Category Archives: BCBA

Honey bee on pink flower

Looking for an alternative to Roundup to kill weeds?

As beekeepers we don’t ever want to do anything to harm our bees. Using the weed killer Roundup has been reported to be harmful to bees. There is an article discussing this topic at consumernotice.org which is very balanced and fair. Here is some more info about Roundup from Drugwatch.com

The recipe for homemade week killer is simple to make with everyday ingredients.

Homemade Week Killer

1/2 gallon of vinegar
1/2 cup of salt
2 tablespoon of dish soap

If you would like to know more, read the full article.

Here’s another article with alternatives to Roundup

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Club Activities in 2021

December 2021 – Club member Emily Skala was recognized at the WHPA Fall Banquet for completing the first year of her Youth Beekeeping Scholarship. The Brown County Beekeepers are proud of her accomplishment and Julie Mazolleni for being her mentor.

November 2021 – A very special club meeting. Most of the meeting was dedicated to club members sharing how they use honey and wax products to generate additional income AND to use the outputs of the bees hard work.

September 2021 – The Club was represented at the Botanical Gardens 25th Anniversary fair. Lots of folks that are interested in plants and flowers learned about bees and their importance to the food/flower chain.

August 2021 – The club meeting in August was very special. The bulk of the meeting was spent honoring Tom Cashman for his 50 years of service to the club. Tom has been an officer ALL of those 50 years. He followed in the footsteps of his father who was club President in the 1930’s. The club has had a Cashman in the club for over 75 years!

July 2021 – The annual club picnic was again a success. Thanks to Dick and Carol for coordinating the event and to Jim for cooking and providing homemade wine.

July 2021 – The club partnered with the Green Bay Botanical Gardens to conduct two Children’s Pollinator Program summer camp classes where we discussed bees, pollinators, and honey. Special thanks to club members Julie, Dave, Emily H., Carl, tom, and Emily S. for preparing the materials and presenting an exciting and interesting four hour, hands-on class.

June 2021 – Club members were treated to a honey themed dinner prepared by Chef Ace Champion and hosted at Ledgestone Vineyards in Greenleaf, WI. The evening started with an outside cooking demo and quickly, due to thunderstorms, moved inside into the wineries aging room. It was a night of fun, fellowship, good food, and wine.

May 2021 – The club partnered with NWTC and Green Bay Botanical Gardens to establish and improve the bee yard in the work area of the Gardens. The club authorized spending up to $200 on the bee yard which ultimately only cost $60 because of the donation of crushed limestone (NWTC) and mulch (Gardens). Special thanks to Dave and Diane Elsen, Carl Fisher and Julie Mazolleni for all the work they put into the new and improved bee yard.

March 2021 – NBC Channel 26 in Green Bay featured beekeeping with interviews of two club members. Watch it here on Facebook.

Club Activities in 2020

June 2020 – Three Girl Scouts were assisted by the club as they progressed on their Girl Scout journey. The young ladies painted bee boxes and then learned about installing bees in club hives at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.

Girl Scouts with bees
Bee boxes painted and bees installed by Girl Scouts

April 2020 – COVID hits and in-person meetings are not allowed at the Botanical Gardens. The leadership of the club made the decision to move to virtual meetings for April. Meeting attendance was excellent, little did we know at the time that we would remain virtual for the rest of the year. Thanks to club officers Dave Elsen, Julie Mazolleni, Tom Cashman, and Sarah Mueller for their guidance and keeping the club alive and vibrant during these trying times.

February 2020 – BCBA once again participated in the Einstein Expo where 3000 young children were exposed to beekeeping. They especially enjoyed the observation hive and the bee themed crafts. Special thanks to Dan, Dick and Carol for coordinating the event for the club.

January 2020 – BCBA members Carl and Dave presented an overview of beekeeping to 32 individuals from the Farmory. It was a lively discussion with lots of great questions.

January 2020 – The Introduction to Beekeeping class was moved to January and over 50 new beekeepers took advantage of this cost effective way to learn about beekeeping from BCBA experts.

Club Activities in 2019

August 2019 – The state apiary inspectors visited the hives of number club members. Read more here.

Inspecting hive

July 2019 -As is typical in July for the club instead of a meeting we held a picnic. Special thanks to Dick and Carol Sturm for coordinating the picnic and to James Arvey for being the grill master and providing samples of his homemade wine.

June 2019 – Members of BCBA were treated to a honey and cheese tasting event. Kent Pegorsch, president of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association (WHPA), presented information on the different Wisconsin flowers and nectar sources. Every participant received a flavor wheel and color chart from the American Honey Tasting society (AHTS) as they tasted various honey samples side by side. These were paired with different types of artisan cheeses supplied by Nala’s Fromagerie in De Pere.

