Transylvania County Beekeepers Association

June 16, 2026 there were about 17 people in attendance. All approved the May 19, 2026 meeting minutes as emailed out on May 31, 2026. Randy stated we have a little over $1,000 in our association’s fund. The only future big expense is the website renewal of around $300 for the year. 

Shane Masterson, President of the Henderson County’s Beekeepers Association was the speaker. Henderson County meets on the third Monday of the month. All are welcome to attend https://hcbeekeepers.org/. 

Shane has been keeping bees for 10 years. He has around 100 hives and moves his colonies about three times a year for pollination. Shane sells bees and nucs. 

Shane’s presentation was “The Resourceful Nuc”. He usually has 10-20% of nucs on hand to utilize, except during the winter. Shane referred to Ian Steppler’s blog, “the nuc is a battery to your bee yard” https://www.youtube.com/@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog. 

Nucs can be created from several methods such as swarms and splits, queen cell splits, and egg cell splits (also known as walk away splits). It is important not to go into the hive too soon during a split. It may disturb the queen hatching process. When the queen gets ready to hatch out, she makes a buzz that is referred to as queen piping. You want a lot of open cells when making a split. Make sure to feed the split good, 1:1 sugar/water ratio. The split can be made from several hives. You want a frame of eggs in the middle, some capped brood, honey, drawn comb/foundation in the new split. Shane prefers to have two queen cells in his splits. You need to wait 21 days for the queen to hatch. If you go into the hive too soon, you may kill the queen. Iowa bees has a good website with free tools/calendars to use for making splits etc. https://www.iowabees.com/tools.

Nucs can be used to make extra colonies (add to existing colony numbers), for comb builder (use to draw new comb for future use in your operation), brood booster (harvest brood to boost numbers in production colonies), queen replacement (missing or failing queen), to fix problem colonies (laying workers, or a spicy colony, aggressive hive (i.e an aggressive hive)). 

Shane starts in August to get nucs bigger/stronger. He can add them to other hives in the future to help make them stronger. You can over winter nucs, but it is better to combine them with weaker hives.

 We had several winners of a few small door prizes: Christine, David K, and Linn. Rosemary won the uncapping station. Ken won the cart. Thank you to those who donated items. 

I wanted to share a site from the Honey Bee Health Coalition. It has some very good varroa mite management information: https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/

Parker shared some information about a local gentleman who can wax dip your equipment. He may be a good speaker for one of our meetings. I never thought about wax dipping hive bodies.

​Hope to see you at our next meeting on July 21, 2026, 6:30 pm to socialize. The official meeting begins at 7 pm: 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC. 

Hope to see you at our next meeting, June 16, 2026, 6:30 pm to socialize. The official meeting begins at 7 pm: 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC. 

Shane Masterson, President of the Henderson County Beekeepers Association, will be the speaker for our June 16th meeting. His presentation will be titled, “The Resourceful NUC. Creating and using nucleus colonies to support your apiary management.” 

Thanks to generous donations and Randy assisting with the raffle, we have two very nice items for the raffle at this meeting: a gorilla cart and an uncapping station. 

The gorilla cart is used, but in very good condition. No repairs necessary. Raffle tickets for the cart will be $10. 

The uncapping station is made of clear plastic and comes with an electric uncapping knife and an uncapping tool. Raffle tickets for the uncapping station will be $5. 

There are also a number of nice door prizes. Please make sure to bring cash to the meeting for the raffle items and door prizes. ​

The following emails keep coming back as undeliverable with the message “exceeds message limit”: Cliff Price, Larry Gasperson, Mark Habel and Mary Caldwell. I am thinking the people have full email boxes is why the bee meeting announcements can’t go through. Please empty some of the emails in your in box, send an email to: tcbeekeepersassoc@gmail.com if you no longer wish to receive the bee club emails, or if one of these individuals has passed away, please email the bee association. Otherwise, you should be receiving the emails. Please make sure to add this email address to your contacts: tcbeekeepersassoc@gmail.com and check your spam box if you are having a difficult time receiving the emails. Thank you!

Some have mentioned not receiving the minutes and/or meeting announcements. Please make sure to add this email address to your address list and make sure you mark it as not spam. I am also not going to include pictures in with the emails to help them go through easier. If you would like to see pictures from the meeting, please look at the website: https://transylvaniacountybeekeepersassociation.com. I will post photos there. 

