Beekeepers,

The next Indy Southside Beekeepers Club meeting will be Tuesday, April 1, 2025 from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m. Meetings are held at the Franklin Township Civic League office, 8822 Southeastern Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46239.

To those who have signed up as Mentors, I will be sending you a separate email with a list of those who have signed up to be mentees so that you can select those who have signed up that are in your area or willing to travel to you. Look for that later this week so that you can reach out to them and establish a schedule that works for you.

The agenda for that meeting is as follows:

• Treasurer's report
• Ron Bastin on Queen Rearing
• Q&A
  • Buy/Sell nucs (Cliff Parsons is interested in purchasing)
  • We talked about sharing information from people who went to Bee School in Muncie. Will that be emailed to Club members?
  • What is most effective: treating preemptively for varroa mites, or as the "safe threshold" is broken?
  • When will the volunteer sign up sheets for The IN State Fair, Bug Fest, etc will be available?
  • After putting candy boards in the fall, but having bees starve to death in the winter, what else can be done?
  • What is the most effective insulation during winter used locally?
  • Do you keep one or two suppers during winter? Why/Why not?
  • What are the best perennial flowers to be planted locally in the spring to help bees with their pollen collection?
  • What are the best bees to be purchased soon: nucs or packaged bees?
  • Pollen patties have been getting moldy due to rain. Should I get rid of those, or leave them?
  • How do you accelerate honey production for first year packaged bees or nucs?