We have added a new source for bee package purchasing from local company Great Northern Honey Co! While the bees do not overwinter in Montana, the company is locally based and makes honey from foraging here in Flathead County each year. Nucleus hives are more desirable for brand new beekeepers just starting out to get a jump on our season. However, if you have previous dead out hives full of comb and even some old honey to give them, packages can be a cheaper route. You can find their contact info along with other sources for bee purchasing under our Resources > Bee Purchasing Link.

For help installing Bee Packages, see his video from Bee Built.

Members, I apologize for the late notice but I have to cancel the February meeting tonight due to injuring myself this morning on the ice. I’m unable to walk and in a lot of pain. We will be having a special guest speaker for our March meeting, Amy Grisak. Please check out our website, flatheadvalleybeekeepers.club for links to purchase bees or Getting Started with beekeeping.

Don’t forget we have an in person meeting early because of the short month. Tuesday night the 22nd at the Flathead County Health Department. Angela will be repeating her ”How To Build and set Honey Bee Traps” presentation from last year and we will have a general Q&A. It will be streamed on Facebook. See you there!

We have had a local club member, Rachel Webster, offer to pick up any bee packages from Polson ordered from Western Bee by our Kalispell area members. If you are ordering packages from Western Bee please contact me by email or using the form below and I will get you Rachel’s contact number to coordinate this spring to pick up from her. Thank you so much to Rachel for offering to do this for our club members to save on gas. For those of you taking advantage of her offer, a thank you of contribution to her gas cost or a coffee card would probably be appropriate for her!

Due to the high peak of Covid cases this week in the Flathead, we will not be meeting in person at the health department for January. Angela will be streaming the January To Do’s from the club’s Facebook page page located here. I apologize for having to use Facebook but there is no budget for owning video meeting software like Zoom.

Agenda will be:

1. February To Dos for wintering bees
2. Reminder to order bees and resources for those
3. Reminder of resources page for equipment and books purchasing
4. Announcement of FVCC Beekeeping 101 Class
5. Q&A period watching comments on Facebook feed

Please remember as announced at our last meeting that we are on a break from beekeeping meetings until the last Tuesday in January. Happy Holidays!

The 26th Tuesday night meeting will be a harvest potluck and sharing honey from our apiaries. It has been moved back to 6pm instead of 6:30 for a better dinner time. Hand sanitizer will be provided at the beginning and end of the food line for safety. It will still be at the Flathead County Health Department. See you next week!

Kyle Johnson has invited us to visit his apiary October 9th at 1pm in Columbia Falls. There we will do quick inspections to see the strength of the bees, what resources they might need, and demonstrate how to winterize them. See the following for instructions on how to get to the apiary. See you at 1pm on the 9th!

From the Super One in Columbia Falls:
1. Turn North on Meadow Lake Blvd till you hit a stop sign T intersection with Tamarack Lane
2. Turn Left on Tamarack Lane and drive for 1/4 mile.
3. Turn Right onto Meadow Lake Drive
4. At the Roundabout, turn onto Gleneagles Trail
5. Make a slight right onto Oakmont Lane
6. In 300 yards look for a green gate on your left for the right of way corridor
7. Coordinates are 48 24.0006
-114 12.5721

Phone number for Angela should you get lost: 871-6551

Don’t forget about our monthly meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 pm at the Flathead County Health Department. I’ll be doing my winterizing demonstration and we will finalize plans for visiting a few club members’ apiaries to check for winter strength. See you there!