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…

July 2026 MABA Meeting

12B Our speaker will be beekeeper Nathalie B of Bee Mindful Honey Farms (Driftwood, Texas). With close to 400 colonies and 15 years expertise in Beekeeping Education and Professional Beekeeping Services, Nathalie B. is an internationally recognized speaker and advocate for Treatment-Free, sustainable beekeeping. She is best known for promoting Horizontal Top-Bar Hives as a simple, affordable, accessible, and easy-to-manage option for backyard beekeepers. She optimized and redesigned existing plans to create a global standard for Top-Bar Hive designs, allowing cross-country interchangeability of hives and comb for suppliers and customers. She invented the Flex Hive, an internationally acclaimed Langstroth-to-Top-Bar adapter,…

NEW, New Meeting Location

We heard your concerns about the low lighting and questionable A/C. MABA's June meeting will be our first held at our NEW, 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 MABA signs. This newest meeting space is a former retail space (Unit P12B) located on the ground-floor level of the building three doors down from the Flower Child restaurant, and directly across the street from Shake Shack.

2026 MABA Hive Inspections

SIGN UP TODAY TO ATTEND AN UPCOMING INSPECTION! 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…

Join MABA’s Speakers Bureau

If you are a UGA Certified Beekeeper and enjoy public speaking about honey bees, consider joining MABA's Speakers Bureau. Each year, MABA receives dozens of requests for speaker-presenters to visit schools, garden clubs, festivals, etc. and present information about honey bees. For it bureau speakers, MABA can even provide a sample Powerpoint presentation if you need one, as well as a fun kit appropriate younger kids. Speaking engagements like these can earn you Public Service Credits towards Journeyman and Master certifications. Complete this form to sign up.

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…

Got a Honey Bee Swarm?

Carpenter Bees

July 2026 MABA Meeting

NEW, New Meeting Location

2026 MABA Hive Inspections

Join MABA’s Speakers Bureau

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

About MABA

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