excellent mead.  There is no cost to attend, however, please feel free to bring a snack item, but not required.  If you must cancel please notify Bob as soon as possible, he usually has a waiting list. 

Send your reservation by e-mail or call

September 22, 2015

Going Foundationless
 with Judy Ivery


Take the next step to getting pesticides and fungicides out of your hives.  Commercial foundation commonly purchased for Langstroth hive frames is full of chemical residues which are absorbed by the wax and stay in your combs.

Going foundationless is easier than you think.  STL Bees co-founder Judy Ivery will talk about her experiences with foundationless frames and will give her tips and tricks to help you ditch the foundation!

We will also cover fall feeding practices as well as answer your other seasonal management questions.

ALSO, if you would like to submit a 1-pound jar of your honey for the People's Choice award of $100.00 at Honey Festival on September 25th, you are welcome to bring that to the meeting.

August 25, 2015

Top Bar Hives
 with Harry "Skip" Smith
 

The next meeting of the Saint Louis Beekeepers at Schlafly's Bottleworks is this coming Tuesday, August, 25th.  Our featured presenter is club member Skip Smith who has been successfully overwintering TBHs in our areas for several years.

Skip will talk about Top Bar beekeeping concepts and share his tips and tricks for overwintering colonies in this style hive in our area.

We will also cover fall feeding practices for TBHs and Langstroth, as well as answer your other seasonal management questions.

July 28, 2015

Bob Fink, BeeSweet Honey

Honey Harvest

The next meeting of the Saint Louis Beekeepers at Schlafly's Bottleworks is this coming Tuesday, July 28th.  Our featured presenter is Bob Finck, past president of Eastern Missouri Beekeepers, longtime beekeeper and expert craft mead maker.

Bob will share his expertise in all aspects of honey production from removing honey supers to extracting and bottling, to storage techniques.

We will also cover fall management practices for varroa mite testing and control, as well as answer your seasonal management questions.
 
Please join us on Tuesday, July 28th!

Join us for a special event announcement.

June 23, 2015

Eugene Makovec
Newsletter Editor
Missouri State Beekeepers Association
 
Photographing Honeybees in Nature

The next meeting of the Saint Louis Beekeepers at Schlafly's Bottleworks is Tuesday, June 23rd.  Our featured presenter is Eugene Makovec, a 20-year beekeeper living in rural Lincoln County Missouri. He ran a home-based photography business for two decades, shooting weddings, portraits, team photos and other odd jobs. As the beekeeping passion took up more and more of his time, he gave up the photography gig, and once again takes photos just for fun. Among other places,  his photos appear in the Missouri State Beekeepers Association newsletter, which he has edited for the past 10 years.

Eugene will talk about honeybee photography. In addition to covering some basic rules and techniques, he discuss understanding your digital camera's settings, and overriding them if needed. He will also cover guidelines for saving your digital files for different end uses.

Eugene will also share details and bring everyone up to speed on the current efforts to successfully change Missouri's honey laws, effecting all beekeepers who bottle and sell honey.

May 26, 2015

Dave Tylka
 
Perceptions & Expectations—How Do We Share Our Space with Native Animals?

Why don't all environmentally concerned homeowners landscape with native plants which provide ecological services to their yards, neighborhoods and the ecosphere?  The short answer is probably rooted in perceptions.  To help us explore these perceptions, Dave Tylka will explain how native landscaping is like a marriage between horticulture and ecology and help us arrive at the realization that there is not a magic recipe to successful native landscaping.  

Besides discussing how humans perceive their landscapes, Dave will explain how we can use borders and mulches to change some of these perceptions and improve the attractiveness of native landscapes, especially for neighbors who suffer from the "neatness syndrome."  Tylka will describe how native animals find habitat and why they select certain leaves, pollen, nectar and fruits to feed on.  

And finally, Dave hopes to dispel some urban myths: that all flies are disease-carrying agents of evil and that caterpillars eating your landscape plants should be eradicated.

April 28, 2015

Bait Boxes and Swarm Control
 
Our featured speaker will be St. Louis City resident and Eastern Missouri Beekeeping Association board member
Scott Jackson.  Scott started keeping honey bees as a teenager, took a break for a career (or two) and started up again 10 years ago.  He is an urban beekeeper and has had great success at catching swarms in bait boxes.  Scott will share his insights, tips and tricks for east swarm capture. 

