Boston Area Beekeepers Association

Meet The Beekeeper
2019-08-24 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-08-17 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-08-10 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-08-03 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-07-27 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-07-20 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-07-13 10:00 - 12:00, 2019-07-06 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) and 3 more dates
Spend time with a beekeeper in the Boston Area Beekeepers Association’s apiary (bee yard) at MassAudubon’s beautiful Boston Nature Center. Visitors will don beekeeper jackets and hoods, and work right alongside the beekeeper as they open their hive, look for honey, young developing bees, and a healthy queen. You will learn basic beekeeping techniques for how to grow and nurture happy & healthy beehives. There’s always plenty of time to ask questions, and if all is well and the bees are having a good day, you might even get a chance to hold some honeycomb covered with bees!
Sessions run from 10am to noon, and begin at the Boston Nature Center’s main building, where we start with a close look at the basic layout of a bee colony inside an indoor, glassed-in ‘observation hive.’
Meet the Beekeeper is suitable for all ages, but everyone is strongly encouraged to act reasonably calm when in the apiary; while bees rarely sting, it does happen, especially when they feel threatened. If you are highly allergic to stings, or if you don’t know whether you are allergic, then it is best if you either watch from a distance (+20 feet) or not attend the outdoor session in the apiary.

Fight the Mite!
2019-08-17 09:00 - 16:00
Learn how to FIGHT THE MITE! This full-day, interactive workshop, co-hosted by the MDAR Apiary Team and UMass Extension, will leave you prepared to control Varroa in your hives. It will include:
–Vital information on VARROA LIFE HISTORY AND BIOLOGY
–INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) basics, considerations for Varroa mites and opportunity to create your own IPM plan
–Introduction to and hands-on demos of SAFETY EQUIPMENT needed when applying miticides
–Introduction to and hands-on demos showing how to safely APPLY MITICIDES AND NON-CHEMICAL CONTROLS OPTIONS
–Participants will be challenged with real world beekeeper driven case studies, in which they will make mite management decisions by creating an IPM PLAN and demonstrate to class
The cost of the workshop is $50. Please pay at the door with cash or check. Included in your registration:
— Bee-themed T-SHIRT
— Varroa mite sampling jar
— Varroa mite IPM brochure and other related information to assist you in sustainable management
(the price has increased from our previous workshop to cover the cost of the new location!)
Please bring lunch, or plan to purchase it at the UMass Mt. Ida Dining Hall.
To Register, click here.
Email Hannah Whitehead at hwhitehead@umass.edu with any questions.

Meet the Beekeeper
2019-08-10 19:30 - 20:30
This event has passed

Club Meeting
2019-07-17 19:30 - 21:00
Join us for a club meeting where we will discuss beekeeping issues that may be currently affecting you as a local beekeeper, new club events, updates on our club apiaries and the occasional guest speaker. Members attend club meetings for free, for more information see our membership page here.

Meet & Greet
2019-05-21 19:00 - 21:00
Meet and Greet: A change to meet other Boston area beekeepers in an informal setting. POSTPONED – NEW DATE AND TIME WILL BE ANNOUNCED HERE SOON

Hands-on: Swarms & Splits -- 'Tis the Season!
2019-05-18 13:00 - 14:30
Join longtime beekeeper Mark Lewis in BABA’s apiary at MassAudubon’s Boston Nature Center to learn how and when to split a hive, and some of the many ways to perform splits. We will also discuss swarms, and learn a few basic swarm-catching tips & tricks. Bring jackets & veils (some will also be available to borrow).Park at the Boston Nature Center and then walk over to the apiary, if you can’t find your way ask at the Nature Center reception desk and they will be able to direct you to the apiary. The GPS location of the apiary is 42°17’17.1″N , 71°06’09.6″W and is a very short walk from the main building.
There are limited tickets, and ticket preference will be given to BABA members.
Purhcase tickets at this link.
For more info, call Bill Perkins at 617-388-7378.

WCBA Spring 2019 Meeting
2019-03-02 00:00 - 23:59
All day WCBA meeting on March 2nd at the Grafton High School. Speakers include Marla Spivak of Minnesota and Christina Grozinger of Penn State speaking on their recent research on bee health. Cold cut sandwiches, salads and drink available (see WCBA website for lunch form: http://worcestercountybeekeepers.com)
2019-WCBA-March-Conference.pdf poster of the event.

