Welcome to MSBA
MSBA is a non-profit membership organization of beekeepers in Maine, dedicated to education, using best practices and honey bee health. Affiliated with local chapters throughout the state, MSBA also works with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to promote the honey bee, products of the hive and initiatives to support beekeepers.ย
SWAN'S HONEY NUCS FOR SALE
We're
thrilled to announce that all 20 nucs generously donated by Swan's
Honey have been sold out! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who
purchased these nucs and contributed to supporting the Maine State
Beekeepers Association's educational outreach efforts.
Special thanks to Swan's Honey for their generous donation and ongoing commitment to the beekeeping community!
PLEASE GO TO BEE SCHOOL
BEFORE YOU GET BEES
Acquiring some basic but essential skills is critical to becoming a successful beekeeper. โBee Schoolโ will get you off to a great start.
In-person courses run for varying lengths from January through April, all over the state. There are also a number of online classes available in 2024.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ด๐บ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ.โ โ Andrew Cotรฉ
BEEKEEPER'S CALENDER
May
Much energy is spent on swarm prevention. Temperatures can still dip into the 30s at
night so beekeepers need to avoid breaking up the brood cluster and make sure that splits have enough bees to keep queen cells and brood warm. Most of your time will be spent managing for population buildup and swarm prevention. Reverse brood chambers if necessary and inspect the brood pattern. Check the queenโs performance and for symptoms of brood disease. Requeen any hives with failing or poor performing queens.