For the following people, I received an undeliverable email message: 451 4.7.1 74.125.82.193 You have exceeded your messaging limit. Please try again later. I am assuming their mailboxes are too full to receive emails? If you know the individuals, please let them know. If there is someone who has passed away, no longer keeping bees in our area, etc., please let me know and I will remove their name from the address book. Thank you!

Cliff Price

Larry Gasperson

Mark Habel

Mary Caldwell

Thank you to Rosemary for doing the following minutes from our last meeting! 

Summer in the Bee Yard

Presenter: Devin Gentry

Devin opened by reminding attendees that beekeeping is a hobby—and for some, a business—filled with mistakes, but that’s often how the best learning happens.

Devin has been beekeeping for 19 years. He started with two hives, both of which died during their first winter. His second set of hives survived, and he began catching swarms and making nucs. Today, he manages approximately 200 hives spread throughout Transylvania County, from Rosman to Asheville. He operates a queen-rearing program, makes and sells nucs, and focuses primarily on honey production.

Hive Health

Beekeepers should prioritize good hive health. During inspections, look for:

• Plenty of calm, active bees moving throughout the hive
• A solid brood pattern
• A queen laying consistently
• Emerging brood
• Adequate stores of pollen, nectar, and capped honey

Pollen provides protein, while nectar and honey provide carbohydrates. Both are essential for maintaining healthy colonies. If resources are lacking, supplemental feeding may be necessary.

If you remove the hive cover and notice bees that are sluggish or inactive, consider the possibility of a virus. Inspect bees closely for signs such as deformed, curled, or chewed-looking wings.

Sample for Varroa mites in both spring and fall, and treat when necessary. Varroa mites are commonly spread through drone populations.

For beekeepers with a small number of hives, drone brood trapping frames can be an effective management tool. Once the drone brood is capped, remove the frame and freeze it to kill mites before returning it to the hive.

Understand the various mite treatment options and how they may affect honey production. Always wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when applying treatments.

Recommended Resources

• Honey Bee Health Coalition website for information on mite monitoring and treatment options.
• Randy Oliver’s website, Scientific Beekeeping, for research-based articles, videos, mite sampling methods, and pollination studies.

Swarm Prevention

Swarming is a natural process that occurs when colonies become overcrowded, run out of space, or have an aging queen.

During inspections:

• Ensure colonies have adequate room for expansion without providing excessive empty space.
• Check for backfilling in brood frames.
• During heavy spring nectar flows, workers may begin storing nectar and pollen in the brood nest when supers become full.

To reduce swarming pressure:

• Add additional space by rotating or adding boxes.
• Ensure center brood frames contain eggs and larvae.
• Place drawn comb adjacent to the brood nest, with pollen and honey stores toward the outside frames.
• If colonies remain crowded, consider making a split.

Queen Issues

Evaluate queens by observing whether they are laying a consistent brood pattern.

In general, Devin recommends requeening annually, particularly for colonies that require mite treatments twice per year, as treatments can place significant stress on queens.

Beekeepers should know the age of each queen. In spring, queenlessness is common due to swarming or supersedure events.

When inspecting hives, take care not to injure the queen while removing or replacing frames. One option is to safely cage the queen during inspections and release her afterward.

Also watch for signs of laying workers, which may indicate a queenless colony.

Honey Production

The wildflower honey flow is currently strong and is expected to taper off by mid-June.

Sourwood bloom typically begins in late June or early July. Honey harvest generally occurs between late July and early August.

Have a Game Plan

Ask yourself: What is your purpose in beekeeping?

Successful beekeepers should:

• Understand honey bee biology and developmental timelines
• Know the timing for egg development, queen cell emergence, and mating
• Keep detailed records for each hive, including inspections and treatment history

Most importantly, enjoy the craziness of beekeeping!

Hope to see you at our next meeting on June 16, 2026, 6:30 pm to socialize. The official meeting begins at 7 pm: 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC.

Hope to see you at our next meeting on May 19, 2026, 6:30 pm to socialize. The official meeting begins at 7 pm: 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC. 

Devin Gentry, president of the Transylvania County Beekeepers Association and owner of Bee. honey + hive, will be the featured speaker. His presentation, “Summer in the Bee Yard”, will focus on hive health, swarm prevention, honey production, and date-specific tasks that will help you be a more successful beekeeper in Western North Carolina.

