Ann Arbor Backyard Beekeepers (A2B2)
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BEEKEEPERS' BLOG

Club Events and Info for Bee-Friendly People

January's Monthly Meeting: The Joy of Mite Management

12/16/2022

 
Date:  Tue, Nov 8, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom
Wintering - What Do Bees Need?
Gary S. Reuter will be discussing what bees need to successfully get through winter. Including biologic links to the needs and management practices to help the bees.
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Speaker: Gary S. Reuter, Bee Lab Coordinator, University of Minnesota, Department of Entomology, Apiculture Lab.  Gary Reuter retired from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab in 2021 after almost 30 years and is now back part time as Bee Lab Coordinator. Gary is a long-time hobby beekeeper and trained in technology education.  He began working with Marla when she moved to Minnesota in 1993. Without his hard work, the program would not be what it is today. He maintained the research colonies, helped train and work with students in the field, designed and built specialty equipment, and speaks to beekeeping, student and civic groups. He planned the Extension short courses and together with Marla taught beginning as well as experienced beekeepers. His humorous style of teaching helps the classes stay interested and enthusiastic about a sometimes challenging subject. He is a past president of both Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association and Wisconsin Honey Producers Association and director of the American Beekeeping Federation.

​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!

December's Monthly Meeting: In-House Q&A

11/9/2022

 
Date:  Tue, Dec 13, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom

Topic: In-House Q&A

We'll answer participant questions on all things beekeeping.
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See our Facebook page or join via the Zoom link above if participating remotely.

​NOTE: Please post questions/comments in the Zoom chat. Facebook is not monitored during our educational meetings.

Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!​

November's Monthly Meeting: The Joy of Mite Management

10/21/2022

 
Date:  Tue, Nov 8, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom

The Joy of Mite Management

What varroa mites are, how they got here, and why they are a problem.

Dr. Mendel will teach us about their lifecycle, their mechanisms for spreading amongst bee colonies, and techniques for managing them at different times of the seasons. We will also get an update about the University of Minnesota Bee Lab and its breeding program, as it relates to mites.
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Speaker: Bridget Mendel is the University of Minnesota Bee Squad's Program Director. She manages the incredible Bee Squad team, oversees program development, and works on Bee Lab outreach and communications. Bridget holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota.  She loves working with bees,  beekeepers, and the public to make the world a more habitable place for all people and all pollinators. 

​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!

October's Monthly Meeting: Apiary Biosecurity Limits Diseases

9/20/2022

 
Date:  Tue, Oct 11, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom

Apiary Biosecurity Limits Diseases

How management practices for biosecurity measures can support and enhance colony health and survival.

We will discuss general biosecurity strategies in the following areas:
1. Best Management Practices (BMPs) by the beekeeper 
2. Biosecurity related to climate, the macro- and micro-environment
3. Pests and Pathogens
4. Agrochemicals/the impact of toxins
5. Hygienic bees
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Speaker:  Terry Ryan Kane, DVM.  Dr. Terry Ryan Kane earned a Master of Science degree in Ecology from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and took beekeeping while attending veterinary school at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. After decades of clinical practice, she pivoted to policy as an AAAS science advisor in the U.S. Senate working on the Farm Bill, emerging diseases, and antibiotic resistance. Following the FDA ruling on antibiotic stewardship in livestock animals, she has devoted her time to teaching veterinarians/students about honey bees and pollinator ecology. 

Dr. Kane is currently serving on the Executive Board of The Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium, an organization of honey bee veterinarians and students. She is co-editor of a textbook, Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner (Wiley Press, 2021).

​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!​

September's Monthly Meeting: Go with the Flow

8/18/2022

 
Date:  Tue, Sep 13, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom

​Go with the Flow: My Experiences with the Flow Hive

Who came up with the Flow Hive? What is a Flow Hive? Where are Flow Hives most effective? When were they invented? How does it work? Why should you get one? Or why shouldn't you?
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​Speaker: Jen Haeger.  Jen is a beekeeping nerd with a master beekeeper certificate from Cornell University and a degree in veterinary medicine. She's one of our A2B2 board members, and she currently runs the A2B2 mentorship program as well as the club's Flow Hive Team. She also authors our A, Bee, C's blog.

