Timely (we hope) announcements and links

2010 Membership Form  Or, Download the MS Word .doc here, or the PDF here.

The BANV membership year is January through December.  There is no pro-rating of dues as we simply don't have the resources or inclination (we're beekeepers, not organization managers) to manage such things.  So, after June or so, just wait until the 2011 form is posted and come to the meetings and see if membership suits you.  Also, with the passing of our newsletter publisher, we are currently not producing a newsletter.

See the complete BANV schedule  Here

See: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/

Question: Where can you find beekeeping know-how specific to northern Virginia?
Answer: Beltway Bees! http://beltwaybees. wetpaint. com

What to do and when to do it? These are key questions for beekeepers everywhere. The answers, however, depend on where your bees live; honey bee ecosystems, including forage and weather, are location-specific. BANV is pleased to announce that northern Virginia beekeepers now have a place to find beekeeping know-how specific to northern Virginia: the Beltway Bees wiki at http://beltwaybees. wetpaint. com

Take a look. Have you completed this month's tasks?
(Hint: The menu is on the left. Click on "Annual Cycle".)

Notice too, that the website is a wiki. That means that anyone, even you, can make changes to the information posted there. If something is wrong, you can correct it; if something is missing, you can add it. Do you have photos of the nectar sources mentioned? Videos of the beekeeping activities described? URLs of great references? To start contributing, click on [Join Now] in the upper right corner of the web page.

Frank Linton

Study Guide for Qualified Beekeeper portion of the Virginia Master Beekeeper's Exam

Watch this space for future exam dates and locations

Click Here

Local Honey!

The term "local" is somewhat subjective depending on the context.  If we had any Martian honey, then from a galactic perspective, that would be "local".  From the BANV perspective (and to hopefully avoid much argument), we consider our local honey to have been produced by honeybees north of Richmond, Va.; south of Harrisburg, Pa.; west of the Chesapeake Bay; and east of an imaginary line that meanders from about Hancock, Md., through Romney, WVa., and down to Staunton (pronounced stant-en, so get it right), Va.

We'll have a page here (soon?) listing our members' contact information who may be directly contacted and who are more than happy to talk about just how "local" their honey is and if/how they might blend the honeys from their various apiaries in the region to reach the particular character of their honey that they are working for.

In the meantime, please visit your local Farmers' Market or contact the administration to see if they have a local beekeeper selling honey.  One of the best starting points is: http://dc.about.com/od/farmersmarkets/a/FarmersMktVA.htm.

Remember: Enjoy Natural Foods, Eat your Local Honey every Day.

For lots of information and ideas about honey and its uses, see the National Honey Board's site at: http://www.honey.com/

BANV Forum

Sign up, Sign in, Create new discussion topics, search old ones (there aren't any yet)

Want to moderate your own forum (e.g. diseases,  forage, supplementary feeding, queen rearing, etc.) with a set of topics in a particular area of practice (e.g. diseases,  forage, supplementary feeding, queen rearing, etc.)?

email your proposition to: banv@beekeepersnova.org

 - In the interest of  all our members and visitors being as fully informed as possible, all should be aware of the following.
The District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) states in
Title 24, Chapter 9, Section 904:
"904.1 No bees or hives of bees shall be permitted to be kept when there
are human habitations within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.)."
[Reference URL:http://os.dc. gov/os/frames. asp?doc=/ os/lib/os/ info/odai/ title_24/ title24_chapter9.pdf  - corrected 7-11-09]