Announcements

September 2023 Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Big Sky Beekeepers will take place Thursday September 14th at 6:00 pm at the club apiary at Ten Spoon Winery - we'll be at the first turnoff, near the bee hives! For directions click HERE.

Bring your bee suit and any burning questions you may have. We'll gather to check in on the hives and manage the apiary. We'll talk about honey extraction and how to care for your hives as fall sets in. 

Mark Your Calendar- Upcoming Meetings in 2023:

Honey Extraction Weekend

September 22-24* | Home Resource Community Room

Woohoo! It’s time to harvest that floral liquid gold that you’ve been waiting for all year!  You can volunteer to help harvest club honey on Friday or sign up to harvest your own honey on Saturday or Sunday.

*Members who wish to check out the club extractor must come to learn about the extractor on one of these dates.

Friday September 22nd @ 4pm -??

Club Apiary Honey Extraction

All hands on deck~ All club members are welcomed and encouraged to join in the

sticky fun! Help us extract honey from our hives at Ten Spoon.

Saturday Sept. 23 and Sunday Sept. 24

Individual Club Member Extractor Sign- Up

Club members are welcomed to sign up for a 2 hr time slot from 8am-4pm. Club members will be limited to processing 2 honey supers during this time slot. A knowledgeable bee club member will be there to help with any equipment questions.

SIGN UP HERE

Farmer's Market 

September 30th at Missoula Farmer’s Market (X’s Market)


Come visit us or volunteer to sell honey or teach the community about bees at our booth. 


Get in touch if you’d like to get more involved.


Looking for Bees?

Bob Minnick has a couple of colonies for sale~

$100 for the bees

$130 for bees in a deep box

Contact Bob at (406) 239-2490

(posted 7/27)

Western Apicultural Conference

September 29-October 1 in Calgary, Canada

From WAS and CDBA: Everyone likes a good conference. Western Apicultural Society (WAS) is coming to Canada for the first time in a couple of decades. We have partnered with the Calgary District Beekeepers Association (CDBA). Please join us in Calgary this fall (September 29 – October 1) for a yahoo-ing good international conference! Save the Date!

Over its 45-year history, WAS has built a large community of beekeepers from 14 western states, 3 provinces, and the great Yukon Territory. WAS members meet to educate and encourage beekeepers who often endure similar western challenges – mountains, frequently sparse rainfall, irregular Pacific currents, distant marketing, and scattered customers. This year, the annual WAS Conference is taking the uniqueness of geography a step further with a focus on The North. The theme, Northern Lights Beekeeping, will focus on beekeeping in the land of long summer days and cold winter nights. 

For learn more about the conference click HERE

MT State Beekeepers Association 

Annual Meeting

October 19-20th -- Bozeman, MT 

Looking to continue your bee education with other like-minded beeks? Consider going to the MT State Beekeepers Association Annual Meeting!

There will be excellent speakers such as Randy Oliver of scientificbeekeeping.com who will be speaking about his many years of research regarding varroa and treatments. Keith Delaplane from the University of Georgia will discuss foul brood vaccine research and queen mating/quality.

To learn more or to find out more about registration, contact Ben Larson at (406) 698-7783.

Stay tuned for more information by joining the Montana State Beekeepers Association Facebook Page.

Got Bees in a Wildlife Prone Area?

You probably do! Get an Electric Fence with the help of the Defenders of Wildlife Electric Fence incentive program.

2023 Electric Fencing for Beekeepers Presentation.pdf

DOW Electric Fence Incentive Program Presentation for BSB on March 9, 2023.

got-bears-mt-brochure-2022-fin-pr.pdf

Electric Fence Incentive Program brochure and application.

Got "Bear Safe" Honey? 

Pink Bench Distilling is a small start-up distillery located in Troy, focused on using an excess of backyard fruit to make brandy and reduce human-bear conflict.  They're looking to source local honey from producers who have done well at minimizing bear conflict with their hives. 

If this sounds like you, get in touch with Kris Boyd: (406) 890-4353 or kris@pinkbenchdistilling.com.