Monthly Meeting April 14 – The Natural Swarming Process

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on April 14 at the Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.

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

The educational program will be “The Natural Swarming Process” Presented by Sonja and Rob Brock of Wild Hives LLC. Honeybees live in colonies that reproduce by swarming. When colony divides itself, approximately 2/3 of the workers along with the (old) Mother queen, leave the hive as a swarm to form a new colony elsewhere. The rest of the workers and a new daughter queen stay behind and inherit the old nest. Although this process may take the colony weeks to prepare for, the swarming can happen in a matter of minutes. Learn the triggers that caused this, both inside and outside of the hive. We will discuss the different phases of a swarm to help you as a beekeeper, possibly determined when your colony might decide to look for a new home. Also learn ways to take advantage of this natural process for splitting through artificial splits.

Monthly Meeting March 10 : Varroa Mites In Depth

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on March 10 at Western Brown High School’s Community Room located on the western side of the school across from the tennis courts.
At 6 pm members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping. The educational program will be at 7 PM, followed by the business meeting.

The education program will be “Varroa Mites In Depth” Present presented by Liz Jones of HappBee Acres Aces Bee Supply. This program will cover varroa mite life cycle, identification, and available treatments.

Monthly Meeting 11/11/25 – Fun, Food, and Fellowship

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on November 11 at the 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 meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

The November meeting is the last meeting of the year, so we reserve this time for ” Fun, Food and Fellowship”. 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 its monthly meetings on February 10, 2026.

A special meeting will be held on January 13, 2026, in the Western Brown Community Room for individuals interested in beekeeping. The program, “An Introduction to Beekeeping”, will cover what’s required to get started in beekeeping. A wide variety of handout material on beekeeping will also be available at this time.

An Introduction to Beekeeping – 11/5/2025

Know of someone who might have an interest in beekeeping? The Brown County Beekeepers Association will be hosting “An Introduction to Beekeeping” on November 5, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. at the Fayetteville Public Library, located at 406 North East Street, Fayetteville, Ohio, 45118.

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

Monthly Meeting October 14 – Fall and Winter Feeding

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on October 14 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 be at 7 p.m. followed by the business meeting.

The educational program will be “The Fall and Winter Feeding of Bees”, presented by Kevin and Liz Jones, owners and operators of HappBee Acres Bee Supplies, Batavia, Ohio. In this program they will cover the what, when and how to feed your bees in the coming months to insure their winter survival.

Brown County Fair – Help Needed!

If you haven’t yet done so, please check your schedules and see if you can volunteer for a shift or two at the Beekeeping Booth at this year’s Brown County Fair. We are seeking folks for either Sales or Education/Community Outreach tasks.

– The sales effort is rather straightforward; sell Honey and Beekeeping related items as well as advertise our Silent Auction items.

– The Education portion is also uncomplicated; engage with people interested in bees and beekeeping by sharing your experiences and knowledge with the goal of getting those folks started in beekeeping.

A lot of fun can be had in either staffing assignment.

If you are willing, here is how to sign up:

1) Click this link to access the roster: Signup
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Fill in your information. It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.
Note: SignUp does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact us and we can sign you up manually.

Many thanks for your support to the organization!

Monthly Meeting September 9, 2025 – Preparing Hives for Winter

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on September 9th 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 be at 7 p.m. followed by the business meeting.

The educational program will be “Preparing Your Hives for Winter”. Fall is an important time to finalize your bee hive winter preparations. This program will cover a wide range of topics to insure the survival of your bees this winter.

Monthly Meeting August 12 – Utilizing Virgin Queens

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on August 12 at the Brown County Educational Service Center located at 9231-B Hamer Rd., Georgetown, Ohio .
At 6 p.m., club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping.
The educational program will be at 7 p.m. followed by the business meeting.
The educational program will be “Utilizing Virgin Queens”, presented by George Anderson, owner and operator of GM Bee Farm of Batavia, Ohio. Having a productive queen is critical in having a successful bee hive and this can be achieved by utilizing virgin queen stock. George will cover the procedures to follow when using virgin queen bees.

Monthly Meeting July 8, 2025 – Varroa Mites

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on July 8th at the Brown County Educational Service Center located at 9231-B Hamer Rd., Georgetown, Ohio.

At 6 p.m., club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping.

The educational program will be at 7 p.m. followed by the business meeting.

The educational program will be “All About Varroa Mites”, presented by Kevin and Liz Jones, owners and operators of HappBee Acres Bee Supplies, Batavia, Ohio. Varroa mites are the number one killer of honey bees in the United States. With colony losses up to 80% across the USA this past winter, it is more important than ever to understand what happened and how you can prevent those kind of losses in your own apiary.

This program will be discussing varroa mites in depth: covering life cycle, identification, and some of the treatments available on the market today. They will also detail their varroa mite strategies, resulting in an average of 5% annual losses, with this past year’s loss being 15% of their 175 colonies.

Monthly Meeting – Layen Horizontal Hives

The Brown County Beekeepers Association will meet on June 10th at the Brown County Educational Service Center located at 9231-B Hamer Rd., Georgetown, Ohio.

At 6 p.m., club members will be available to answer questions and share information on beekeeping.

The educational program will be at 7 p.m. followed by the business meeting.

The educational program will be “Layen Hoizontal Hives”, presented by Sonja and Rob Brock, owner and operators of Wild Hives. In this program they will discuss their natural way of beekeeping and the many advantages of keeping bees in a horizontal fashion.