April 21, 2026 there were 22 people in attendance. David made the motion to accept the March 17, 2026 minutes as emailed out on April 12, 2026. Ken seconded the motion. All were in favor. 

Our guest speaker was David Ellis. David spoke about when to split your bees. It is best to know what your purpose is when going into your bees. You don’t want to go into them too much. You can learn a lot from watching the bees from the outside of the hive. It is very disruptive when you go into a hive, especially on a cooler day. It is important to learn if you have eggs or not, then you don’t have to spend extra time in the hive searching for the queen. 

If you aren’t sure what to do for your bees, then do nothing. When making a split, make sure you don’t take away too much from the original hive. If you have a 10 frame hive with 8 good frames, don’t take more than 4 frames. If you are making a split from a 5 frame nuc, just take a couple of frames. Some purposes of splitting are: to grow your apiary, replace a winter loss, swarm prevention, and/or resource building-raise queens.

A small swarm could be the result of a virgin queen out to be mated. If you caught this swarm and formed a new hive, it could result in a queen less hive. It is not a good idea to split too early in the year when the weather may turn cold. If you wait until too late to split a hive, it may result in a swarm. 

When there is a wall to wall brood pattern and the hive is full, it is time to split, or make more room for your bees to prevent a swarm. Usually 4-5 weeks before the first honey flow is a good time to decide whether to split or make more room for your bees. If your goal is to have more honey, you don’t want to split too much. You may want to add more room. When making a split, the foundation goes on the top of the hive box. You should also feed the new split.

There are a lot of ways to make a split. The first mentioned Dave discussed was a “walk away split”. You take the top box off and move it away from the original hive. One box will have the queen. The other box will not. You need to make sure there are eggs in both boxes, or a queen will not be made in the queen-less box. This is a good way to split when you can’t find the queen. It is a quick and easy split. However, it also has the highest rate of failure and takes much longer to create a new hive. It can take as long as 6 weeks before there are new worker bees.

Most people do “mated queen splits”. You find the old queen. Isolate the queen before making the split using a queen excluder. Wait five days, if eggs are in the bottom hive, then that is where the queen is. You place a queen cage that has a newly mated queen inside the hive with no eggs. In 4-5 days the new queen should be out of the cage and laying. In this method you want most of the brood in the box where the new queen will be. 

With the “mated queen split” you can also shake all the bees down into the bottom box, add the queen excluder. After a few hours, take off the top box with the bees that have moved up into it and add the new queen cage. 

The third method Dave talked about was “queen cell splits”. It is like a “walk away split” with a queen cell you raised added to it. This method is used most by experienced beekeepers. The queen cells have to have a queen cell protector around them to protect the queen until she hatches out. 

Whenever you make a nuc, it must be moved away from your home bee yard, or else they will fly back to the original hive, especially in cold weather. 

Open brood has new, young bees. They are more likely to stay and accept new queens. Therefore, it is best to move the open brood into the newly created hive and leave the closed brood in the original hive. 

James Fredrickson was the lucky winner of the nuc as donated by our club president, Devin. David, Scott and Chris also won various door prizes. The following were the prizes won: A frame feeder donated by Rosemary, a hive tool and queen cage donated by Randy, an inner cover and jar of honey donated by Devin, Thank you for all the door prize donations!

Hope to see you at our next meeting, May 19, 2026

Oxalic Acid

March 17, 2026, fourteen people were in attendance. Parker made a motion to accept the February 17, 2026 minutes as emailed out February 27, 2026. Randy seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Randy stated we had $945 in the association’s fund. $450 of the fund are liabilities for the website and PO Box. 

Rosemary brought some Killian’s Irish beer and pretzels for a St. Patrick’s door prize. Question was, what do snakes and honey bees have in common? The lucky winner, Mark Habel stated that people are afraid of both. Thank you Rosemary for bringing some fun to the meeting.

Randy spoke of a new product that was approved September 2024 by the EPA, VarroxSan Oxalic Extended Release Strips. They cost around $30 for 20 strips. They can be used during a honey flow. Varroxsan is intended to be used in a hive with an already low mite count to keep them low. Long sleeves, gloves, eye protection and a Niosh approved respirator with a N, R or P filter are required. Treatment lasts 42-56 days. It is recommended to use one strip for every 2.5 frames of bees. No more than 4 strips per hive. However, testing shows 6-8 strips per 10 frame hive is more effective. Each strip is bent into a U shape and put in the brood area. It is a contact treatment, not vaporization.  Argentina has been utilizing strips similar to VarroxSan for years. Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring substance. For example, rhubarb leaves have oxalic acid in them.

