News & Events: Information on Meetings and other News & Events
ACBA Meetings and Upcoming Classes for 2022 & 2023
November 10, 2022
Keep in mind that the ACBA will continue to meet through the winter, although with a bit different format for December, January, and February. For these three months, we will offer special workshops on intermediate beekeeping skills, many that are relevant to the Journeyman exam and practical exercises. The Winter Beekeeping Workshops (during regularly scheduled ACBA meetings) will include the following topics:
December 8: Honeybee Biology Anatomy, Social Organization, Bee Pests, and Bee Diseases
January 12: Beekeeping History, Equipment and Managing Honeybee Wellbeing, and Pesticides
February 9: Plants, Pollination, Harvesting and Marketing Honeybee Products, and NCSBA
FYI, Jim Rash will be leading an Advanced Beekeeping Class through Wilkes Community College (Ashe Campus) beginning in the Spring that will build on these topics and further prepare participants to seek certification and/or study their Journeyman Exam.
Best regards,
Wayne Pitts
ACBA President
New 2023 Officers
November 10, 2022
The new elected officers for 2023.
President - Wayne Pitts
Vice President - Todd Swanson
Secretary - Ken Jenkins
Treasurer - David Tanner
Program Director - Louise Rascoe
Board of Directors - Helen Baldwin, Jim Rash, (Teri Goodman has 2 years remaining on her term)
Regular ACBA Meeting
November 10, 2022
A message from the President, Wayne Pitts:
Hello Fellow Beekeepers,
We will have our annual potluck meeting this Thursday, November 10th at 7PM at the Agricultural Extension Office (behind Bojangles. We sure hope you will come! This is a great time to bring a new beekeeper or enthusiast visitor.
To ensure that we have a good distribution of food and drink, I recommend the following assignments by last name:
A-J: Main Dish
K-Q: Side Dish
R-Z: Desserts
The ACBA will provide a cooler of water and a variety of sodas and paper plates, cups, etc.
Remember: We will be electing new officers. please don't forget to make your nominations by clicking here.
Take care,
Wayne
Regular ACBA Meeting
October 13, 2022
FYI, open the below, downloadable file to see the October 13, 2022 ACBA meeting agenda.
Regular ACBA Meeting
September 8, 2022
Hello Beekeepers!
Our regular monthly meeting will be held September 8 at 7 PM. The agenda is attached. As always we'll have pizza and snacks to share beginning at 6:30 PM for those who would like to arrive a bit earlier and spend some time chatting with others. Please consider bringing some snacks or drinks to share! Also, please donate a door prize for the raffle - it is always nice to take home a surprise.
If you have pollinator plants to donate to the Keep Ashe Beautiful campaign, please bring them. If you need any plastic planter containers, let us know as Helen and Randy have some to share. I will have 10 used supers (10 frame) that were donated last spring if you're looking for some more hardware (limit 2 per beekeeper) You'll need to torch'em and repaint them.
See you tonight!
Wayne Pitts
ACBA President
FYI, open the below downloadable agenda...
Regular Membership Meeting
July 14, 2022
Hello ACBA,
We will have the regular monthly meeting of the Ashe County Beekeepers Association Thursday, July 14 at 7PM at the Agricultural Extension Office (134 Government Cir #202, Jefferson, NC 28640) - that's TOMORROW! Please come! James Wilkes will be discussing "Single Brood Box Systems" which should stimulate lots of conversation and innovative ideas about how to manage your bees. We'll also be sharing details about upcoming events and seeking input from you regarding what bee activities interest you most.
lease see the draft agenda and the ACBA Interest Form attached.
Please consider bringing a door prize for the drawing and we always welcome snack contributions. Pizza will be available at 6:30PM!
We'll see you there!
Wayne Pitts
ACBA President
Information from Helen Baldwin:
Some of you graciously volunteered earlier in the year to bring snacks to a meeting or two. If anyone is still game, we’d love to let you help out!
Randy and I will pick up pizzas, but here are the other things we need:
Bottled water - no clue how much, but @ 30 bottles will hopefully be enough.
Paper products - plates, plastic utensils, napkins
Cookies, chopped fruit/platter, whatever
If you would like to bring something, please contact Helen Baldwin so we’ll know what else we need to pick up.
If you can help out this time, thank you!!! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Hope to see you Thursday!
Environmental Field Day
September 13, 2022
A message from Jessica Hodgson regarding the 2022 Environmental Field Day...
Please respond back to this email if you are able to be a presenter.
I hope you all are well! I am seeking volunteers to help with our Environmental Field Day for 5th grade students on Tuesday, September 13th with a rain date of Wednesday, September 14th. The kids have such a fun time with this field day, and we hope you can come out and make this a fun day for them. We have been unable to host a field day for the past two years because of Covid, and we are so excited to get this up and going again.
A field day will be held at the New River State Park, Wagoner Access from 9:00- 2:00 a.m., we would recommend you come early to set up any tables or props that you will need (tables are not provided). We will be there at 8:00 a.m. There will be 10 stations total and students will be with you for 20 minute intervals and then they will change stations. Lunch will be provided, and will include a variety of subs, chips, and desserts. I will need two test questions and answers from each presenter/station, having 20 questions total as students will take a test on all materials that they learned.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Jessica Hodgson
New River SWCD
Office Administrator/Environmental Educator
336-246-8875 ext 111
jhodgson@ashecountygov.com