Monthly Meeting April 8, 2025 – Swarms!

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet April 8 at Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

At 6 p.m. members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The educational program will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by the business meeting.

The educational program will be “Gathering Swarms and Swarm Trapping”. Swarms season will soon be here, are you ready? Swarming is a honey bee colony’s natural means of reproduction and an opportunity for a beekeeper to acquire free bees. In this program we will cover the equipment and procedures to follow in gathering and trapping honey bee swarms. Also to be covered in the program are measures you can take to prevent your existing hive from swarming. Members are asked to bring a trap that they have used in successfully trapping a honey bee swarm.

Monthly Meeting March 11, 2025- The When, Why, and How to Winter Feed Bees

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet March 11th at Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

Youth Hive Scholarships are due at this meeting! This is a reschedule of February 11th meeting.

At 6:00 p.m. members will be available to answer questions and share information on  beekeeping. The educational program will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by the business meeting.
The educational program will be, ” The When-Why And How to Winter Feed The Bees”. Many hives are lost in late winter due to starvation. This program will offer suggestions on what to feed bees in winter and how it can be properly applied to avoid starvation.
The presentation will also cover what you should be doing right now to prepare your hive for the upcoming spring weather.

Postponed until March 11!-Monthly Meeting Feb 11, 2025- The When, Why, and How to Winter Feed Bees

This meeting has been postponed to March 11, 2025 due to weather! Youth application deadline has been extended until the March 11th meeting.

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet February 11th at Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts. 

At 6:00 p.m. members will be available to answer questions and share information on  beekeeping. The educational program will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by the business meeting.
The educational program will be, ” The When-Why And How to Winter Feed The Bees”. Many hives are lost in late winter due to starvation. This program will offer suggestions on what to feed bees in winter and how it can be properly applied to avoid starvation.
The presentation will also cover what you should be doing right now to prepare your hive for the upcoming spring weather.

An Introduction to Beekeeping 1/14/2025 7PM

Interested in beekeeping? Join us for “An Introduction to Beekeeping” on 1/14/2025. Free education!

Note: If we need to cancel due to weather or road conditions, we will post it here or on our Facebook page. Please check before you come out!

This program will cover what is required to get started in beekeeping. A wide variety of handout material will be available on beekeeping, Mason Bees and gardening for pollinators. Information will also be available on the Brown County Beekeepers Association Youth Hive Scholarship Program. Several door prizes will be available to those attending the event.

Western Brown High School Community Room
476 West Main Street
Mt. Orab, Ohio, 45154
Note: the Community Room is located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

Youth Hive Applications Available!

Have you always wanted to get bees, learn about the art of beekeeping, and are between the ages of 12 and 18? This is the opportunity for you! Youths that live in Brown County, Ohio and the surrounding counties are eligible for a youth hive, education, and materials to begin your beekeeping. To see the application, eligibility requirements, and criteria, click here or use the Youth Hive Tab at the top of this page.

Once completed, the application can be sent electronically to: contact.us.bcba@gmail.com.

All applications are due by the end of the the March meeting of the Brown County Beekeepers Association, March 11, 2025.  The finalists will be selected and notified prior to the March bee club meeting. Selected applicants will receive all the equipment, tools, and bees needed to establish a beehive. Applicants will be required to provide their own personal protective equipment.

All applicants are strongly encouraged to attend the January 14, 2025, program on “An Introduction to Beekeeping”. The program will at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of Western Brown High School. The Community Room is located on the northwest side of the school across from the tennis courts. In this presentation the equipment, tools and procedures required to get started in beekeeping will be covered. Applications for the scholarships will be available and completed applications can be dropped off at this time.

Fun, Food, and Fellowship Meeting Nov 12th- Last Meeting of 2024

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet Tuesday November 12 at the Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

We will be holding Officer elections for 2025

This is a potluck social meeting, so no education program is scheduled.  Be sure to bring a dish to share!

At 6 p.m. members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. The November meeting is the last meeting of the year, so we reserve this time for our ” Fun, Food and Fellowship” event. Those attending are asked to bring a light snack to share with others and a bee related item to enter into the end of year raffle. Funds from the raffle help to cover our yearly expenses. The club will resume our monthly meetings on
February 13, 2025.
A special meeting will be held on January 9, 2024, in the Western Brown High School Community Room for individuals interested in beekeeping. The program, ” An Introduction to Beekeeping”, will
discuss what’s required to get started in beekeeping. Handout material on beekeeping will also be available at this time.

Monthly Meeting October 8th: Preparing Your Hives For Winter Part 2

Join Brown County Beekeepers Association for this month’s educational program.
Preparing your hives for winter, part 2
October is an important time to finalize your bee hive’s winter preparation. This program will cover a wide range of topics to help insure the survival of your bees this winter. Bring all your questions and we will see you there!

Social Hour begins at 6 for non related questions and chatting. Education program begins at 7 and is open to the public, no membership required. Business meeting to follow educational content.
We meet at Western Brown High School’s community room in Mt. Orab. Entrance located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

Monthly Meeting Sept 10 at 6PM: Gardening for Pollinators

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet September 10th at Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

At 6:00 p.m., members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The educational program will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by the business meeting.

The educational program will be “Gardening for Pollinators”. The program will be presented by Jennifer Smith. Jennifer has earned silver awards from the Ohio Green Industry Association in 2023 for her designs. With a Horticulture and Landscape Design degree from the University of Cincinnati, she has a background in writing for Horticulture magazine and was a garden writer and photographer for the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati.

Field Day on Aug 24: Preparing your Colonies for Winter

The club is having a field day on August 24 at 10AM to review preparing your colonies for winter.

We’ll be meeting at HappBee Acres, 2694 Bergen Rd, Batavia, OH 45103. Please bring protective equipment for the hive inspections.

Cold Soft Drinks, Lemonade, and Water will be provided; we’ll work on a snack plan in the coming days.

Note: if you were at the August meeting, it was announced that the field day was cancelled. It is back on with a venue change. Thank you Kevin and Liz!

If you have questions, please call (937)483-1244

Monthly Meeting: Rendering Beeswax

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on August 13 at the Brown County Educational Service Center located at 9231-B Hamer Rd., Georgetown, Ohio.
At 6PM, club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping.
The educational program will begin at 7PM followed by the business meeting.
The educational program will be “Rendering Your Beeswax”. Do you have old comb, wax cappings, and lots of little pieces of dirty, sticky wax sitting around? Cleaning wax is called rendering. In this program we will cover how to process and clean your wax to produce a solid chunk of wax ready for candles, lotions and other crafts.