Welcome to the Lane County Beekeepers Association!

Our Meetings Have Moved!

Beginning with the June meeting on 6/17/25, we are now meeting at the Irving Grange. 1011 Irvington Dr in Eugene.

We meet on the third Tuesday of each month (except December).

Our meetings are free and open to everyone. The doors open at 6pm and the meeting begins at 6:15. Check our Events Page for a calendar of upcoming meeting topics and events.

     I hope that you are all having a great summer, and a productive bee season. We are pretty much past swarm season, but there is still a certain possibility of it occurring if a hive gets honey bound or otherwise runs out of room. Check your hives regularly to ensure that they are healthy and queen-right.

Now, everyone should be aware that we are moving into the contraction or late-season management phase of the bee annual cycle. A few years ago, when I was told that once we passed the summer solstice (June 20th or 21st) the bees and our stewardship of them should be preparing for winter.  I thought that was crazy, but it isn’t!

The bees are generally better at watching the natural calendar than we are. They know that soon we will enter a dearth period when the abundant sources of pollen and nectar that we have now will dry up. So we, and them, have to get ready. Soon (if you haven’t already) you will be harvesting honey supers. You must ensure that you leave sufficient stores for the bees to get through the cold season.  It’s very important to check the population of mites in our hives and plan our strategy for bringing it down. Unfortunately, even as the bee population begins to decline, the varroa population is still increasing. So now is the time to address that problem! LCBA will have presentations to help you work through that process.

Happy beekeeping!