Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the body

Proverbs 16:24

One can no more approach people without love than one can approach bees without care. Such is the quality of bees...

-Leo Tolstoy

He is not worthy of the honey-comb
That shuns the hives because the bees have stings

-William Shakespeare

Handle a book as a bee does a flower, extract its sweetness but do not damage it.

-John Muir

The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.

-Henry David Thoreau

Seasonal Information for October

Specific recommendations for Deep East Texas beekeepers by Robert Jones

October will give us the major goldenrod flow along with a variety of other weeds this time of year. The flow can be exceptional, but again, if too much rain is falling the nectar can be washed out and you will need to supplement with sugar syrup. The fall flow normally lasts until the first fall frost but can be slowed by early cold snaps as well.

This is the time, at the end of this flow, to decide what needs help and what can stand on its own. Several things must be considered at this time. The quantity of honey must be at a minimum of 40lbs, or a medium honey super full above a deep brood box. Additionally, the quantity, or number, of bees must be observed. Hives with nests smaller in size than a basketball will not produce enough bees at this point to over-winter. On the coldest winter days, the over-winter process sees the outer layer of bees die off due to cold. If there are not enough bees at this point, the hive will be lost.

It is best to stack two weak colonies, picking the best laying queen of the two, for winter survival. Leaving both as they are will most likely see the die-off of both colonies. Saving the resources this way will allow you to easily spring-split this colony because it survived the winter with the resources that it needed.


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Our Mission

Our Theme is Service

Our Association’s Mission is first dedicated to honey bee education including all the different facts about and pleasures of keeping these wonderful creatures of God. Secondly, we are dedicated to the mission of service to others through internal mentoring and education of our club members as well as external programs to the general public. It is to these two missions we commit our combined efforts as an association to place into others, by mentoring, education, and apprenticeship, our love and passion for beekeeping. Our membership offers to all the much-needed experience that even beginners can have - the pleasure and joy we have personally each time we visit a beehive.

Our Purpose

  • Provide for the dissemination of good beekeeping practices and knowledge to its members.
  • Provide educational programs designed to improve production and marketing of honey bees and honey bee products to its members.
  • Disseminate to the public information as to the importance of honey bees and beekeeping activities in the production of food crops.
  • Support educational programs and projects in beekeeping.