Beekeeping in Vermont

Beekeeping in Vermont

The Beauty of Black & White

Black and white photography can force you to focus on the subject without the distraction often brought by color.

swilson102020© 2020 - Scott Wilson

Winners Announced

Jarvis

VBA members attending our first virtual annual meeting last Saturday were eligible to be entered into two contests.

in the random drawings, Jim Jarvis won a one-year extension to his VBA membership for his honey label. (We requested members submit labels to share their designs. They will be posted in a gallery on the website shortly. Jim's label is at the right.)

Judith Graves is the winner of our other contest. She receives a pair of VBA beer mead glasses which will be shipped to her.

Congratulations to both winners!

VBA Updated By-Laws Approved

Members attending the Vermont Beekeepers Association's virtual "summer" meeting this past Saturday, October 17th, approved changes to the organizations by-laws to include, among other things, a new Member-at-Large director seat. That seat is being filled by new-to-the-board Laura Johnson.

The updated by-laws are available online for review.

The VBA's new leadership roles are being fulfilled by these volunteers:

President: Andrew Munkres

Vice President: Jeff Battaglini

Treasurer: Richard Roy

Recording Secretary: Fred Putnam

Membership Secretary: Darci Benoit

Director At Large: Laura Johnson

Immediate Past President: Jack Rath

State Apiculturist: Brooke Decker

Advisory Board Members: Bill Mares, Mike Palmer, Chas Mraz, Samantha Alger, Greg Smela, Kim Greenwood

Meet Darci Benoit

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Darci Benoit is VBA's new Membership Secretary seat. She was nominated to replace outgoing secretary Scott Wilson.

I started beekeeping in 2013 and made many many mistakes. Thankfully I learned from those mistakes by listening to the successful and helpful beekeepers around me in the bee clubs. I currently operate a small apiary at my home which partially supplies my bee themed gift shop - Bees on Broadway which I run part time when I am not working my "real job" as a paralegal. I live in Swanton with my husband of 15 years, our daughter, dog, 3 cats, 8 chickens and many bees.

Meet Jeff Battaglini

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Jeff Battaglini is VBA's new Vice-President. He replaces Andrew Munkres who is VBA's new President effective October 17.

Jeff started his beekeeping journey years before he brought his first hive home. He noticed there were very few pollinators around the native Vermont landscape. So he started researching bees and talking to local beekeepers. He joined the Vermont Beekeepers Association (VBA) and all the local beekeeping clubs he could find. Jeff also started taking beekeeping classes and broke ground on his apiary site in October 2014. 

Read more ...

If You Missed our Winter Hive Prep Workshop...

Last night, VBA Recording Secretary and Certified Beekeeper Fred Putnam, with assistance from VBA Vice President Andrew Munkres and Past President Bill Mares, presented VBA's last online workshop of the season. The topic was "Preparing Your Hives for Winter."

The recorded session is available on the VBA website (login required). Look for Winter Hive Prep.

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The session runs about 100 minutes and covers these topics and more:

  • Target hive weights and weighing hives
  • Fast feeding
  • Pest mitigation
  • Wrapping and insulating
  • Actions during winter