BABA Meet & Greet
2019-01-15 19:00 - 21:00

Monitoring your Hives Temperature, Humidity and Weight
2018-11-16 19:00 - 21:00
For thousands of years, beekeepers have only guessed what’s happening inside their hives. BeekeepingIO & BroodMinder is about to change all that.
We collect environmental conditions from hives around the world, then analyze and share that information with curious individuals, citizen scientists, and entomologists. We know bees are in trouble, and that tried and true beekeeping methods are no longer working.
By sharing data on a global scale, we’re showing beekeepers methods that are improving bee survival rates, using scientific data to back it up, not worn out traditions.
Come explore with us what’s happening inside of the hives, when the covers are on, and it’s only the busy bees in total darkness, and the sweet smell of honey.
All Beekeepers are welcome, but we do ask that if you come that you become a member of BABA.

Meredith May discusses her forthcoming memoir
2018-10-28 18:00 - 21:00
Award-winning San Francisco Chronicle journalist and fifth-generation beekeeper Meredith May will be in conversation with Noah Wilson-Rich, Chief Scientific Officer of Best Bees Company, about her forthcoming memoir, THE HONEY BUS: A Girl Saved By Bees.

Talk on keeping bees in urban environments
2018-10-10 16:00 - 17:00
Dave Strickler of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association gives a talk on honeybees in urban environments, what it’s like to raise honeybees in your backyard, and the small things you can do to help honeybees flourish on Wed, Oct 10th, at 4 p.m. at the West Roxbury Branch, located at 1961 Centre St, West Roxbury, MA, United StatesThere are no tickets for this event. Just show up.

Talk on keeping bees in urban environments
2018-09-13 18:00 - 19:00
Dave Strickler of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association gives a talk on honeybees in urban environments, what it’s like to raise honeybees in your backyard, and the small things you can do to help honeybees flourish on Thursday, September 13, at 6 p.m. at the Parker Hill Branch, located at 1497 Tremont Street.There are no tickets for this event. Just show up.

Bee Girl Comes to Boston
2017-10-21 12:00 - 16:00
Over the last six years the Bee Girl organization has grown from one person with a passionate vision, love for bees, and two bee hives towed to Oregon from Montana in a uhall, to a thriving nonprofit organization with two staff members, three graduate student interns, seven directors, and a world-wide impact. Sarah Red-Laird, founder and executive director, will take you on the journey of her story, driven by a deep reverence for our honey bees. She’ll also report on her latest education programs and research projects, collaborating with Washington State University, The Farm at Southern Oregon University, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.Registration is required, and is available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3095096
Sarah Red-Laird, “Bee Girl”, is the founder and Executive Director of the Bee Girl organization, a nonprofit with a mission to educate and inspire communities to conserve bees, their flowers, and our food. She is a graduate of the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation with a degree in Resource Conservation, focused on community collaboration and environmental policy. Aside from running the Bee Girl organizations programs, Sarah is the Kids and Bees Director for the American Beekeeping Federation, is an active member of the Northwest Farmers Union, the Western Apicultural Societys President Elect, the Regional Representative for the Southern Oregon Beekeepers Association, and a brand ambeesador for Mountainsmith. When she is not tirelessly working with bees, beekeepers, kids, farmers, land managers, and policy makers, Sarah love to read historical fiction, ride her bike, hike in the hills, see new places and things, people watch, and snuggle any animal that she can catch.

September BABA Meeting: Overwintering Panel
2017-09-13 19:00 - 20:30
Come discuss overwintering with a diverse panel of beekeepers! Be sure to bring all your questions! Our panelists include:Anita Deeley, Beverly Bees (https://www.beverlybees.com/welcome-to-the-apiary/)
Peter Montague, BABA Vice President
Bill Perkins, Agricultural Hall (http://www.aghall.com/)
Dave Strickler, BABA Webmaster
LOCATION:
This meeting is free for BABA dues-paying members. We suggest a $5 donation from non-dues-paying members to offset the cost of the meeting. Dues/donations go back to you in the form of educational programming and events!
Sign up as a dues-paying member here:https://bostonbeekeepers.org/membership/joining-baba/

