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…

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'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…

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…

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:…

  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…