Got a Honey Bee Swarm?

Got a honey bee swarm at your location? MABA's beekeeper volunteers can give unwanted honey bee swarms a proper home. Call MABA Swarm Commander Dave Marshall at 812-369-0401 A.S.A.P before the swarm flies off to its new home. Before you call, please have the following information: How long has the swarm been at this location? What is the exact address of the property where the swarm is located? How high off the ground is the swarm? Is the swarm in a structure or on a tree, bush, fence etc.? What size is it? Softball? Cantaloupe? Football? Basketball? Is there a phone number where…

macayran @ Pixabay, carpenter bee on pink flower

Carpenter Bees

Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association is a club for honey bee keepers. There’s really no such thing as “keeping” or “moving” carpenter bees, but here is some basic information if you’re concerned about carpenter bees in your home. Freshly stained/painted wood doesn’t attract carpenter bees. There’s a brief page on them in this booklet published by the USDA that refers to this: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5306468.pdf —scroll down to page 10 People report diminished carpenter bee activity on freshly sealed or painted wood. A great natural solution is to nail up (in an unobtrusive place) a 2 x 4 section of untreated lumber- it can…

New Meeting Location

MABA's April meeting will be our first held at our new Westside Provisions District meeting space (1170 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30318; corner of Howell Mill Road and 14th Street). Park in the WSPD parking deck (validated parking), and follow the signs. The new meeting space is a former restaurant space (Unit P10A) located on the ground-floor level of the building immediately next door to the Flower Child restaurant, and directly across the street from Shake Shack.

April 13 Meeting – Jennifer McLaurin

MABA has an amazing line-up of guest speakers planned for 2026. Mark your calendars and join us! On Monday, April 13, MABA will welcome Jennifer McLaurin, who will speak on environmental sustainability, land management, native plants, and beekeeping. Jennifer has a background in green space planning, as well as in implementing environmental and public outreach programs, environmental management, sustainability initiatives, and park management. This experience has equipped her with a broad knowledge base and a diverse skill set. A nature enthusiast, Jennifer lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia, with her two children. Our April meeting will be our first held at our…

2026 Swarm Call List

Want to be a volunteer swarm catcher in 2026? Register for MABA’s Swarm Call List. Each spring, MABA members who which to volunteer to chase/catch swarms can request to be added to the club’s swarm call list. You will indicate how high you are willing to climb to retrieve a swarm and where you live. The swarm list manager will make the call based on queue order, location, and preferences. Swarm calls come in at all hours. If you are on the swarm list, you may be called at any time. Being on the swarm list does not guarantee that…

2026 Meeting Speakers

MABA has an amazing line-up of guest speakers planned for 2026. Mark your calendars and join us!Our meetings are held at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in 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.NOTE: February's meeting will be held in the church's first floor Heritage Hall.Meetings begin with a mentoring session at 6:30 p.m., followed by a featured speaker at 7 p.m. Topics range from the latest findings in honey bee research to hive management, honey, beeswax, and other hive…

Build Your Own Horizontal Top-Bar Hive

Master Craftsman Beekeeper Nathalie B from Bee Mindful Bee School and Farm (Driftwood, TX) will be in Atlanta all day on Monday, July 13th to help YOU build your very own Horizontal Top Bar Hive. The cost is $210.00 per unassembled hive. This event will take place beginning at 8:00am and will conclude after everything is complete. She will then be our guest speaker at the monthly MABA meeting later that evening, beginning at 6:30 pm. We're sending this notice out now to allow plenty of time for those who wish to participate to request off from work that day…

February 2026 MABA Meeting: Kamon Reynolds

On Monday, February 9, MABA will welcome Kamon Reynolds as our featured speaker. Kamon is the co-founder of the North American Honey Bee Expo (NAHBE), one of the largest honey bee expositions in the world. He started keeping bees as a teenager, and to this day, his favorite work is maintaining healthy hives and talking shop with fellow beekeepers. He and his wife of 14 years, Laurel Reynolds, co-run the Expo and all their beekeeping operations, specializing in quality bee genetics, pure Tennessee honey, and honey bee education. Together, they have filmed hundreds of educational videos to help new and…

MABA 2026 Intro to Beekeeping One-Day Short Course

Start your beekeeping adventure the right way. Led by MABA's panel of experts, this one-day intro to beekeeping course teaches the fundamentals using lectures and hands-on demonstrations. We'll cover everything it takes to get started in Spring -- from equipment selection and acquiring bees, to bee biology, inspections, pest control, harvesting honey, planting for polliinators, and more. Anyone interested in learning about honey bees is welcome to attend, even if a hive of your own is not in your immediate future. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER WhereThe Kendeda Building Georgia Institute of Technology 422 Ferst Dr NW Atlanta, GA 30318 When Saturday,…

MABA Bee Neighbor Program

MABA maintains a BEE Neighbor list to help connect MABA beekeepers within their local neighborhoods. This can help you to find a nearby person who can answer your questions or assist you with bee issues. We’re also imagining new ways that the BEE Neighbor list might be used. For example, people might like to arrange carpools to go to MABA meetings/events. Neighborhoods might want to organize social events to get to know each other better. And, of course, it will continue to be a place where you can find BEE help from someone who lives nearby. If you are interested…

MABA 2025 Beekeeper of the Year

MABA's 2025 Beekeeper of the Year: Micah Coletti This year, MABA received many wonderful nominations for Beekeeper of the Year. The voting by the club’s executive officers was very close, but one beekeeper rose to the top. Please join me in celebrating Micah Coletti, MABA’s 2025 MABA Beekeeper of the Year honoree. Here is a bit about Micah from his nomination: Micah has contributed a great deal to MABA since becoming a director and continues to take on new responsibilities. I appreciate the work he has done running the Junior Beekeepers program. He was able to acquire new bee suits…

Got a Honey Bee Swarm?

Carpenter Bees

New Meeting Location

April 13 Meeting – Jennifer McLaurin

2026 Swarm Call List

2026 Meeting Speakers

Build Your Own Horizontal Top-Bar Hive

February 2026 MABA Meeting: Kamon Reynolds

MABA 2026 Intro to Beekeeping One-Day Short Course

MABA Bee Neighbor Program

MABA 2025 Beekeeper of the Year

About MABA

MABA Calendar