KingView Mead, a new small producer in Pleasant Hills, has launched its business, as well as a crowdfunding effort to boost it, while promising to give 10 percent of all sales as well as of donations to beekeepers, in the form of new hives and other equipment and bees. The beekeepers, from this region and beyond, don’t even need to be one of the meadery’s suppliers. They just need to sign up for the raffles. Click Here for Upcoming KingView Tastings Read More About

Ali Momeni, Daniel Campos & Jeff Shaw Observation Hive ll, 2016 Wood Street Gallery "All Around Us" Materials: Medium Density Fiberboard, Polycarbonate, Bees During the summer of 2012, Ali Momeni and his collaborator Robin Meier created an indoor habitat for a small colony of bees at Domaine Garenne Lemot in Clisson, France. The resulting piece, "If the Lion Could Speak…" was an experiment in human bee communication through the panguage of music (think Voyager Golden Record, brought back from space, and recomposed for palyback inside a bee hive). For this exhibition, Momeni created a new version of this observation hive that is larger, more durable, and capable of hosting a full colony of bees. This work was created in consultation with Jeff Shaw, Apiary Director of Burgh Bees, assist Daniel Campos was invaluable in his help in fabricating the hives. Camera L View Camera Camera R View Camera

Bedillion Honey Farm Mark Bedillion, Hickory 3# package $115 regular price/$110 for Burgh Bees Member Available end of April. Date TBD. 5 frame Nuc local survivor stock $160 regular price/$150 for Burgh Bees members Available May/June 724-747-4645 or email route18farm@hotmail.com Meadow Sweet Apiaries Steve Repasky, Pittsburgh 5 Frame Florida Nuc w/freshly mated northern stock queen, 2 fr. brood, 2 honey, and 1 brood/honey/or foundation. Standard deep frames in a cardboard Nuc box. No frame exchange. All sales are final after loading. Cost $155 Available April 9th. Subject to change. Call 412-445-7872 or email meadowsweetbees@gmail.com Tom Johnson, Rochester Packages are from Georgia 3# Package w/marked Italian queen cost $102 3# Package w/marked Russian queen cost $105 April pick up date TBD Call 724-312-7584 (cell) or 724-728-6826 (home) or email tomandnay307@comcast.net

Our President, Steve Repasky, has recently talked about the changing perception of propolis in the hive and referred to research done by Marla Spivak, PhD. I wanted to pass these thoughts on for your consideration. We all know that propolis is the sticky resin bees use to glue everything in our hives together and that it is highly antimicrobial meaning it is antibacterial, antifungal, and even antiviral. Most of us work hard to scrape it out of our hives. The research in the article linked below, indicates that we should probably be encouraging our bees to line the inside of our hives with propolis as they do in tree cavities where they nest. To facilitate this you can rough up the inside of your hive bodies with very coarse sandpaper encouraging the bees to cover them with propolis. This is not a silver bullet for our problems, but may be one more tool to improve the health of our bees. To read the full article,click here.

Special Event Announcement Dr. Larry Connor is coming to give a presentation Title: The Sustainable Backyard Apiary Attendance: There is no cost to attend this event and it is open to ALL beekeepers. Date: Tuesday, February 9th Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Location: Penn State Center Pittsburgh 1435 Bedford Ave, Suite A Pittsburgh PA 15219 The presentation will cover the objectives of setting up and maintaining an apiary for the long term, with particular emphasis on establishing and maintaining a good mite control program. With Varroa mites being the biggest threat to our bees this presentation should be of interest to both new and experienced beekeepers. Seating is limited to 60 people, so please register by clicking https://www.burghbees.org/?product=special-event-with-dr-connor Dr. Connor will have a selection of his books available for purchase the evening of the event. From the front door of the facility, take the elevator or stairs to level A and at the end of the mezzanine walkway you will enter through double doors into The Penn State Center Pittsburgh. There is a large free parking lot at this facility with plenty of parking right outside the front door. Dr. Connor's Bio: Lawrence Connor was born in Kalamazoo Michigan and earned his doctorate in honey-bee pollination of crops at Michigan State University. He has worked as Extension Bee Specialist at The Ohio State University, President of Genetic Systems, Inc. (which produced tens of thousands of instrumentally inseminated queens honey bees as well as the Starline and Midnite breeding stock), and now owns and operates Wicwas Press, specializing in publication of quality bee books. He relocated (from Connecticut) back to Michigan in April 2007 to continue growth of his publishing and writing activities. He has