Prairie State Beekeepers Association

Upcoming bee events at Lincoln Land Community College - Springfield, IL

All of the following information is also on the Prairie State Beekeepers website

08/24/2024
Honey extraction Time: 10 am - 3 PM
This is for beekeepers with 1-2 supers who need help extracting their honey. Bring your supers and containers for your honey & wax cappings.

Location: LLCC Kreher Agriculture Building (main campus).

09/10/2024
LLCC honey extraction day Time (see below)
This is for anyone interested in learning about the extraction process for local honey. Participants will be able to taste honey directly from the hive.

Location: West Lake Nature Grove Apiary (WLNG) Time: 9:30 AM then moving to Abe Lincoln Commons to Abe Commons approximately from 11 AM to 2 PM.

09/12/2024
VSH (Varroa Specific Hygiene) research project. Data will be collected to determine if VSH genetics are more valuable than non-VSH genetics in decreasing varroa mite load in bee colonies. Participants will help determine varroa mite numbers in the hives.

Location: West Lake Nature Grove Apiary (WLNG) then move to Kreher Agriculture building
Time: 9:30 AM in WLNG moving to Kreher Ag Building at approximately 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM

09/27/2024
Comparing the sugar roll vs. alcohol wash method of estimating varroa mite counts in beehives. Our goal is to determine which method is more accurate when checking the varroa mite load.

Location: West Lake Nature Grove Apiary (WLNG)
Time: 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

West Lake Nature Grove Apiary address
2321 West Lake Shore Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703

Lincoln Land Community College (Kreher Agriculture Building & Abe Lincoln Commons) address
5250 Shepherd Road
Springfield, Illinois 62703

Please direct any questions to Dave Cox: [email protected] (217-801-4021)

Prairie State Beekeepers Association will be conducting live colony examinations on designated Saturdays from 12 noon to 2 PM at the Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) - West Lake Nature Grove Apiary.

​Bring the level of protective gear which makes you feel comfortable (veil at at minimum).

For the specific dates and location, or for contact information if you have questions, check the Summary of Events page on the Prairie State website.

Summary of Events Prairie State Beekeepers calendar of events which Prairie State Beekeepers is sponsoring or recommends.

A few more pics of the boxes and frames being assembled by the scholarship students (and their parent or guardian)

Thanks to Bill Budd for the use of his shop and time to help the scholarship students to build their beekeeping equipment and to Dave Tebrugge and Dave Cox for volunteering their time to get the wooden ware to the shop and lending assistance to help the students assemble it.

A few more pics from the last night of the 6 week Introduction to Beekeeping Class. Class members examining frames of brood from the 5 frame nuc provided by Andy O'Connell of Steamship Bees.

Class participants watched the installation of a package of bees and then later huddled around a 5 frame nuc colony to examine brood frames and find the queen. All had the opportunity to handle live frames of bees and then pick off the bees from each other before last session of class was resumed inside the building.

The bee package and the nucleus hive were provided by Andy O'Connell of Steamship Bees.

The six week 2024 Introduction to Beekeeping Class completed tonight (3/21/24).

Eight of the participants were youth awarded full scholarships by Prairie State Beekeepers (class, equipment and bees). They will be building their equipment this weekend in preparation for bees to arrive in April.

Congratulations!

More pictures to come.

If you think you will need 1 or more bee packages this year, see the
2024 Bee Package Request Form at the below link

2024 Bee Package Request (2 LB) Packages are 2 LB with unmarked queen. The price is $140 per package for attendees of the six week 2024 Introduction to Beekeeping course and for Prairie State Beekeepers Association (PSBA) members, otherwise the package price is $150. No deposit required You will be notified of the exact pickup dat...

Registration for the 6 week Introduction to Beekeeping Class closes at the end of the day on February 5, 2024 or when all of the available in person seats are spoken for (whichever comes first)

February 15 - March 21, 2024 - Introduction to Beekeeping - Springfield, Illinois

2024 is a Leap Year.... making it a great year to leap into beekeeping!!!