June 2019 – BCBA partnered with Girl Scout Troop 4679 to assist the young ladies in their Girl Scout journey. You can read more here.

Girl Scouts helping install bees into boxes they painted.

February 2019 – The “Meeting Before the Meeting” in February was a hive inspection of a hive that died over the winter. A search was made for the queen but she was not found. The bees either starved, although there were some frames with honey, OR the hive didn’t have enough ventilation so the bees were damp. The group was split 50/50 on the cause.

February 2019 – The Club was well represented at the Einstein Expo where over 3000 students passed by our booth. The Club’s mission to “…. create an environment where learning opportunities exist for association members and the general public.” was accomplished. The questions were endless and enthusiasm for bees infectious.

February 2019 – On a cold Saturday 28 brand new beekeepers gathered at NWTC to attend BCBA’s 7 hour Introduction to Beekeeping Class. Experienced members of BCBA presented numerous topics required to bring new beekeepers up to speed. Talk about drinking from a fire hose!

Club Activities in 2018

September 2018 – Thanks to all who participated in the Definitely DePere Farmers market.  It was a beautiful day and we appreciate all the help and input.

July 2018 – A fun day for everyone during the club picnic.  It’s always nice getting to know people and families outside regular club meetings.   There were good conversations along great burgers, brats and dogs.

Special thanks to Carol and Richard Sturm for organizing the picnic.  Also thank you to all who brought food to share and door prizes.   And let’s not forget a big thanks to Jim Arvey for the home made wine!!  And Orren Fredrick for a great job on the grill.

June 2018 – The Brown County Beekeepers club participated in the Oneida Ag Expo on June 9, 2018. The Ag Expo Featured family activities that celebrated Oneida and Wisconsin agricultural heritage and future.  There were food vendors, live music, 4H Garden tours and speakers such as Kyle Turley (former NFL player).A lot of interest in beekeeping was expressed by the attendees.

April 2018  – Club President Steve and member Kaelyn met with the conservation club at Sunnyside Elementary School in the Pulaski School District for an hour. The discussion focused on how individuals can help honey bees and about the joys of being a beekeeper.

February 2018 – Club member, Sara Kowalski, sharing her knowledge of foundation with other club members.

Sara Kowalski sharing her knowledge

January 2018 – Club member, John Parsons, demonstrating how to build your own hive box at the January 2018 “meeting before the meeting”.

Endangered Pollinators

Earth Day 2021-How to help

As we celebrate Earth Day 2021 the Brown County Beekeepers want to give everyone an idea of the importance of honey bees and pollinators and some suggestions on how everyone can help.

This short message from our President, Dave Elsen, is informative and full of suggestions.

Preparing for Winter

At the September club meeting, which was held both in person (socially distanced) and virtually, Richard Schneider from Capital Bee Supply was our remote guest speaker. He did an excellent job presenting the steps beekeepers can take to get ready for our Wisconsin winters. Capital Bee Supply is a Wisconsin based company out of Columbus, WI. The YouTube presentation is presented below. It is 57 minutes in length.

If you would like to see these presentations live or in person you should consider joining the club.

Bees and Bears

A club member sent us pictures of his hives encounter with a bear. He found frames in various places around yard. He was able to put the hive back together and hopes the queen made it. Here is his quote: “Had to hunt down a few pieces in the brush.  Found the spot where the bear laid down to suck up his spoils.    Probably at least ¾ of the honey is still there, just some grass and dead bugs on it.  Which means he’ll likely be back for more.  I’m hoping the bees gave him enough incentive to stay away, which is probably why he didn’t destroy everything in sight.”

Bears knocked the hive off its stand. Luckily the propolis held the boxes together or maybe the bear got scared off before tearing into the boxes.
The hive was strapped down and the bear was still able to knock it off the stand.
The bear carried some of the equipment into the woods. Fortunately most of the equipment was not damaged.
The hive put back together with most of the bees intact. An electric fence is the next step.

Entrance Reducers

The officers of the club have received several questions from new beekeepers about removal of entrance reducers. They put the entrance reducers on when they installed their new bees, as they were instructed. Now they want to know when to remove them. Click here from more information.

Mite Management

At the May 2020 meeting of the club April Kustov, Wisconsin State Apiary Inspector joined our meeting via Zoom to present Mite Management. The video is over an hour long but is very comprehensive about mite management and treatments.

In the video April refers to different mite treatments and the Wisconsin recommended treatments. Here is the sheet to which she refers. If you would like the Power Point presentation click here. You will need Power Point to view the slides.