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)

Great news! I saw my first bees with bright yellow pollen entering the front of the hive today, Friday A[ril 4th. That means as long as you keep your bees warm through these spring storms, the bees have an excellent chance to make it if they can forage for their own protein. Congrats to those of you that got your bees through our winter. Don’t forget to think about reducing down your hive space temporarily on our next 55 degree day. And keep feeding them spring patties till our Dandelion flow hits.

This month we have a special treat! Calvin and Hillary Sphuler will be hosting the March meeting Tuesday, the 25th at 6:30 pm at the Flathead County Health Department 1035 1st Ave W in Kalispell (second floor). Calvin and Hillary are experienced sideliner and queen rearers with over 75% winter success rates most years with their 20+ hives. They will be there to answer questions and pass on his tips and tricks! Please joins us Tuesday! Our April meeting will feature Christine Lambert from USDA Wildlife Services to talk to us about bear fencing.

Happy First False Spring Everyone! Some important annoucements if you missed our monthly meeting:

1. Buy your bees NOW if you haven’t. There has been a country-wide decimation of bees with commerical companies and stock may run out very fast this year.
2. Volunteer’s Needed for our club’s vendor table at Free The Seeds this Saturday, March 1st, from 9-am – 2:30 pm at FVCC Arts & Technology building. Angela needs help greeting the general public who stop by the table to ask questions about beekeeping. Please stop by at any point and offer to help stand there and answer questions and talk about bees! She’s doing a talk about beekeeping at the event from 1:30 – 2:30 pm.
3. It’s a good time to QUICKLY open up your hives and give the bees protein/sugar patties. Without substitue protein your bees from last year will not be able to feed their replacement brood while Montana has no pollen. Please see the March Feeding Recipe for Crabby Patties on this page . Do not do inspections yet unless the temperature is 55 degrees.
4. The only 2 local (Kalispell) bee drop offs are from Great Northern Honey and Rod Smith. If you are purchasing bees within the state that require a longer drive, PLEASE text Angela at 406-871-6551 to volunteer or ask about bee car-pooling for a specific seller. We are gathering a list of drivers willing to pick up everyone’s bees at a given location for gas money to distribute back here in Kalispell. It requires some coordination and sometimes money exchange so please inquire early.

Welcome back everyone! Our first in person meeting of the year will be Tuesday, Feb 25th at 6:30 pm at the Flathead County Health Department (second floor). We’ll be discussing ordering bees, March feeding, and hive autopsies. See you then!

The Beginning beekeeping class taught by Angela Tollerson can now be registered for at FVCC continuing education website.

February: Beginning Beekeeping

May: Advanced Beekeeping

We will not be meeting at the Health Department August 27th nor September 24th. Instead, we will go visit the Slovinian Apiary created by our member, Lowell, in Polson, Montana on Sunday, Sept. 8th. We will also be covering basic winterizing tips and it will be a Potluck Lunch. Here are the details:

Location: Lowell’s Apiary
39085 Cimarron Lane, Polson
Date: Sunday, September 8th
Time: 11:30am (Potluck first, then tour and bee winterizing meeting)
Required: Bee Veil at least
Potluck: Bring what you want; but if you want to make sure we have all dishes covered, follow the general
rule of Last name starts with A-M: Sides or Deserts. Last Name starts with N-Z: Main Dishes

Don’t forget about our meeting Tuesday night at the Flathead County Health Department, Second floor at 6:30 pm! See you then!