​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!​

August's Monthly Meeting: What to Do About Angry Bees

7/17/2022

 
Date:  Tue, Aug 9, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom

Topic: What to Do About Angry Bees

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Once you have kept bees long enough, you will soon discover that your bees can become irritable with you, angry and downright aggressive at times. This presentation attempts to unravel and discover reasons why bees behave this way including breed characteristics, hive environment, beekeeper errors and more. This presentation aims to have you develop a deeper understanding of honeybee behavior and how to troubleshoot issues occurring in your own backyard hives.
The main presentation starts at 7 pm, but feel free to arrive in the auditorium or sign in online starting at 6:30 pm for a beginners Q&A session. See our Facebook page or join via the Zoom link above.
Speaker: Melissa Caughey. Melissa is a backyard chicken keeper, seasoned beekeeper, Master Gardener, crafting maven, culinarian and nurse practitioner. She contributes to HGTV, DIY Network, Angi, Grit Magazine, Community Chickens and Keeping Backyard Bees. She can be found traveling the country presenting on chicken keeping, beekeeping, gardening and crafting at both private and public events including Country Living Magazine Fairs and the Mother Earth News Fairs. Melissa has been featured on NPR and in People Magazine, Reader's Digest, Forbe's Magazine and Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. She also serves as an advisor to A-list celebrities keeping chickens.

Melissa's website has won multiple awards including The Blue Ribbon Blogger Award from Country Living Magazine and Top 10 Gardening Blogs by Better Homes and Gardens Magazine in 2014 and 2016. Her first best-selling book, A Kid's Guide to Keeping Chickens, has won the 2016 Learning Magazine Teacher's Choice Award and the 2016 American Academy for the Advancement of Science's Prize for Excellence in Science Books. Her second book, How to Speak Chicken, has been named as one of 2017's Best Bird and Birding Books by Forbes Magazine and has won Silver in the Foreward INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Pets and Animals Category. Her follow-up book, Chicken Wisdom, features Melissa's original quotes and favorite thoughts bringing inspirational and encouraging messages filled with kindness to the reader released during the start of the pandemic. A 2023 How to Speak Chicken wall calendar releases in July 2022 and look for her new book, My Chicken Family, in early 2023. 

​Melissa calls Cape Cod home, where she lives with her husband, two children and a menagerie of animals. For more, please visit: www.tillysnest.com

​​​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!​

July's Monthly Meeting: Preparing to Overwinter Your Hives in Michigan

6/19/2022

 
Date:  Tue, July 12, 2022  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Auditorium at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Online on Zoom

Topic: Preparing to Overwinter Your Hives in Michigan

The main presentation starts at 7 pm, but feel free to arrive in the auditorium or sign in online starting at 6:30 pm for a beginners Q&A session. See our Facebook page or join via the Zoom link above.

​NOTE: Please post questions/comments in the Zoom chat. Facebook is not monitored during our educational meetings.
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Speaker: Clay Ottoni. 

From Mr. Ottoni: By profession, I have been an attorney since 1984.

I have been farming for over five (5) decades growing cover crops, row crops, vegetables as well as fruits including fruit trees including apples, cherries, grapefruits, lemons, limes, mulberries, nectarines, oranges, paw paws, peaches, pears, persimmons and plums; small fruits including blackberries, blueberries, currents, elderberries, figs, gooseberries, grapes, haskap berries, jostaberries, juneberries, kiwi, raspberries, and strawberries; nut trees including acorns, allegheny chinkapin, beechnuts, hazelnuts (filberts), hickories, pecans, and walnuts (black and carpathian) and sustainably maintaining honey bee hives for pollination as well as for production of bees, honey, wax, etc. without having to buy any new bees or queens for decades.
I became a Master Gardener (and later as an Advanced Master Gardener and Master Gardener of the Year), by volunteering at Michigan State University Tollgate Education Center  (where I was the recipient of the Golden Shovel Award and, later, the Ginger Meyer Award) helping, for over 20 years, with, among other things, the High Density Orchard (being the Area Leader for over 20 years), Maple Syrup and Beekeeping Programs and the 4H club.