David spoke about oxalic acid vaporization and drip treatments.  For vaporization, he treats with 1 gram per hive box using a “Mite-E-Vape” vaporizer. David drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the back of the bottom board to distribute the acid vapor. You need to add the bottom board if you have a screened bottom hive. Must use a respirator, just as the one Randy mentioned. The respirator needs to have filters for organic acid, paint solvents. Also needed are strong gloves that can take the heat. It only takes a minute to treat each hive. It only impacts the mites on the bees, not the capped brood. If you have capped brood, it is not a good mite treatment. It is a good treatment to use in the winter months. You also need a loose cluster of bees. Therefore, it is not a good idea to treat them on a freezing cold day. You can also do a dribble method which involves putting sugar water that has oxalic acid in it on the bees that are in between the frames. David uses a 60 cc syringe to add the acid. It is also a good method to use on a swarm of bees, or a new package of bees that you get before there is sealed brood. https://entomologytoday.org/2026/03/20/honey-bee-swarms-spread-invasive-mite-tropilaelaps-mercedesae/

The Honey Bee Health Coalition https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/hive-health-best-management-practices/ is a good website to discover what treatment is best for you to use on your bees in controlling their mite population. 

Another good recommendation is to take your cup of bees that you intend to test for mites and put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Once they are dead, then do an alcohol wash. 

We had the raffle drawing at the end of the meeting for everything except the Nuc. The drawing for the Nuc will be at the end of the April meeting. The Nuclear will need to be picked up on May 9th. Mark Habel won the Zion as donated and made by Randy Austin. Caroline Thompson won the bee suit. Ken Adamson won the uncapping knife. 

Hope to see you at our next meeting on April 21, 2026, 6:30 pm to socialize. The official meeting begins at 7 pm: 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC. 

There were seventeen people in attendance. We had three new attendees, welcome! Ken made the motion to accept the 1/20/26 minutes as emailed out on 2/1/26. Randy seconded the motion. All were in favor. We have $738.77 in the association’s fund with more coming in from the ongoing raffles. Parker Browne was elected as the new Vice President. 

We have several items up for raffle. All raffle item tickets, with the exception of the nuc, are $5 each (Russian Scion, xl bee suit, hot uncapping knife). You may purchase as many tickets for as many items as you would like, to increase your odds of winning. The raffles will end at our March meeting, except for the nuc. The nuc raffle tickets are $10 each. The raffle for the nuc will end at the April meeting. The pickup date for the nuc is May 9th. If you would like to donate an item to be raffled off for the bee association, or purchase a raffle ticket, please contact Randy Austin: flenviro@gmail.com

If you have not already paid your annual dues, the dues are $10 per member, $15 per family and $5 for junior members (ages 14-17). If you can’t make the meetings, you may mail and make your dues payable to the Transylvania County Beekeepers Association, PO Box 92 Brevard, NC 28712, Thank you!

Our President, Devin Gentry spoke about beekeeping. “Is beekeeping right for you?” “What does a new beekeeper need to know?” Devin has 19 years of beekeeping experience. It took him three years before he could make it through the winter without losing a hive. A good mentor helps tremendously when it comes to starting out beekeeping. Covid hit. In 2020 Devin lost his job with the Cradle of Forestry, so he turned his hobby into a full-time career. Devin sells 30-50 nucs a year, does talks and tours to various groups. His business is: Bee Honey and Hive. There are several motives for beekeeping. Many get into beekeeping to help save the bees. Honey bees are not native to America. They originated in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. They were introduced from Europe in the early 1600s by colonists for honey and wax. A pollinator habitat is the number one way to save our honey bees. Have diverse resources of plants, trees and flowers. Reduce, or eliminate the use of pesticides. This site is an excellent resource: 

https://www.pollinator.org/ Others get into beekeeping to make honey and/or wax to make products like lip balm, candles, etc. Some get into beekeeping as a business to make money. Beekeeping is a farming/agriculture business that is a hard and hot business to get established. 

