We Look Forward to Seeing You at the Following 2023 Events!

The Benefits of Backyard Beekeeping Class JWCC

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I am excited to be teaching again, on the Benefits of Backyard Beekeeping for the Community Based Outreach, through John Wood Community College. All of the CBO classes are Personal and Professional Development Courses. This is a great opportunity to learn something new for little to no fees.

The course will illustrate the extensive benefits of backyard beekeeping and the interdependencies of pollinators in agriculture, home gardens, and our ecosystem.

We will discuss how imperative it is to protect all pollinators, why we keep honey bees, different methods we use as beekeepers, agriculture and biodiversity aspects, nectar secreting plants, simple alternatives to chemical applications, benefits of bi-products from the hive, and more.

Registration is required and can be found through the link below. The class will be held on April 22, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Room D115 in the Paul Health Community Education and Fine Arts Center.

Please find all the information for registering for this class and others, in the following link:

Spring 2023 Catalog.

We hope to see you there!

MVBA/ISBA 2023 Summer Conference

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Friends Hill Apiary has been closely involved in our local organization, the Mississippi Valley Beekeepers Assoc., Inc. as well as proud members of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association! This year is an exciting year for both of these organizations with the 2023 Summer Conference coming in July to Quincy, IL. Our local group is hosting this event and Tim & I couldn’t be more excited to be a big part of it.

As many of you know, Tim has some killer illustration, graphic and design skills and he is responsible for the beautiful new logos as well as any advertisements and promotional materials for MVBA and the upcoming state conference, in July. We are both on the planning committee and are working diligently with other board and committee members who are all doing a wonderful job getting this thing up and running. I have also been a busy little bee with MVBA website, registrations & online ticketing, as well as preparing for one of the Breakout Sessions. I’ve decided that my topic will be on sharing plants and herbs with the bees and how to incorporate them into all-natural hive products. I know a lot of members who are thinking about how to make things with the bi-products from their own beehives, so I’m hoping that I can be an inspiration to them.

With Springtime fast approaching, there’s still lots of planning, corresponding with other beekeepers, but we all look forward to this awesome opportunity for more educational fuel from some of the country’s best known beekeeping educators. There will certainly be something for everyone, including an awesome Speaker line-up, plenty of Delicious Foods, Bluegrass Music, Vendors, Contests & Giveaways and so much more! For more information, registrations and tickets, please visit Mvbees.com.

You don’t have to be a beekeeper to appreciate what this Conference has to offer. Come on down and just look and listen to what all the BUZZzzzzzzzzzzz is about!