2024 April 10 MEETING

DAY: Wednesday, April 10, 2024 (2nd Wednesday of every month)
TIME: 6:30 pm
TYPE: Zoom
LEARN -The Many Uses of the Snelgrove Board for Splitting Colonies and Raising Queen Cells without Losing Your Work Force (Kim Mehalick) AND hear about the 2023 Bee Impact Grant final report (Monica Schmitt)
SPEAKERS: Kim Mehalick; Monica Schmitt 

  

SCHEDULE

6:30.pm.ETVirtual Socializing on Zoom
7:00.pm ETAnnouncements and "What's up with the bees?" discussion
7:15.pm ET Monica Schmit 2023 Bee Impact Grant final report from Monica Schmitt of Mission Beelieve
7:30 pm ETKim Mehalick presentation on "Using the Snelgrove Board, Part 2: Another Look at
the Snelgrove Board"

Continuing our discussion of uses of the Snelgrove Board, which we began with Parks Talley in January, Kim Mehalick will talk about how she and husband Mike use the Snelgrove board in their apiary to (1) reduce swarming,(2) make new queens, (3) make splits, and (4) keep their honey crop. She will show how they use it to help weak nucs overwinter with a young queen, and share her schedule for successfully manipulating the equipment.

LEARN

  • Learn about the the many uses of the Snelgrove Board for splitting colonies and raising queen cells without losing your work force

LEARN

  • Hear the 2023 Bee Impact Grant final report

SPEAKER BIO

Kim Mehalick is an engineer by day and beekeeper by night and weekend. She is an Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) Master Beekeeper, past President of the Maryland State Beekeepers
Association (MSBA), and is active in the Bowie-Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association (mentoring program lead, manager of the teaching apiary), Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association (program lead) and DC Beekeepers Alliance (education committee). She is also a
member of Montgomery County Beekeepers Association and Carroll County Beekeepers Association and regularly teaches a variety of topics for beginning beekeeping courses.

Kim has worked to increase beekeeping education opportunities within Maryland, and developed the popular Nucs And Splits class. She was the driving force behind the Beekeeping Year 2 and Beyond ten-session class, which became a reality once Mike Mehalick and Allen
Storm joined the development/teaching team. The team won the MSBA George Imirie Award for Education excellence in Nov 2023

A lifetime member of EAS, Kim's favorite part of beekeeping, after mentoring new beekeepers, is making queens through a variety of backyard beekeeper methods. "Sharing the wonder of opening a hive, and discovering how the bees think is a wonderful thing to do."

Kim and Mike Mehalick keep about 100 hives on their property and various out yards as part of The Queen’s Honey apiary. They run primarily medium equipment and sell nucleus hives each Spring. Since 2013, they have also sold hive products from their company Clean Bee Soapworks including honey, bees, soap, lotions, bath bombs, and lip balms.



Monica Schmitt will report on how Mission Beelieve, with the amazing support of our members, through MCBA’s Bee Impact Grant, have built a Therapeutic Bee House! 

The Montgomery County Beekeepers Association announces

Mission Beelieve

is the 2023 recipient of MCBA's Bee Impact Grant (B.I.G.)

Mission Beelieve's amazing programs use honey bees to help active and veteran service members, and first responders overcome PTSD. We are particularly excited to help fund the construction and maintenance of a brand new THERAPEUTIC BEE HOUSE.