Welcome to the Huguenot Beekeepers Association

Enrollment for the 2025 Beginners Beekeeping Course Now Open

Enrollment for the 2025 Beginners Beekeeping Course Now Open

Get Involved

  • Report a Swarm

    Swarms are great news for our honeybee population! They mean that a colony was strong enough to split itself to reproduce.

    And while swarms can look alarming, they are generally not aggressive and are just landing temporarily while looking for their new homes.

    With prompt reporting of the swarm, members of the Huguenot Beekeepers can come and safely move these bees to secure location where they can thrive.

    Report a Swarm

  • Attend a Club Meeting

    Honeybees aren’t solitary creatures and beekeepers shouldn’t be either.

    New beekeepers and prospective beekeepers are urged to attend a club meeting (or join the club!) to learn more about the art of beekeeping - and do it alongside others with the same passion.

    By attending club meetings, you open the doors for information and resource sharing, expanding your knowledge of different management styles and practices, and even finding a mentor/mentee.

    View Upcoming Events

  • Beekeeper's Calendar

    Beyond club events, it’s important to know what is happening in the hive throughout the year. In addition to standard day-to-day management, knowing the beekeeper’s year and what to expect in each season of management is key to ensuring a healthy and thriving colony as each season has different goals.

    View a month by month description of activities to care for your hives!

    View Hive Activities

In the Hive This Month

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Throughout the winter, you will need to check the hive's weight. You can do so by tipping the hive up using the handle on the lower deep. If you have a candy board or other supplemental food source installed, take a quick peek under the cover (on a nice day). If the hive feels light and/or they have exhausted their supplemental food source you'll need to take action to keep the colony from starving as most hives that die do so at the end of winter.

  • READ and attend club meetings.

  • Plan for the coming season - order bees and new hardware.

  • Assemble and paint new boxes, clean and ready existing boxes in storage.

  • On warm days (50F+) take a quick peek at the top candy board to ensure emergency reserves. Add a Winter pollen patty, fondant patty or candy brick as needed.

Can’t find what you’re looking for?

Suppliers

  • Woodenware

    The term woodenware refers to the individual components of a bee hive.  While these have traditionally been made from wood, today a variety of bee hives are available made from plastic and even polystyrene foam. 

    The most important components of woodenware include the hive body, frames, and if desired, foundation. Typical hive configurations include 8-frame and 10-frame in either shallow, medium, or deep frame sizes.

    Learn More

  • Queens, Packages, and NUCS

    Whether you are a new or seasoned beekeeper, there are a number of options available for obtaining bees - whether that’s for your first colony, to expand your apiary, or to requeen an existing hive.

    The most common ways to purchase bees are in packages or nucleus (Nuc) colonies. Our suppliers offer a variety of options for every type of beekeeper.

    Learn More

FAQs

  • Joining a local club is often the first advice you'll hear from seasoned beekeepers. The second piece of advice is to take a beginner's course. Our club hosts an annual Beginning Beekeeping Class designed to help the novice get up to speed and an annual family membership is included in the cost of the course! We also place a bulk order each Spring to purchase bees from a reputable supplier.

  • Prospective members can join by attending any meeting and paying the annual dues of $10 per family. Membership is also included in the fee for the annual Beginning Beekeeping Class held each February.

  • Our club provides a team of experienced Advisors to help our members when they have questions or concerns with their hives. Members also have access to our annual package order at an often discounted bulk rate. Read more about other benefits and how to join on our Membership page.Item description

  • One service our club provides to the community is swarm removal. We have contacts listed in the Swarm Section that would be happy to help.

  • Of course, everyone is welcome regardless of whether or not you have bees.

  • Yes. We have some of the best suppliers of bees and equipment in the state of Virginia.