Hello all! I have some great news so let’s get caught up!

It’s time to start ordering your bees!

Ben Sneeden at Great Northern Honey Company in Whitefish has agreed to give a big discount to anyone part of our club purchasing bees from them this year. All you have to do is mention you are part of the Flathead Valley Beekeepers club and he’ll provide the following discounts:

Packages: $160 each
Nucs: $180 each
Single Colonies: $200 each but required to purchase in groups of 4 colonies in the order. Singles are a deep box, 8 frames of bees plus a 1 gallon feeder, on a four way pallet with a lid.
If you want to split this $400 cost with another club member that’s up to you to coordinate with another beekeeper you know but place the purchase under one name to honor his quantity requirement. If you can swing this cost (which till now would have been the same cost you would spend anywhere else on a 5 frame nuc) I highly suggest it as a bigger population of bees for foraging will be double as prepared for winter in a shorter time.

Great Northern Honey ads can be found on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or their website with contact info here.

February Meeting

First club meeting will commence on Tuesday, Feb 24th at 6:30 pm at the Flathead County Health Department, second floor. 1035 1st Ave W #5607, Kalispell, MT 59901 See you there!

This amazingly warm weather has your bees out and about and active. My best advice is:

1. Do NOT open the top unless you lift the entire hive and there is almost no weight to it. If there is truly no weight to it, quickly place a Crabby Patty on the top bars. Recipe is linked under Winter Feed Options heading.
2. If weight feels moderate, just provide protein by placing pollen substitute powder in a plate somewhere on the apiary property.
3. Make sure bees have access to water if normal water sources are all frozen
4. Do NOT remove insulation or wind breaks at this time. This is false spring. More winter will come!

There are only a few spots left in Angela’s Beginning Beekeeping non-credit course at the community college starting this Saturday. You can register online and see more details here:

https://campusce.fvcc.edu/fvcc/course/course.aspx?C=206&pc=6&mc=36&sc=0

Hello everyone! We have made it through the winter solstice and spring will be here before you know it! Almost every month I am contacted by schools, gardening clubs, non-profits, radio stations, newspapers and child care facilities asking for our help in educating about honey bees. I’m afraid I am struggling to keep up with all the requests. If you have any interest in teaching or talking about bees to children or the public please reach out to me and I will pass on contact information to you. Here is an example of our latest request:

Hello, I’m a family advocate at the Kalispell Head Start. I’m reaching out to see if someone from the organization would be interested in coming to our school next month during our gardening unit to talk about bees with the children. – Jackie Dunkl

You can send an email to webmaster@flatheadvalleybeekeepers.club to volunteer or reach out to me through Facebook.

Don’t forget it’s time to order your bees now! See you in February at our first meeting!

Our last meeting of the year will be moved from our normal Tuesday night to the last Sunday, the 26th at 6 pm in order to accommodate a very special guest speaker. Kelley Frederick of Mountain Forest Honey Farm in Alabama will be joining us to talk about beekeeping and honey judging. She is a Master Certified beekeeper and Master Honey Judge and I’m so excited to hear what she has to say about our honey and how to prepare it for judging! Please plan on bringing a sample of your honey for everyone to taste (I’ll provide taste sticks). This will be the last meeting of 2025! Angela will bring coffee and donuts 🙂
Time:
Sunday 26th at 6 pm
Location:
Flathead County Health Department (2nd floor)
1035 1st Ave W #5607, Kalispell, MT 59901

As mentioned before, September’s meeting will be visiting an apiary of our club members, the Kaufmanns. We will meet at their house at 12:30 pm on Saturday the 13th after lunch. Bring a dessert or snack to share with everyone!

Bring a veil or protective clothing as we will be doing an inspection for learning purposes.

We will also be talking about winterizing at this time.

There will be NO in person meeting the last Tuesday of the month because of this meeting.

Address: 7725 US Hwy 2 W, Kila
Special Notes: Almost to Marion. Driveway is a big turnout with an archway that says Seven Springs Ranch

We’ll meet at our usual time and place at the Flathead County Health Department for August on Tuesday night. September meeting will be dessert potluck at Ken Kaufmann’s apiary in Kila on September 13 or 14th depending on the best possible weather for a bee inspection. Address, final date and time for the apiary meeting will be sent out next week! This will count as our September meeting and we will be covering winterizing during this visit!

We will be meeting in the usual spot at the Flathead County Health Department at 6:30pm on Tuesday July 29th. See you then!

Because of the shortness of June, the last Tuesday of the month is actually next week, June 24th! We’ll meet at the Flathead County Health Department as usual at 6:30 pm. We are looking for volunteers who want to show off their Apiary in either July or August on a weekend. We’ll make it a potluck and check out your digs! Please contact Angela to offer 406-871-6551

Christine Lambert will be re-joining us at the April 29th to talk about design, installation, and cost-sharing help for Bear fencing for your bees. Tuesday the 29th at 6:30 pm at the Flathead County Health Department 2nd Floor.

We now have drivers for Arlee Apiaries, Bald Mountain Bees, and Outdoor Bee Company in Missoula. If you need to jump in on that bee carpool or if you did and have not received your driver’s contact info from me, please reach out to Angela at 406-871-6551. Please get cash to your driver before they pick up your bees in the next few weeks and if you get them cash electronically, please do not use a credit card for the form of payment. A credit card takes interest out of your payment to the driver. Please add some extra for gas and effort!

Western Bee had a delay in their bee order, and their packages will now be delivered on May 2nd. Rick Molenda reached out to each of you and left voicemails. Western Bee had a Kalispell driver already arranged, contact them for more information.

Please get your yellowjacket traps out right now to capture those queens and stop them from starting yellow-jacket colonies! Continue to feed your bees pollen patties until the dandelion bloom is in full swing (it’s sputtering right now!)

We need volunteers who have purchased bees from sources outside of Kalispell to volunteer to pick up everyone’s bees from that same supplier (for a fee of course!). We already have a volunteer for Arlee Apiaries. But if you are purchasing bees from outside source and hope to participate in a bee carpool, please reach out to Angela by email or phone (406.871.6551). Please note to her if you are willing to be the sole transport of the bees for gas money and she’ll make sure that’s communicated to everyone for that pick up location that has reached out. Your contact information will only be given to the few people needing to coordinate pickup with you.
Some possible outside suppliers we still need, let me know if I’ve missed some:
Outdoor Bee Company Missoula: May 2
Western Bee: April 19
Bald Mountain Apiaries: Mid-May
Arlee Apiaries: Beginning May (This has a volunteer. contact me for information)