is a support group for people interested in getting started keeping bees.
Next Meeting!
Friday April 12 , 2024
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Masks will bee a personal choice for the meeting.
La Salle County Extension Office
1689 North 31st Road
Lower Level (basement)
Ottawa, IL 61350
Meeting updates coming soon:
See you there!
It's going to be another great meeting
Bee There Or Bee Square!
March 8th Meeting
We had another wonderful meeting in March and learned a lot. We watched a video on installing a nuc. They have become very popular and are set up a certain way to be installed, new beekeepers are not aware of this. Very informative!
We talked about what we should be doing to help our bees make it to spring right now. You have to check to make sure they have food! They can starve if they run out before anything blooms to give them food! The bees are starting to come in with pollen from the trees so keep an eye on them.
If you check your hive and a lot of bees are on the top of the frames and you don't have a food source up there then you need to put food of some sort. You can sprinkle powered pollen substitute on the tops of the frames or use small pollen patties but check them every 5 days to make sure no hive beetles are in them. In hive feeders can start being used but the outside or top feeders won't do well yet. We need the temperature to be consistently over 50 degrees to put the 1 to 1 sugar water on them. We could still have some cold weather and even snow.
We watched a video on reversing the hives and had a discussion about that and when to put your honey supers on. Depending on the weather and what is coming in, with this crazy weather you could put them on April 1st. Size of hive will matter also.
Lets see if we can get the bees into spring healthy and ready to rock and roll!
The Beginner Beekeeping Workshop was a big success! We had a lot of really good feedback on it! We added some new things and changed it around a bit and I think it worked very well!
THANK YOU to all who attended and who helped and those who were up front doing the talks! We can't do it without everyone's help!
The packages are going to start coming in this month so start thinking about what you need now so you are ready for Summer!
If anyone has a problem and needs some help with their hives please call the number on this website or email us by way of the contact us button, and we can get some help for you.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR BEGINNER BEEKEEPERS OR HELP GETTING STARTED!
We have monthly meetings to help the beginner or anyone who has questions. You do not have to be a member to attend the meetings!
They are open to anyone who wants to attend!
We welcome anyone who would like to come and talk at any of our meetings. We are always looking for speakers about beekeeping, observation hives, wax making, honey extracting, pretty much anything bees!
Total membership are $20.00 - $10.00 for the IVBA Club and $10.00 to Join the ISBA Club.
The ISBA gives us more information on what is happening down state and they have a lot of good information about new things with bees. They send out a quarterly news letter that is very informative.
If you would like to get someone a gift membership to the club please
call the number on the website and we will get you taken care of.
You can also use the contact us button to ask any questions about your bees or installing bees - any question is welcome.
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