Harvesting and Hive Products

Your bees have been busy making honey - how do I harvest?

Join our class and find out everything you need to know about harvesting, hive products, and summer hive maintenance! This course is designed to show you how and when to harvest honey, wax and other hive products. We will also review summer hive maintenance - proper feeding and treatment. The best way to protect is to identify problems early - that's why the focus of these sessions will continue to be on identifying and eradicating common honeybee maladies such as Varroa, ants, foulbrood, and nosema.

Gilroy Beekeepers Association (GBA) has been supporting local hobby beekeepers and bringing those curious about bees together for over 20 years. Our members range from experienced beekeepers to complete newbies. Members benefit from regular meetings, access to great speakers, and training opportunities like this one - the ideal combination for learning and sharing about beekeeping.

The Harvesting and Hive Products class is a hands-on field class.

When: TBA

Location:  Location to be announced

GBA Member Instructors:  Master Beekeeper Sara Cutrignelli (UC Davis)

Cost per person: $80.00

Click here to enroll.

At the field location
Date and Location TBA

Here's your chance to get together with experienced beekeeper mentors:

  • How to do a hive inspection
  • Selecting and removing honey frames from the hive
  • Uncapping techniques
  • Loading and running the extractor
  • Wax rendering
  • Other hive products
  • Cleaning and maintaining frames and boxes

Note: each participant is expected to bring personal protective equipment (PPE) including veil, jacket, gloves and boots. PPE is available at these establishments:

Helping Your Hives Thrive and Grow

You've installed your bees and things are starting to happen in the hives, what's next?

Join our two-part class and find out everything you need to know about helping your hives thrive and grow! This course is designed with mid-year maintenance in mind to help beekeepers keep their hives healthy. Learn about the nutritional requirements and how to monitor/maintain the growing hive. This includes protecting honeybee colonies from harmful diseases, parasites, and other pests. The best way to protect is the ability to identify problems early and that's why the focus of these sessions will be on identifying and eradicating common honeybee maladies such as Varroa, ants, foulbrood, and nosema.

Gilroy Beekeepers Association (GBA) has been supporting local hobby beekeepers and bringing those curious about bees together for over 20 years. Our members range from experienced beekeepers to complete newbies. Members benefit from regular meetings, access to great speakers and training opportunities like this one - the ideal combination for learning and sharing about beekeeping.

We will be kicking off our Helping Your Hives Thrive and Grow class with a virtual meeting, followed with a hands-on session at the Club Apiary.

When: 
TBA

Location:  Zoom and bee yard location to be announced

GBA Member Instructors:  Master Beekeepers Sara Cutrignelli (UC Davis) and Arthur Kubogamell (Cornell), plus GBA mentors.

Cost per person: $80.00, or $280 for the 4 class series

Click here to enroll.

Day 1: Zoom
TBA

Join experienced and master beekeepers from the comfort of your computer for the first in our two-part course. We will discuss:

  • How to assess your brood and take corrective actions
  • What you can expect of a healthy hive at this time of the year
  • Identifying and treating for common pests
  • Preparing for summer
  • Syrup prep
  • When to give and when to reduce space in a hive
  • Influences on honey production

Note: attendance at this midweek online class is a prerequisite to the practical class at the weekend.

Day 2: at the Club Apairy
TBA

Here's your chance to get together with experienced beekeeper mentors and put into practice what you have learned online:

  • How to do a hive inspection
  • Brood assessment
  • Hive expectations/simple fixes
  • Recognizing and testing for common maladies
  • Space - when to give and when to reduce space in a hive

Note: each participant is expected to bring personal protective equipment (PPE) including veil, jacket, gloves and boots. PPE is available at these establishments:

You’re Getting Your Bees – Now What?

Ever wondered how to get started as a beekeeper?

Join our two-part class and find out everything you need to know to get started! No prior experience necessary, this course is designed to help anyone new to beekeeping gain confidence to care for their own bees.

Gilroy Beekeepers Association (GBA) has been supporting local hobby beekeepers and bringing those curious about bees together for over 20 years. Our members range from experienced beekeepers to complete newbies. Members benefit from regular meetings, access to great speakers, and training opportunities like this one - the ideal combination for learning and sharing about beekeeping.

We will be kicking off our You're Getting Your Bees - Now What? (A.K.A. "Introduction to Beekeeping") with a virtual Zoom meeting on Thursday evening, March 30 at 7PM, and follow up with a hands-on session in the field on Saturday, April 1 at 9AM.

When: 
- Thursday, March 30 at 7PM via Zoom
- Saturday, April 1 at 9AM at the Apiary

Location:  Zoom and field location to be announced

Instructors:  Master Beekeper Arthur Kubogamell (Cornell)

Cost: $80.00 per person

Click here to enroll.

Day 1: online
Thursday, March 30 at 7PM

Join experienced and master beekeepers via Zoom for the first in our two-part course. You will hear and see:

  • Why keep bees...not just for the honey
  • Basic bee biology and life cycle
  • Choosing which bees are best for you and how to install them
  • Local regulations
  • Hive setup, configuration and placement
  • Pest issues
  • How to do a hive inspection
  • Protective equipment needed (before next session!)

Note: attendance at this online class is a prerequisite to the field class this weekend.

Day 2: at the Club Apiary
Saturday, April 1 at 9AM

Here's your chance to put into practice what you have learned the previous week. Get together with experienced beekeeper mentors and find out how to:

  • Properly wear all protective equipment
  • Use all tools
  • How to light and use your smoker
  • How to open a hive
  • Recognize each of the bee castes (queen, drone, worker) cells
  • Identify brood cells, honey storage cells, capped and uncapped cells
  • How to install bee packages and nucs
  • Look for pests

Note: don't delay! Each participant is expected to bring personal protective equipment (PPE) including veil, jacket, gloves and boots, to this class. PPE is available at these establishments:

Swarm Class

Learn how to catch swarms!

Swarm season is just around the corner!

It finally looks like we have a break in the weather, so come and learn of some of the many different ways to successfully respond to a swarm call, catch and house a swarm.

Upon attending the class, we will be updating the GBA swarm callout list, in preparation for the upcoming season.

This is an opportunity to obtain some “free-bees”; knowledge, along with some helpful tactics.

See you there!!!

When
11:00 AM Saturday, March 25th

Location
GBA Club Apiary
Pajaro Ag Preserve
4945 Frazier Lake Road
Gilroy, CA

  • South on 101
  • Exit 356: CA 152 / 10th St: Turn left (east).
  • Turn right (south) on Frazier Lake Road
  • The Preserve is approx 1.5 miles south on Frazier Lake Road on the right-hand side (west side of the road).
  • A bright yellow GBA shirt will mark the gate.

Rain!

Wow, we are having some very unexpected weather!

We need the rain! However, some of our club events are on hold until we have some sunshine. Updates:

  • Nuc Delivery – postponed. Everyone who has ordered a Nuc will receive updates when we see a break in the weather.
  • Beginner Class – postponed. The class coincides with Nuc pickups. It will be scheduled as soon as we have a break in the weather.
  • Swarm Class – tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 25 at the club apiary. Look for email updates closer to the event date.
  • Apiary Work Days – check with Steve Mink.