We will also cover spring management practices for swarm control and answer your seasonal management questions.
 
 

March 24, 2015

Parkway North High Schools'
Environmental Action Team
Pollinator Project

 
The Pollinator Project, a group of students from Parkway North High School in St. Louis, Missouri will be our featured presenters.  Abby Lammers and her team are working on a research project that investigates the effects of pesticides on bees and endangered butterflies. During their research, they noticed that there is very little data on pesticide persistence in the environment, specifically with regards to neonicotinoids. Therefore, they have created a video and petition to propose that chemical manufacturers should market a test kit for their chemicals so that citizens can test for the presence and persistence of these chemicals themselves. See more at Pollinator Project.

We will also cover spring management practices for varroa mite control and answer your seasonal management questions.
 

February 24, 2015

Tim Wilbanks, Owner of the Kalona Honey Company

Tim Wilbanks, Owner of the Kalona Honey Company, will be our featured speaker and will share what it takes to move from a hobbyist beekeeper to a sideliner in the modern age of beekeeping. 
 
Tim is a fifth generation beekeeper having grown up in Claxton, Georgia working in his family's commercial package and queen rearing business, The Wilbanks Apiaries, Inc.  He moved from Georgia to rural Southeast Iowa as a chiropractor, but with four young children at home, his desire to be in the office less and "in the yard" more gave birth to Kalona Honey Company. 
 
Tim resides on a small hobby farm with his queen bee, Sarah, and brood, Ansley, Harrison, Reed and Priscilla.  On any given day, the children will be seen along side dad in the operation, usually begging to stick their finger in a honeycomb.
 

Saint Louis Beekeepers 3rd Annual
2015 Honey and Wine Tasting
at the Culinary Institute of St. Louis

 
Suggested Donation $12.00

Friday, January 23rd, 2015 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Culinary Institute of St. Louis
2700 N. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri
Tuesday, November 25th, 6:30 to 9:00

Sustainable Beekeeping with Grant F. C. Gillard

We are thrilled to have Grant back to present, just on the heels of publishing his latest book (and best yet) titled "Sustainable Beekeeping, Surviving In an Age of CCD".  He will share his insights on what constitutes sustainability, how to determine if you, yourself are sustainable, how the bees practice sustainability and what management practices can support their efforts.

"We're giving Warre Hives and Top Bar Hives serious consideration. But sadly, even these less intensive methods of keeping bees face the same challenges as the commercial, conventional and traditional methods of keeping bees in Langstroth hives."

"There is an intriguing, underlying, mystic spirituality to keeping honeybees and the longer I keep bees, the more I respect what they do and how they go about doing it."

Grant has been keeping honeybees since 1981 and currently operates around 200 hives in southeast Missouri.  Along with his wife Nancy, the Gillards market honey for local retail sales and farmers' markets.  His methodology attempts to keep his bees as natural as possible with sustainable practices, including raising his own locally-adapted queen honey bees from survivor stock.  Grant also produces nucs, removes swarms and has published several other books on the topics of beekeeping and personal growth.

October 28, 2014

We are excited to bring one of Europe's leading natural beekeepers and founder of Russia's largest honeybee conservancy. 

Fedor Lazutin is author of "Keeping Bees With a Smile: A Vision and Practice of Natural Apiculture" and will be our guest at the Saint Louis Beekeepers October meeting, this coming Tuesday.

Large horizontal hives are traditional across Europe and still used on a major scale.  Come here the many advantages they offer to beekeepers.  Fedor's visual presentation will include a horizontal hive demonstration and cover many methods applicable to any hive model, including swarm traps and natural swarming, treatment-free hives, foundation vs. foundationless comb, simplified beekeeping in one-box horizontal hives and much more.

September 23, 2014

We are pleased to have Cassie Vernier of Washington University sharing her current research at Tyson Research Center with us next Tuesday.  Her topic is "The honey bee as a model for understanding the evolution of cooperative social groups".

Cassie Vernier, 2nd year graduate student in the Ben-Shahar Lab at Washington University in St. Louis is interested in the evolution of social behavior, particularly understanding what genes and biological mechanisms influence animal sociality. In the Ben-Shahar lab, she uses the fruit fly and the honey bee as animal models for understanding this.