If you want to get into beekeeping, the best start is education. There are several resources available such as local bee clubs, bee schools and universities. NC State has an apiculture program that is very good: https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/programs/certified-honey-producer. YouTube is also a good resource. However, consider where the u-tube speakers are raising their bees. There is a lot of vocabulary to learn when getting into beekeeping (supers, frames, excluders, etc.). Honeybee biology is very important to learn. You need to understand the queen’s life cycle. 

There are a lot of things to consider when starting a bee yard. Full morning sun with afternoon shade is the best. Flat ground with easy access is important. You will have to carry equipment in and out of the bee yard. If you can get a vehicle close by to unload hives and equipment, that is best. A beekeeper needs a good hive stand. The stand needs to be off the ground, about knee height. It is good to have it far away from other houses in case someone is allergic to bees, etc. A good electric fence is a must to keep out bears. There are solar fences available, if you do not have electricity available to plug one in. It is best to start with two bee hives and room to expand. Two hives give the beekeeper something to compare. 

There are several tools a new beekeeper will need to invest in. The most important tool is a good smoker. The smoker will mask the bee pheromones and hopefully prevent the beekeeper from getting stung. However, too much smoke will irritate bees. It is important to make sure the smoker has a good protective cage around it. A good bee veil is also very important. If you want a whole suit, it is best to get a ventilated one. Some prefer to work without gloves. Others prefer to have gloves to avoid stings, especially if working fast and hard. Lighter color gloves are best. Darker colors are associated with predators of the honey bees. Hive tools are also a must bee tool. You will need the tool to pry the hive boxes and frames loose from where the bees propolis them together. 

Hive boxes come in various sizes. There are deeps, mediums and shallows, 8 or 10 frames. Weight is something to consider when you select your hive box formation. The less frames, smaller boxes, the lighter they will be when full of honey and/or brood. Bottom boards come solid, or with a screen. Devin prefers the solid bottom board. He has had more luck with his bees surviving the winter. You may also want a queen excluder to prevent the queen from moving up into your honey supers. Also, if you have any brood or pollen in the frames, it attracts wax moths when you are storing the frames. The frames with just honey are not susceptible to getting wax moths. There are two types of top covers. If you are moving your hives around a lot, you may want a migratory top with an inner cover. There is also a telescoping top that comes down over the top box to keep out water, etc. The book Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley is a good resource for the beekeeper. 

There are a lot of pests you will have to manage in beekeeping. Mites are the most difficult to manage and detrimental to the hive. Bees travel and interact with other bees, spreading the mites. There are also hive beetles, wax moths, skunks and bears. 

A beekeeper needs a plan for harvesting, storing and bottling extra honey. A five frame nuc with a queen usually cost around $200. A package of bees is less expensive, but you are behind on raising your bees and getting started. A new beekeeper will probably spend around $1,500 for a two hive set up and equipment to begin their new hobby. 

Hope to see everyone at our next bee meeting, March 17th! Same place and same times. 

February 17, 2026 Meeting

Please join us for our next bee meeting, Tuesday, February 17th at 6:30 pm to socialize. 7:00 pm our formal meeting will begin. We will be meeting at the same location, the Community Services Building (106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC). 

Our President, Devin Gentry will be speaking about beekeeping. “Is beekeeping right for you? What does a new beekeeper need to know?”

We will also have three items for a TCBA raffle at the meeting. Members can purchase tickets for any or all of the items at the meeting. The raffle tickets for the bee suit and scion are $5 each. Tickets for the nuc are $10 each. You may purchase as many tickets as you wish for one or all items. 

Item 1 – Humble Bee Ultravent Beekeeping Suit, size XL (retail value $230) Donated by Barbara Grimm.

Item 2 – Russian Scion with bucket trap. When a swarm is caught, the scion is simply lowered into the bucket that is pre-drilled with air holes. Randy Austin donated and built the scion.

Item 3 – Nucleus colony. To be donated by Devin Gentry.

Randy will bring the Humble Bee suit and the Russian Scion to the meeting so members can see and feel them.

If a member cannot attend and wants to enter the raffle, they can contact Randy via email with their pledge, and he will issue them a ticket. 

Randy Austin

flenviro@gmail.com

Please remember to pay your annual dues, if you have not already done so at the last meeting. The dues are $10 per member, $15 per family, and $5 for junior members (ages 14-17). If you can’t make the meetings, you may mail and make your dues payable to the Transylvania County Beekeepers Association, PO Box 92 Brevard, NC 28712.

