3180 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta
Georgia 30305
At MABA’s May meeting, we will welcome commercial beekeeper Mike Gardner. Mike’s love of beekeeping began in 1968 when the school bus had a swarm land on it at a bus stop. In his earlier days, he raised between 40 and 50 hives for honey. He eventually decided that he wanted to do more so in 1988, with approximately 4,000 colonies, he began pollinating. Shortly after he started he lost all but one hive to tracheal mites. He then started buying package bees from Spell Bee Company. When the company came up for sale, Mike saw it as an excellent chance to expand even more into the business that he loves. He has since bought six more smaller companies and a company that originally produced 2,000-3,000 packages per year has grown into a company that now produces over 50,000 packages and 150,000 queens per year. Based in Bailey, GA, Gardner’s Apiaries supplies beekeepers of all sizes and experience with high-quality, genetically diversified bees, and queens, including Italian Hybrids, Italian-based crossed with Carniolan and Buckfast.
The May meeting will begin at 6:30 pm with a mentoring session led Master Beekeeper Linda Tillman. Her topic will be “Cleaning Equipment, Hive Tools, Gloves and Frames.”
MABA’s monthly meetings are held at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church (3180 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30305) inside third-floor classroom C302 on the 2nd Monday of each month, except September and December when we hold our annual fall honey show/pot luck and holiday party respectively. On arrival, check-in at the welcome table to be entered into our monthly door prize drawing. Enjoy snacks and fellowship in the back of the room. Membership is not required. Everyone interested in honey bees is welcome!