Cassie received her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 2012, where she majored in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

In addition to Cassie's talk, will also have a panel of beginning beekeepers (1 to 3 years experience) share their successes and challenges from the 2014 season.  If you would like be one of our panelists, please drop us a quick note at contact@saintlouisbeekeepers.com  We'd love to have you participate!

August 26, 2014

Our featured speaker this month is Doug Bauer, President and Co-Owner of DJM Ecological Services, a 20-year old company where he managing operations and focuses on strategic growth.  Most recently DJM purchased Pure Air Natives a Missouri based native seed supplier, offering agriculturally focused products, technical expertise and accessibility to the professional architect, engineer, designer and contractor market.  

Doug will share his expertise in habitat restoration, knowledge about Missouri native plant conservation and provide information about Pure Air Native's professional services.

Doug has a bachelor of science in natural resources and environmental studies from the University of Illinois and fought wildfires on the west coast during  his college summers. From there, he went to Chicago and completed an MBA from University of Chicago while working for a native restoration company as Vice President.

July 22, 2014

It's turned into a good season for the honeybees here in the St. Louis metro area. Established colonies that survived the winter as well as new colonies that were able to build their numbers during the cool spring have made nice honey crops. The end of July is the best time to harvest, while the weather is warm and the honey will flow!

Immediately after harvest is the time to focus on varroa mite control.
Eleanor Schumacher, Illinois Apiary Inspector, Department of Agriculture and Editor of the ISBA Bulletin at Illinois State Beekeepers Association will present at this month's meeting on varroa mite testing and treatment, control and prevention.

.June 24, 2014

Saint Louis Beekeepers welcomes Phil Minden a local St. Louis beekeeper. Phil also wrote the business plan for Sweet Sensations which won the YouthBridge/SEIC social entreprenuership competition sponsored by the Skandalaris Center at Washington University in 2012, resulting in a $35,000 seed grant. Sweet Sensation is a business concept that uses beekeeping to provide employment opportunities and teach entrepreneurship and small business skills to under-served teens on the City’s north side.  Honey and beeswax, the byproducts of beekeeping, are the basic ingredients of many value added-products, including candles, soaps, lotions and gels, and lip balm.  Teenagers can participate at all levels in the care of bees, as well as the development and sale of these products.  Additionally, planning and operating a sustainable, environmentally-friendly beekeeping business provides excellent opportunities to teach teens the basics of small business management.

May 27, 2014

Arvin Pierce of acbees apiaries, southwest of Springfield Illinois, has been keeping honeybees for over 12 years.  Other than wintergreen grease patties in his first year, Arvin has not used any kind of treatment or chemicals in his hives.  Arvin does not buy bees but rather procures bees for his growing apiary by capturing swarms and providing colony removals (cut-outs).  Arvin is also a photographer and videographer has documented much of his beekeeping activities.  He shares his experiences in natural beekeeping wherever possible and the Saint Louis Beekeepers is pleased to have him join us for our May 27th meeting at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood Missouri.  Please visit Arvin's webite at acbees.org.

April 2014

Fred Meder of Mi Armada Apiaries and the Quad Counties Beekeepers club will present on the Nicot queen rearing system.

Fred has been a beekeeper for five years and learned the Nicot System several years ago to raise queens for his own expansion as well as to sell nucs from local stock.

March 25th featured speaker is Mary Reed from Farmington.  Mary has been a beekeeper and practicing apitherapist in Missouri for many years.  She will share her knowledge, insights and practices to help us be healthy beekeepers!
Saint Louis Beekeepers and Three Rivers Beekeepers
Present another installment of BeeSpeak STL
Diana Sammataro, Ph.D.
March 1, 2014
Saint Louis Beekeepers
2014 Honey and Wine Tasting
at the Culinary Institute of St. Louis

 
Suggested Donation $10.00

Friday, January 17th, 2014 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Culinary Institute of St. Louis
2700 N. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri

The November 2013 meeting presentation by Mervin Wallace owner of Missouri Wildflower Nursery shared insights on selecting native plants for pollinators. Please visit Missouri Wildflower Nursery to order native plants and learn more about the virtues of going native in your garden.

Suggested Reading:
Bringing Nature Home
by Douglas Tallamy
Saint Louis Beekeepers
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