OSBA Beekeeper of the Year – Gary Keuffer!


We wish to congratulate Gary Keuffer our Director of Education in being designated the 2021 OSBA Beekeeper of the year!
Beekeeping since 1985 after visiting with Jim Higgins (aka Dr. Sting) of Highland County Beekeepers. Gary is the Brown County Beekeepers Association’s Director of Education and is very involved with the local 4H and FFA organizations. In the Education Director capacity he has spoken to numerous groups including Masons, Scouts, Clermont and Brown County Library Programs, Farm Science, Senior Living Facilities and Elementary schools. He has been a presenter at various clubs in Ohio and Kentucky, the Oasis School in Loveland as well as the NKY Bee school in Maysville, KY. There is an Adult Education Summer course on Beekeeping at Chatfield College he has spearheaded for the last 3 years as well. His Honey extraction video was featured in the OSBA New Beekeeper Internship program and he is helping to build a library of videos demonstrating colony cut out removal techniques. Gary became a Master Gardener in 2015 and is an advocate for planting for pollinators. He has been performing free bee removals of cut outs and swarms since 2014, focusing on senior and impoverished individuals.
Gary’s efforts have resulted in hives being installed at Sem Haven rest home in Milford, OH. His informative programs have resulted in the BCBA growing from approximately 40 individuals to almost 100 since 2017. His interaction with young people’s groups has generated interest in our Youth Hive Scholarship program which is now in it’s third year. He has mentored dozens of beekeepers over the years and submits monthly to the local newspaper to promote community awareness surrounding bees. More and more fairs and local businesses are reaching out to BCBA for participation in their open houses and events. As a Veteran himself, Gary is also beginning a relationship with Hives to Heros and we have our first member with PTSD who brings his therapy dog to the meetings.
When a removal request comes in even if it is Yellow Jackets, Gary takes the time to educate on the difference between bees and wasps and advocate for pollinators. Gary is respectful and considerate of all the individuals with whom he interacts. He is courteous and pleasant even during 98 degree cut outs, explaining the process and teaching the people involved, prompting one youngster to comment that observing a removal is “better than the zoo”. His enthusiasm is infectious and he approaches any task with humor and anecdotal stories that leave a positive lasting impression. He is a staunch advocate of best practices in beekeeping and maintaining hive health.

Please Join him for our special session for Beginning Beekeepers in January at the Western Brown HS in Mt Orab.

The Little State Fair Sept. 27th to Oct. 2nd

September is one of the high points on a Brown County beekeepers calendar, it’s fair time! The Brown County Beekeepers Association has a large presence at the week long fair at the end of September, highlighted by the
Brown County Open Honey show on September 27th. All entries are welcome regardless of the county in which you reside!

Our September 14th meeting featured the program of ” How to Prepare Your Honey for Judging”. The program was presented by Alex Zomchek, who will be the honey judge at this years fair. Who better to learn from on how to prepare your honey to be judged, than the
judge himself.

Our fair booths include educational information on beekeeping, featuring the ever popular observation hive as well as the opportunity to purchase local honey and bee related merchandise.

 

Beekeeping Without the Heavy Lifting!

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on August 10, at the Rhonemus Hall located on the Brown County Fairgrounds in Georgetown, Ohio. At 6:00 PM, club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The educational program will begin at
7:00 PM, followed by our business meeting.

The educational program will be, ” Horizontal Hive Beekeeping Utilizing Langstroth Deep Frames”.
Have you ever considered beekeeping but was discouraged by the high cost of equipment or lacking the ability to life heavy weights? Horizontal hive beekeeping may be appropriate for your budget and physical ability.

Once established, the heaviest weight you will lift will be an eight pound frame of honey. The hive itself can be easily constructed out of basic building materials and once constructed, can be placed on a stand that minimizes bending or lifting. Because of it’s design, it is sometimes referred to as a ” coffin hive” due to its similarity of a casket.

Honey bees can be kept in a variety of ways, and this is just one of them. All meetings are free and open to the public, so please join us and learn more about the pros and cons of keeping bees in a
Horizontal Bee Hive.

Meeting Tuesday 7/13/21

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on July 13th, at the Rhonemus Hall located on the Brown County Fairgrounds in Georgetown, Ohio. At 6:00 PM, club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The educational program will begin at 7:00 PM, followed by our business meeting.

The educational program will be presented by Billy Miller, who will discuss, ” Swarm Trapping and
Top Bar Hive Maintenance”. Billy is a practitioner of ” Sustainable Natural Beekeeping”. Billy is a volunteer at the Strafford Ecological Center, which is an organic farm near Delaware, Ohio. His
work at the center includes maintaining four top bar hives and assisting with twenty Langstroth hives. Additionally, Billy mentors new beekeepers and provides beekeeping educational programs for all age groups.

How well did your swarm traps perform this year? Billy will share with us what’s required to successfully trap swarms. He will have several traps that he uses available for sale at $50.00 each at the meeting.

Introduction to Beekeeping 6/24 6pm

Taken by Nina Bagley

Please let your friends know that our Education Director Gary Keuffer will be at the Brown County Ohio Fayetteville Public Library located at 406 N East St, Fayetteville, OH 45118 at 6 pm to present information as an Introduction to Beekeeping.
Please Contact the Library for Registration Information 513-274-2665

5/22 10-2pm Field Day

As discussed at our May meeting Kevin and Liz Jones of HappBee Acres  513-918-1042 are hosting our first Brown County Beekeepers field day of 2021 from 10-2pm on 5/22 at 2694 Bergen Rd, Batavia, OH 45103. The location is off Rt 50 near Owensville. Bring your Veils and other gear and join the BCBA for a day of Q and A and demonstrations of inspection techniques and diagnostic conversation.
This will be outdoors so masks are optional. Bring your own refreshments/lunch. Please let me know if you are planning to attend so we can tell Kevin and Liz.

Meeting May 11th

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on May 11th, at the Rhonemus Hall located on the Brown County Fairgrounds in Georgetown, Ohio. At 6:00 PM, club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The educational program will begin at
7:00 PM followed by our business meeting.

The educational program will by presented by George Anderson, owner and operator of GM Bee Farm located in Newtonsville, Ohio. His program will be, ” Queen Rearing and Beehive Splits”.
George will discuss his queen rearing operation and method for beehive splits.This will be an informal presentation with George answering questions about his queen rearing techniques.

George currently assists in running a number of apiaries in the greater Cincinnati area. He is also involved in research work to develop plants that will provide nectar and pollen for bees during a dearth period that occurs in our area during July, August and September. Additionally, he is assisting the Department of Agriculture in the study of hemp pollen and it’s nutritional value to honeybees.

George has been involved in beekeeping his entire life. Following in the footsteps of his Grandfather who maintained 100 hives.

Next meeting Tuesday, March 9th

The next meeting of the Brown County Beekeepers will be held as usual on the second Tuesday of the month, March 9th in Rhonemus Hall at the Brown County Fairgrounds in Georgetown. Informal discussion and pick up of items ordered from Kevin and Liz Jones of Happbeeacres.com begins at 6pm. If you haven’t stopped by their store they are located at 2694 Bergen Rd. Batavia, OH 45103. The meeting will cover coming out of Winter and early Spring activities by President Mark Roberto. We will also begin compiling our Swarm list and announcing the 3 Youth Hive Scholarship winners! Thank you to Dan Cotter of Patriot Bee Farm and the Jones’ for teaming up to provide the bees and woodenware for our aspiring beekeepers to the club at cost.

CDC guidelines will be followed during the meeting