Monday March 7th, 2022 – 7:00-9:00pm ~ Topic: Catching Swarms Presented by Brandon Fehrenkamp, Owner of Austin Bees (Bee Removal Expert). Come learn how to catch your first bee swarm from the best in the biz! Brandon teaches how to capture a swarm safely, humanely and with the best chances of success using his tried and true techniques. UPDATE: Zilker is allowing us to bring food to share again, yay! See y’all soon!

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Monday February 7, 2022 – 7:00-9:00pm – AT Zilker Botanical Garden Gift Shop Meeting Room

     2220 BARTON SPRINGS RD, AUSTIN TX 78746

• Topic: Getting Started as a NEW BEEKEEPER – We will go over what you need to buy, how to get your bees and boxes and set up your apiary. Information on county requirements for setting up bees for AG valuation will also be included.

The 2022 January 3rd meeting of Travis County Beekeepers has been cancelled for tonight due to Stage 4 Covid restrictions. We will update members soon with regard to February meeting. Sorry for the inconvenience. Happy New Year! Stay warm. 🙂

Monday August 2, 2021 – 7:00-9:00pm – IN PERSON MEETING at Texas Honey Bee Farm

Topic: We will be demo-ing Honey Extraction 🙂

Speaker: Jesus Soto has over 50 years of experience keeping bees for honey production. He began his career in Bolivia and was there when the Africanized bees entered the country and changed the face of beekeeping. He moved to Southern California, got his master’s degree in Entomology and kept bees for more than 30 years in Malibu and other coastal areas where he managed hives for honey production and sold thousands of pounds of honey.

This class is geared toward the beginner but it actually pulls together much of the info around understanding the brood nest layout and working with it in a bee centered way. It includes a bit about the wheel of the year too.

Speaker is Fonta Molyneaux. She is a Mother of 3, Master herbalist, botanist and beekeeper living in the Pacific Northwest where she owns and operates Wild Everlasting Farm Bees & Trees. 30 acres devoted to exploring the relationship between People, Plants and Pollinators. Wild Everlasting is the Flagship Farm for the Oregon Bee Project & The Oregon department of Agriculture for conservation toward pollinator health and habitat. She also founded the Sun Queen School of Apiary Arts. Where she teaches Bee centered Beekeeping both online and in person to her many students far and wide sharing her love and passion of honey bees and Bioregional beekeeping. Follow her on Instagram @beekeepingbotanist  Or www.wildeverlasting.com

Link to Zoom Video of Meeting from July 2021

Monday June 7, 2021 – 7:00-9:00pm – In person meeting at Texas Honey Bee Farm in SW Austin – 9874 Wier Loop Circle, Austin, TX 78736 – Our meeting topic is A Year’s Work of the Beekeeper and our speaker is:

American Honey Princess Virginia Allen

Virginia is the daughter of David and Mary-Ann Allen of Richardson, Texas.  She is a freshman at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor studying organizational leadership.  She is an active leader in her local Fire Explorers program and hopes to serve as a paramedic or flight nurse.  In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering at church, reading, cross stitching, and rock climbing.  As the 2021 American Honey Princess, Virginia serves as a national spokesperson for the American Beekeeping Federation, a trade organization representing beekeepers and honey producers throughout the United States.  The American Honey Queen and Princess speak and promote in venues nationwide, and, as such, Princess Virginia will travel throughout the United States in 2021.  Prior to serving as the American Honey Princess, Virginia served as the 2020 Texas Honey Queen.

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We are pleased to announce that the TCBA Youth Mentoring and Scholarship program is returning for another year!  Applications are now being accepted for the 2019 program.  This year we will also be adding an in-person interview section to the application process.  Completed applications will be accepted until March 30th, 2019.  *Any applications received after March 30th will automatically be disqualified.  The in-person interviews will be scheduled for Monday, April 1st, 2019.

Through our annual fundraising activities, member support, and donations from people like you, we are able to continue offering kids an opportunity to chase dreams that might otherwise seem out of reach to them. We are very excited to be able to continue this opportunity into 2019, and we hope will join us in helping enrich the lives of youths in our area.

“Finding a path or a hobby that you are passionate about is not always an easy task. And, once you do find a hobby you are interested in, it can be even harder to get started and find a reliable source to learn about your new hobby. This is why Youth Programs, such as this, play a very important role in the lives of our younger generations. TCBA’s Youth Mentoring Program is a scholarship based program designed to help today’s youth get started in beekeeping by providing them the resources and guidance needed to become tomorrow successful beekeepers. By becoming a young beekeeper, our youths are not only learning about the wondrous world of the honey bee, but they are also learning about the importance of our tiny friends in nature, as well as becoming better stewards for our world.”

~ John Swan| TCBA President

If you would like to learn more about this years Youth Mentoring Program, or to download an application, please visit our Scholarship Page.