Tour de Hives
2017-06-18 09:00 - 12:00
The Tour de Hives will engage, educate and enchant you with a first-hand look at honey bees in hives across the city, guided by the humans who tend them. On Sunday, June 18th, from 9am til noon, join us for a bicycle tour of apiaries in Mattapan and Jamaica Plain followed by a bring-your-own-picnic lunch at the Boston Nature Center. Come celebrate the bees with us! Full details here

Hive Loss Update & Beekeeping Tech
2017-05-09 19:00 - 21:00
Kim Skyrm will be speaking on the winter loss survey/honey bee health update.Dave Strickler will speak on beekeeping tech and remote data collection with BroodMinder devices. His map of apiaries uploading data from BroodMinder devices is available at www.beecounted.org, and the site for beekeepers who want to share their data is www.beekeeping.io
From the beekeeping.io website:
For thousands of years, beekeepers have only guessed what’s happening inside their hives. Beekeeping.io is about to change all that.
We collect environmental conditions from hives around the world, then analyze and share that information with curious individuals, citizen scientists, and entomologists. We know bees are in trouble, and that tried and true beekeeping methods are no longer working.
By sharing data on a global scale, we’re showing beekeepers methods that are improving bee survival rates, using scientific data to back it up, not worn out traditions.
Come explore with us what’s happening inside of the hives, when the covers are on, and it’s only the busy bees in total darkness, and the sweet smell of honey. The Internet of Bee™ has only just begun.

Swarming
2017-04-11 19:00 - 21:00
Dean Stiglitz will speak on swarming as we enter spring in New England. The meeting will be held in 50 Milk Street in the Meridian room, fifth floor. 50 Milk Street is a few blocks from the Orange Line’s Downtown Crossing stop.

Urban Beekeeping
2017-03-27 19:00 - 21:00
DATE HAS CHANGEDCome to our BABA March meeting to hear Tufts bee-searcher Nicholas Dorian discuss his research on the bumble bee life cycle and how such research can aid in conservation efforts.
Talk title: God save the queens: Assessing bumble bee conservation from a life cycle perspective
About the talk: Many bumble bee species are in decline despite efforts to provide flowers to growing colonies. It is possible, however, that other life stages are also important since little is known about how queens survive the winter and start colonies in spring. Specifically, my research in the Crone lab at Tufts seeks to 1) understand the effect of queen body size on overwinter survival and colony establishment and 2) explore the role of these life stages for bumble bee population viability. In this talk, you’ll hear my answers to these questions, learn why rearing bumble bees is rewarding (despite that you can’t harvest honey), and hopefully get excited to find bumble bee queens of your own buzzing around this spring.
About Nick: I graduated from Tufts with my B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies in May 2016, and am looking forward to continuing my education at Tufts as a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Elizabeth Crone this fall. Academically, I consider myself a budding population ecologist who’s enthusiastic about using both models and fieldwork to inform pollinator conservation. When I’m not studying and thinking about bees, I spend my time watching and photographing birds, gardening, and cooking.
This meeting is free for BABA dues-paying members. We suggest a $5 donation from non-dues-paying members to offset the cost of the meeting. Dues/donations go back to you in the form of educational programming and events!
Sign up as a dues-paying member here: https://bostonbeekeepers.org/membership/joining-baba/

Pollinator Gardens
2017-02-14 19:00 - 21:00
Itziar Garcia will be speaking on pollinator gardens.

Introduction to Beekeeping
2017-01-25 00:00 - 23:59
Sponsored by Boston Nature Center and Boston Area Beekeepers AssociationInstructor: Bill Perkins – Boston Area Beekeepers Association
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Register online (ticket link above) or call 617-983-8500 to register by phone.Mass Audubon Members: $25.00Mass Audubon Nonmembers:$30.00
Did you know that you can enjoy honey, beeswax, pollen and the miracle of bees right in your backyard? Aside from the fact that a healthy hive can produce several gallons of delicious, healthful honey every year, working with bees is tremendously enjoyable.
In this one-session introductory workshop, you will gain an introduction to the fascinating world of the honey bee. We will talk about what it takes to keep a busy, productive hive of bees happy; where to get bees of your own; how to set up and maintain a hive; and what types of activities and time commitment are required throughout the year. This is a beginner’s workshop, so no previous knowledge is required.
For more information, contact:Boston Nature Center500 Walk Hill StreetMattapan, MA 02126bnc@massaudubon.org
Tickets available at http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/program-catalog#program:program_code=49832
