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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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October 2025 MABA Meeting

At our October meeting, MABA will welcome Justin Schoendorf, owner and mead maker at Monks Meadery (579 N Highland Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307). Founded in 2011, Monks specializes in fun, modern dry-style carbonated meads. As the official mead of the Georgia Renaissance Festival and Dragon Con, Monks brews whimsical flavors like “Dragons Nectar” — a delightful fusion of dragon fruit, passion fruit and hibiscus — and “Faerie Dew” —  an enchanting lavender honey blend. Our October meeting will begin at 6:30 pm with a mentoring session led by MABA member Bryan Luffman, who will discuss his recent unfortunate experiences…

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2025 MABA Honey Show Winners

2025 MABA Show Results Senior Honey Judge Brutz English announced MABA's annual honey show winners on September 28 at the Galloway School. We had an amazing show this year consisting of 70 entries from some 21 participants. The winners of this year’s honey show are: Black Jar - Best Tasting Honey: Cathy Shanks Best in Show: Deb DeWitt (shown at right, for her entry in Notions, Potions and Lotions) Light Extracted Honey 1st: Brian Harris 2nd: Holly Snow 3rd: Jeremiah Young Highly Commendable: Ori Kistenberg Amber Extracted Honey 1st:  Deb Dewitt 2nd: Brian Harris 3rd: Trent Mosely Very Highly Commendable:…

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How to Report Bee Kills

  If you find a large pile of dead or twitching and shaking bees in front of your hive, they likely have encountered pesticides. It may or may not kill the entire colony, but it’s important to report it and request an investigation. The Georgia Department of Agriculture has procedures in place to process your report and send an inspector to your apiary to investigate. Fill out this online form https://gdaforms.wufoo.com/forms/pesticide-incident-form/ Within one business day you will be contacted by the Pesticide Complaint Coordinator who will schedule an inspector to come to your apiary. The inspectors understand that it’s important to…

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2025 MABA Hive Inspections

MABA’s Hive Inspection program is a great way to learn tips and tricks from some of our most experienced members, and gain confidence in your beekeeping skills. Also the hands-on component  of our Introduction to Beekeeping short course, MABA hive inspections are held March through October at multiple mentoring apiaries located throughout the greater Atlanta area. We encourage you to register by visiting: metroatlantabeekeepers.org/hive-inspections   How to sign up for a hive inspection:   1 Look at the list of available dates in the chart below and pick a date when you would like to join an inspection.   2.…

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March 2025 Meeting

At our March 10 meeting, MABA will welcome back Dr. Isaac Weinberg, who will be speaking on "Comb-Reorganization In Response To Temperature Stress In Honey Bee Colonies" This talk will present findings from three field experiments which provide evidence that when exposed to long-term temperature stress, honey bees rearrange where they store brood, honey, nectar, and pollen within their hives. In addition, he will speculate on mechanisms that may be driving the reorganization of comb stores. Dr. Weinberg received his PhD in Biology in May of 2023 at Tufts University, where he studied how honey bees respond to chronic temperature…

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