I have also been volunteering for several years with:
  • Beekeeping Clubs including the Michigan Beekeeping Association (for whom I was a board member), the Southeastern Michigan Beekeeping Association (for whom I was a board member and then President and instructor for several years), Ann Arbor Backyard Beekeeping Club (for whom I am privileged to assist Jen Haeger with the field work of the Flow Hive Team and the Team Sunflower) and the Oakland Beekeeping Club (for whom I am the Vice President and instructor), all for whom I made presentations to youth and adults;
  • Michigan Nut and Fruit Growers Association (becoming a Board member and their First Vice President during which I have made educational talks to youth and adults at the State Fair and other gatherings);
  • National Wild Turkey Federation (becoming a member of the Oakland-Macomb County Chapter board volunteering with youth shots and hunts as well as habitat/pollination projects with elementary school classes including presentations to them);
  • Pheasants Forever [becoming a Board member of the Oakland County Chapter, the Jackson County Chapter, Wayne County Chapter and the Thumb Chapter (volunteering with, among other things, youth shots and hunts as well as habitat/pollination projects with elementary school classes including presentations to them) as well as being a State Council member and receiving the Volunteer of the Year Award for both 2012 and 2018];
  • Thumb Branch of NDA f/k/a QDMA (becoming a member of the board and in charge of the habitat restoration program including presentations to youth groups); and
  • Tuscola’s Technical Advisory Committee.

​I am also a member of several other organizations including, but not limited to:
American Soybean Association, Arbor Day Foundation, Michigan Bar Association, Michigan Soybean Association, and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

​​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!​

June's Monthly Meeting: The Game of Drones

5/13/2022

 
Date: Tuesday, June 14  |  Time: 7 pm  |  Location: Online on Zoom

Topic: The Game of Drones

Honey bee drones are the Rodney Dangerfields of the bee world: they (often) get no respect! Learn all about the amazing drones and their mysterious drone congregation areas (and how to find them using the other kind of drone) at this informative talk.
The main presentation starts at 7 pm, but feel free to sign in starting at 6:30 pm for a beginners Q&A session. See our Facebook page or join via the Zoom link above.

​NOTE: Please post questions/comments in the Zoom chat. Facebook is not monitored during our educational meetings.
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Speaker: ​Julia Mahood is a Georgia Master Beekeeper who has been keeping bees since 2004. She created the citizen science website MapMyDca.com to gather data on drone congregation areas. Julia was awarded the Georgia Beekeeper of the year in 2018.

​A graphic artist, she designed the Georgia “Save the Honey Bee” license plate. She is passionate about education and teaches beekeeping in Georgia prisons and is active in her local and state bee organizations.

​Please join us - our monthly meetings are always free and open to the public!​

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Ann Arbor Backyard Beekeepers Club (A2B2) is dedicated to beekeeping education, mentoring, networking, and advocacy within the Ann Arbor area. We provide an informational and social venue for beekeepers of all levels to cooperate and share experiences. We are a non-profit organization that is open to all individuals interested in honeybees and beekeeping.  Donations qualify for federal tax deductions.
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  • Club
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    • Flow Hive Team
    • A, Bee, C's
  • Class Registration
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    • About Bee School
      • Beginner Schedule
      • Intermediate Schedule
    • Mel Disselkoen's Queen Rearing Workshop
    • Educational Outreach
    • Resources and Info Links
  • Vendors
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