In early August, Mary attended the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) Conference in Ithaca, New York. It was a wonderful conference, and she was able to travel to New York with several other Georgia based beekeepers as well as meet up with beekeeping friends in the northeast. The key speakers included Dr. Tom Seeley, Mike Palmer, Dr. Juliana Rangel, and Dr. David Tarpy. One of the many highlights included the field trips where we were able to visit beekeeping operations in the area including Kutik's Honey Farm. Overall, she had a great experience and would encourage you to consider attending an EAS event.

Saturday, August 20th was National Honey Bee Day. Though we celebrate honey bees everyday, this called for an extra special celebration! The Sparta-Hancock County Library held a special event showcasing the Observation Hive. The local beekeeping club, Lake Country Beekeepers Assocation, had several members attend to volunteer and speak to the community members about the importance of honey bees. We also enjoyed a hive themed cake and honey taste testing! Be sure to visit the library in Sparta, Georgia to see the observation hive for yourself if you haven't already!

When I was at the EAS Conference, I picked up a new gadget called the BroodMinder. It's a tool that allows you to track and monitor the temperature and humidity inside your hive using an app on your phone. You simply place the BroodMinder inside your hive, and then you can walk up to your hive and open the app on your phone to check if and how much the temperature has fluctuated. This can serve as an early indicator if your hive is starting to go queenless because the temperature will remain more consistent when there is brood in the hive. On a recent episode of his podcast, Dr. Jamie Ellis talked about these temperature fluctuations. In my opinion, the device was very easy to install and the battery should last about a year. I don't plan to add to all of my hives, but one (or a few) per apiary location could be helpful for monitoring and comparison of different sites for my hives. 

August was a travel month for the BeeCo Team with Mary taking off to New York and Katherine visiting Belize. While in Belize, she was able to meet up with Jesse Madrid, Extension Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture, at his office at the Central Farm Research Development & Innovation Center outside of the capital city of Belmopan. Jesse was incredibly generous with his time and gave us a full tour of the facility while sharing about the current state of beekeeping in Belize. They have Africanized bees in Belize which are naturally more resistant to the varroa mites and pests we continually have to treat for here in the southeast United States. As such, we avoided getting into the hives and observed from the vehicle! We tasted honey (very dark) and toured the facility they use for outreach and extension classes. It's always fascinating to learn how people across the world manage and keep bees. Many similarities, many differences. Grateful for Jesse's kindness and hospitality.

Every Friday, the Sparta Farmers Market takes place from 2:00 - 6:00 PM at the Mushroom Factory on the corner of Elm and Hamilton Street. It's a partnership with Elm Street Gardens, Bread and Butter Farm, DREAM Streets Sparta, and the Sparta Hancock County Historic Preservation Commission. We're doing our best to be there most Friday's with our Wildflower and Sourwood honey available for purchase, but feel free to contact us beforehand to confirm!