York County Beekeepers Association

Fourteen members met virtually on Monday evening for an informal chat on spring beekeeping. Topics covered included the installation of nucs and packages, solid bottom boards versus screened bottom boards, spring feeding, and…as always…varroa mite management. We had a wide range of levels of experience, with some members who have had bees for over 20 years, others with several years of beekeeping under their belt, and a few who are getting their first bees in the next week. Many thanks to

Twenty-eight members met in person at the Little Theatre in Springvale for a spring workshop. Following a brief business meeting, we had an update on the club’s apiary project and an overview of this year’s upcoming events for both YCBA and the Maine State Beekeepers Association. Our workshop consisted of a very informative talk on the importance of trapping yellow jacket queens NOW (before they start reproducing)  and two hive autopsies. Many thanks to the members who volunteered during the meeting,

Have you heard the exciting news? The York County Beekeepers Association is building out a teaching apiary in South Berwick! A South Berwick CSA’s apiary has fallen into disrepair after several years without any beekeeping management.  They asked if the YCBA would be interested in taking over the care of the bees, which they enjoy for pollination of their crops.   An agreement was reached and signed with the farm, and the opportunity is allowing the YCBA to expand their apiary

Seventeen members met via Zoom on February 12th for the first meeting of the new year. Paul Borowski of Nubick Ranch gave us an hour-long talk on his method of overwintering single deeps, and how he brings them into the spring season. Mr. Borowski is a commercial beekeeper, and this method allows him to monitor his hives quickly and efficiently. He graciously offered to show members around his farm-but call first! Following the presentation, we had a brief business meeting

A handful of beekeepers “met” on Zoom and had a social hour comparing notes, discussing their bees’ feeding habits this winter, and -as always- talking about varroa treatments and timetables. The take-aways: Some hives are voraciously consuming their candyboards while other bees are content to hang out lower in the hive April 28th is the target date for seeing the first dandelions Hive loss is a risk right through April and even into May Varroa treatment is a constant.

Sometimes you just want to talk about bees. Maybe you want to ask questions, compare notes, or just have a lively discussion about what’s going on in your hive. Email just doesn’t cut it – you want that dynamic give-and-take of conversation. Here’s your invitation to join other beekeepers in pop-up Zoom talks. Here are the details: there are no regularly scheduled dates, no pressure, no pre-determined topics. Just a bunch of beekeepers being social. An invitation will arrive in

Beth and Neil Goodwin hosted an Open Hive on 9/8/23 with about 14 members joining for bee talk and an oxalic acid demonstration. The hot and humid weather was not ideal for an OA treatment, but the bees behaved very well until the end. Only four or five of us got stung. Here is a video from that day showing the equipment needed and the steps involved. Enjoy!

Lynne Lincourt, Lynne Gobeil, and Joe Barberi fielded lots of questions and provided great information on bees and beekeeping.  Over in the Agricultural Building, many honeys and products of the hive were submitted for judging. Look at all those ribbons!  

YCBA’s Lynne Gobeil won a prestigious first place prize at the Eastern Apicultural Society Conference in the area of Honey Cookery for her Salted Vanilla Caramels

The York County Beekeepers Association held an open hive on August 19th on a beautiful and sunny day in Kennebunkport.  Jen Lund, our state apiarist, led the open hive with 20 YCBA members in attendance. We were also fortunate to have the MSBA beekeeper of the year and Maine Bee company owner Jason Peters travel down with Jen to participate in the open hive. Jen inspected two full size colonies and one nucleus colony with a focus on the current