See the below page on the Prairie State website for more information and how to register.

Summary of Events Prairie State Beekeepers calendar of events which Prairie State Beekeepers is sponsoring or recommends.

Interesting article in Entomology Today.

Sunflowers Linked to Reduced Varroa Mite Infestations in Honey Bees A new study indicates a benefit to honey bees of local sunflower cropland. Even low levels of sunflower acreage nearby correlate with reduced Varroa mite infestation in managed colonies, researchers found, and supplemental sunflower pollen helps ward off the mites, as well.

February 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23 - Introduction to Beekeeping 2023 - Springfield, IL

Explore the fascinating world of honey bees and the steps to becoming a beekeeper at “Introduction to Beekeeping.”

This series is designed for someone interested in starting beekeeping or would just like to learn more about honey bees. Topics that will be covered by experienced beekeepers include:

life of the honey bee
common pests and diseases
bee equipment
how to assemble bee equipment
placement of a hive
where to obtain honey bees
new package installation
how to inspect a hive
care of the colony.

The six-part series will be offered in person and via zoom on Thursdays, February 16 and 23, March 2, 9, 16 and 23, from 6 to 7:30 pm.

In addition to the weekly sessions, participants will be encouraged to view pre-recorded videos and review reading material. If weather permits, an outdoor hive viewing inspection will be held on the last class session night.

class registration fee is $45 and includes a copy of the First Lessons in Beekeeping Book.

For more information and how to register see the Summary of Events Page on the Prairie State Beekeepers website at the below link

Summary of Events Prairie State Beekeepers calendar of events which Prairie State Beekeepers is sponsoring or recommends.

Googling “single brood chamber hives” returns a lot of beekeepers running singles. What are your thoughts, let’s start a conversation.

Check out our very own Rich Ramsey (Shhhh, he’s keeping his celebrity a secret) as he drops some basic bee knowledge on the folks at Grainger.

Beekeeper | Grainger Everyday Heroes Without the honeybee, we'd still have food, just not nearly as much. According to Rich Ramsey, a beekeeper for over 31 years, nearly one-third of the world's...

You don’t want to miss this.

M M

Have you heard of Bee Vectoring? This is new and pretty interesting to me.

BVT Explained

It’s a never ending battle.

Scientists breed honey bees to fight deadly parasite Improved variety is 30% more likely to survive varroa mite infestation

Rich Ramsey may have a few bee packages available (5 at the time of this post on 4-11-2022).

If interested in 1 or more... call Rich Ramsey at 217-691-9354 as soon as possible... do not email him...

If no answer, leave a voice message with your name and number and he will call you back

It's ! Where's the queen on the frame? Can you spot her? As always, if you find the queen, don't give her spot away, but do let us know that you found her in the comments! We'll post where she's hiding in the comments tomorrow!

This frame photo was graciously donated by Chelsee Schram from Bellewether Bees! Thank you!

Do you enjoy Find the Queen Fridays? We need YOUR HELP to keep it going! 📣

The American Beekeeping Federation needs more photos & videos of queen bees on frames for our posts. Message us your photos & videos to use! If chosen, we'll thank you in the post and, if you are an American beekeeper, link to your social media beekeeping company page!

Congratulations to Prairie State Beekeepers member for being the FFA State winner in Specialty Animal Production. Emma’s project was not only being a beekeeper and managing honey bee colonies, but also grafting her own queens.

Emma was a recipient of a Prairie State Beekeepers Youth in Beekeeping scholarship.

Prairie State Beekeepers Association is very proud of her!

Emma Wiker is the State winner in Specialty Animal Production!!

Langstroth described the bee management benefits of an improved hive and gave detailed information on bee biology. He also offered to sell individual or farm rights for others to build his hive. Or assembled hives could be ordered from him directly.

Unfortunately, the movable frame hive, that momentous revolution in apiculture, did not bring financial reward to Langstroth as it should have. Flagrant manufacturers quickly infringed on his patent, selling numerous versions of frame hives.
Source: The Hive and the Honey Bee, page 30-31.