Join our monthly meetings this Spring!

With warm weather arriving, it’s a great time to meet with fellow beekeepers. Join us Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at Bee Cool Bee Supply, 728 Capps Rd., Pisgah Forest NC 28768. Everyone is welcome – you don’t have to be a member to attend. Upcoming dates will be April 5, May 3, and June 7 (first Tuesday of the month).

New meeting location for Winter 2022

Our monthly meetings (1st Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.) are now being held at Bee Cool Bee Supply, 728 Capps Rd., Pisgah Forest NC 28768. Everyone is welcome – you don’t have to be a member to attend. Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 1.

Notes from the January meeting: Annual membership dues for 2022 are now being collected. Find all the details on how to join or renew here. Now is also the time to join or renew your membership in the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association by visiting the NCSBA Membership Page.

An 8-frame starter hive set-up has been donated to the association and is being raffled off. Please contact the TCBA for details.

July 6 meeting, with door prizes!

Our July meeting starts at 7 pm at the Penrose Church of God of Prophecy on US 64 (4646 Hendersonville Hwy, Pisgah Forest, NC 28768). Be sure to get a ticket when you arrive – we have some door prizes to give away!

We’re meeting again! June 1, 2021

Please join us Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 7 pm at Penrose Church of God of Prophecy on Highway 64. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall in the basement of the church. This is our first meeting since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020.

Directions: From Brevard/Pisgah Forest, take Highway 64 toward Hendersonville. Go straight through the traffic light at the Vulcan Rock Quarry, go approximately 1 mile and the church is on the right side of the road.

Notes from the March meeting

Master Gardener Richard Mills shows areas of the eastern United States that once thrived as prairies.

Planting native wildflowers is a great way to help bees and other pollinators in our area. On March 3 we heard from County Extension Director and Agent Bart Renner and Master Gardener Richard Mills (shown above) about planting for pollinators.

Plant information: Mr. Renner presented a slideshow on the top native pollinator plants for our area for each season of the year. Find a handout with all the plants listed here. The Extension Service also has a great website to help you choose the right plants for various locations: Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.

Pollinators and prairies: Mr. Mills gave a presentation on creating a pollinator pasture, based on a project he worked on with the Audubon Society in Alabaster, Alabama. Many pollinator plants are adapted from the prairie lands that abounded all over the eastern United States hundreds of years ago, including North Carolina, he said. Information about growing a prairie from seed is here.

Door prizes: TCBA is now giving away door prizes at the monthly meeting. This month, two lucky attendees received a pre-seeded mat with enough bee-friendly flowers to cover about 8 square feet. Come to the April 7 meeting to see what next month’s prize will be!

April meeting site: We will meet at the county Board of Elections building at 150 S. Gaston St. on April 7, 7-8 p.m. Our usual meeting room is under renovations. UPDATE: The April meeting is canceled.

A door prize fromthe March 2020 TCBA meeting.

March Meeting: New Location

Join us Tuesday, March 3 at 7 pm at a new location: the County Commissioners Chambers (the old Library), located in the Transylvania County Administration Building at 101 S. Broad St. in downtown Brevard. You can park in the Tax Office parking lot across the street. (Google Map link to the location)

The Social Services Building where we usually meet is being remodeled for the next several months.

We’ll have two guest speakers and some door prizes at this month’s meeting!

Notes from the February meeting

County Extension Director and Agent Bart Renner was at our meeting February 4, bringing a film as well as an example of what happens when enormous hornets take over a hive (see photo above).

Films and DVDS: TCBA members watched a film, ‘Queen of the Sun,’ one of many DVDs that can be borrowed by NC State Beekeepers Association members. A bibliography of available AV resources can be found here. To borrow, fill out this online request form.

New Guide to Identifying Bees: North Carolina has more than 500 species of bees! Mr. Renner passed around copies of “The Bees of North Carolina: An Identification Guide.” This new book can be viewed online here.

Bee schools offered: The North Carolina State Apiculture Program is offering two trainings this spring: An online beginner beekeeping course March 4-25 (details here), and an Intermediate BEES Academy March 3-4 in New Bern, NC (more information here).

‘Catch the Buzz’

At our November 2019 meeting, Erika Holland gave a presentation on a new initiative that she and a team are working on to help bees and educate people about them. Click here to read the ‘Catch the Buzz’ proposal.