New River Valley Beekeepers' Association

Our first list of our association’s nuc sellers is now available. Please note that these are locally sourced bees with good genetics and proven hardiness. The prices are very competitive as well. Click here to get the latest list of our nuc sellers in MS Word format, or click here to get the latest list of our nuc sellers in PDF format. This list is provided as an informational service to our members. All financial arrangements are between the seller and buyer. The NRVBA does not provide any warranty.

Rural King is selling 3 pound packaged bees with a mated queen for $219.99. Click here for more information.

Webmaster’s note: Rural King is one possible source for bees. Some of our members sell nucs, which may be a better option. We hope to have a list of sellers posted shortly. Please click on the comment below for more information.

Our monthly meetings will resume in the new year at the same place and time. They are a great opportunity to hear an informative presentation and to learn from other experienced beekeepers. They are fun to attend with an occasional raffle and food to eat. We meet at 210 Pepper St. in Christiansburg at 6:30 PM every second Thursday of most months (except July and December). So bee there, or bee square.

If you have wondered what it takes to become a beekeeper, we have scheduled a short program to introduce this fascinating topic. See the flyer below for details.

If you have a swarm of bees on your property and want them removed, many of our members are available to help. Click here to learn whom to contact.

For those of you who are new to our club, we offer a page dedicated to Internet videos that describe many aspects concerning the art and science of beekeeping. The latest post is a ten-video course on how to manage varroa mites. Take a look.

Richard Reid has graciously shared his presentation entitled “Wintering Bees in the Virginia Mountains.” You can view it by going to the tab entitled “Member Resources” and then by clicking on the menu item “Presentations.” The presentations are listed in alphabetical order. Since the file is quite large, be patient and give it time to load. Remember to give Richard a pat on the back.

Jim and Jerry are going to present the topic of queen rearing basics at our upcoming Zoom meeting this Thursday night. They plan to share methods with us that are appropriate for the small-time beekeeper. Jim mentioned that there is an hour and ten minute video Queen Rearing Basics that was recorded as part of the Penn State Pollinator series. Please be sure to watch this video before Thursday. Of course, if you cannot attend, watch the Penn State video at your leisure.

The information to either order bee packages or queens is in the PDF document below.

Welcome to spring, when young (and old) people’s thoughts turn to love…of beekeeping!!
For our new members, as was explained in the first session of the Beginning Beekeeper’s Course, the best number of colonies to start with is two.  Not one(you lose too many options, too much flexibility), not three (can easily become overwhelming), but two. It’s not too late to change your plans, but time is getting short.

As a reminder, the NRVBA has arranged purchase and subsidized the re-sale to NRVBA members of 130 packages with a required purchase of a replacement VSH queen. To date, less than a fifth of that number has been spoken for. Additionally, the NRVBA has arranged purchase and subsidized the re-sale to NRVBA members of 100 VSH queens (without packages).  Only about 80 percent of these have been claimed. Since our suppliers require an advanced downpayment, in a few days we will have to go back to them and drastically reduce our order.  This may also mean we will have to drive to Chatham to get our packages rather than have them delivered to Christiansburg, since we may not have a large enough order to make it “worth the trip” for our supplier.
The Association made these arrangements to inject some VSH traits into the local environment.  The more VSH offspring drones available to mate with VSH (or even non-VHS) daughter queens, the more mite-resistant our local queens will become.  Unfortunately, this is not a single year effort.  We began last year, with members purchasing 165 (NRVBA-subsidized) VSH queens.  

The NRVBA Board of Directors strongly believe this is a long-term effort worth pursuing, and collectively urge you to reconsider your plans and see if more packages or VSH queens are a good fit.Best Wishes!

Carl Lefko, President NRVBA