On January 20, 2026 there were 13 in attendance. Rosemary made a motion to accept the December 16th minutes, as emailed out on December 28, 2025. Randy seconded it. All were in favor. Randy stated we had $591.77 in our association’s checking account, plus the dues that were collected at this meeting. 

Please remember to pay your annual dues now. The dues are $10 per member, $15 per family, and $5 for junior members (ages 14-17). If you can’t make the meetings, you may mail and make your dues payable to the Transylvania County Beekeepers Association, PO Box 92 Brevard, NC 28712,

Randy Austin has some raffle tickets the association can use for raffles. If you would like to donate an item to be raffled off for the bee association, please contact Randy Austin. Devin has a nuc he will donate. 

Scott Davis, the Mountain Regional Director for the NC State Beekeepers Association, and Lewis Cauble, the NC Department of Agriculture’s Apiary Inspector, were the speakers for the evening. 

Mr. Davis stated our region’s beekeeping association is the largest in the country with over 5,000 members. There is almost one club in each of the NC Counties (https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/). He encouraged beekeepers to join the state association and participate in some of the certification programs for beekeeping. 

The Master Beekeeper Program (https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/programs/mbp) has four certification levels. The certification programs are a good way to spread the word about beekeeping as well as learn more about it. 

The Born and Bred Queen Rearing class is also a good class to learn about queen bees and raising them (https://www.ncsuapiculture.net/bees-academy-home). 

There is also a program to register your honey as local/real honey. You can also utilize the site to locate real honey to buy (https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/programs/real-nc-honey)

The state also sponsors the Golden Achievement Program (GAP) to recognize local clubs that have gone above and beyond in community outreach, bee schools, etc. (https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/?s=GAP). There is grant money available for local bee clubs. 

The NC State also has a bee lab (https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/ncsu-bee-lab/updates-on-the-new-ncsu-honey-bee-lab). The project started in May 2022 and was able to secure funds from the NC Legislature to help build the new laboratory. The new lab will be ready to utilize and move in this April 2026. 

Dr. Tarpy is one of the best queen researchers in the state. He leads the NCSU outstanding apiculture research program. The apiculture program is the first and only with a one million dollar endowment. $670,000 was raised and NC State added the remaining funds. This is a separate program from the Cooperative Extension program. 

Mr. Cauble spoke to the group about the Yellow Legged Hornet (YLH). The hornet arrived in the US from Asia via a cargo ship in Savannah, Georgia. The hornet has a yellow face, white eyes, a dark thorax. The ends of its legs are yellow. The YLH likes to hang out in front of the honey bee hives and take the honey bees out, one by one. https://www.ncagr.gov/YLH

In the fall the YLH drones and queens are raised. In the winter the queens will over winter, while the rest of the colony dies off. In March the queen wakes up and makes an embryonic nest that is the size of a ping pong or tennis ball. The nest is usually under porches and eaves. You need to make sure to catch the queen while she is in the nest. If you just get the nest, the queen will make a new one elsewhere. 

In May/June the queen has a few workers and makes a primary nest up high about 20 feet in trees that are in the open/unprotected area. 

In July there is a nice workforce of YLH’s. 

States are now working on making traps to catch the YLH. The traps are placed high up in trees and contain Georgia juice (a mixture of dark brown sugar and grape juice) to lure the hornets in. NC State is working with the USDA on a grant for eradicating and trapping the YLH. Some other insects will also be attracted to the traps, but honey bees are not likely to be found in the YLH traps. 

Most of the hornets we now see attacking our NC hives are the European Hornets. They have been around since the 1840’s and will not kill out a healthy honey bee hive. We have been lucky and not found any YLH’s in NC. However, in September of 2025 there were some YLH’s found in York County, SC, about 40 miles from Charlotte, NC. 

Please join us for the February 17th meeting, 6:30 pm to socialize. The official meeting begins at 7 pm: 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC. Our President, Devin Gentry will be speaking about beekeeping. “Is beekeeping right for you?” “What does a new beekeeper need to know?”

Enrollment is now open for Henderson County’s Bee School. The classes begin on January 26, 2026, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, for seven consecutive Monday meetings. You can check out their website (https://hcbeekeepers.org/education/2021-beginner-beekeeper-education-enrollment-2-2-2-2/) for more information. It is a great class if you are new to beekeeping, or interested in learning more about honey bees and keeping bees.