Current Events

  • 2022
    • Bee School was held on February 19, 2022. Our speakers were Lane Kreitlow, Darryl Gabritsch, Jennifer Keller, Dana Stahlman, Nancy Ruppert, and Keith McLaurin. Due to generous donations of hive boxes and bees from Sapony Creek Apiaries, Cotton Boll Pollinators, Eddie’s Covered Bridge Farm, and Darryl Gabritsch, two students won hive boxes and bees!
    • We were co-winners for the Golden Achievement Program with the state beekeepers association! We share Club of the Year 2020-2021 with our friends at Wilson County Beekeepers Association. During the pandemic, our club continued to meet by Zoom and outdoors at our apiary. Our membership numbers increased, unlike most bee clubs! A big thank you to the members for finding safe ways to continue to learn and teach others about honey bees!
    • NC Museum of Natural Science BugFest 2022! What a fun day! Beautiful weather and lots of people interested in honey bees.
    • NC State Fair: our booth won ribbons for the items as well as the educational content.

Past Events

  • 2021
    • Bee School was canceled
    • BugFest: Plan Bee!
      • Our club participated in the in-person BugFest event Pollination Celebration at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation at 1617 Gold Star Dr in Raleigh. The event was scaled back this year and we were the only bee club in attendance. We shared our enthusiasm and knowledge about honeybees and sold honey from our apiary!
    • NC State Fair
      • Our club’s booth won the Blue Ribbon!!

        The theme was Swarm Story. Our goal was to educate the public about swarms- what they are, why they happen and what to do. We also demonstrated what the temperature sensors and scales show during a swarm. The backdrop for the booth was a photo of the swarm that happened while we were at the apiary one Saturday in the spring. We had QR codes for videos and more details about the sensors.
      • Many of the items within the booth also won ribbons for a total of 22!
  • 2020
    • Bee School was held on February 22
    • We successfully switched to Zoom for our meetings.
    • We participated in BugFest by holding a live bee hive inspection and Q & A over Zoom.
  • 2019
    • Bee School was held on January 26
    • Honey Bee Day at the State Farmers Market was August 24
    • BugFest held in downtown Raleigh on September 21
    • Club won the 2019 North American Mite-A-Thon! We entered 85 hives and won a $100 gift certificate
    • State Fair
  • 2018
    • Bee School was held February 24
    • NC State Beekeepers Meeting Bee Bowl- 2nd place!
    • 5CBA Spring Picnic was April 15 and included bee races and a silent auction
    • Born and Bred Queen Rearing Program was held in the club apiary
    • NCADA Mini Microscopy Workshop in June
    • Bayer Bee Care Center Tour
    • Honey Bee Day at the State Farmers Market was August 18
    • BugFest was September 15 and our theme was “What Stung Me?”
    • State Fair
  • 2017
    • Bee School was held February 18 – 2nd annual
    • 5CBA Spring Picnic was April 9 and included an equipment exchange
    • NCSBA Golden Achievement Program (GAP)
      • We were honored by the North Carolina State Beekeeping Association with the GAP Chapter of the year, this was the result of a lot of hard work by many members of the club.
    • Bee Bowl at the NCSBA Summer Conference
      • Our team competing in the Bee Bowl at the NCSBA Summer Conference won the game for us. The Bee Bowl is a great excuse to brush up on your honeybee knowledge and dig in to some of the more specialized topics of beekeeping.
    • NC State Fair Sweepstakes
      • We took home the Sweepstakes ribbon from the State Fair, this was another example of many of the members of the club coming together and submitting entries to the fair as well as helping with the setup of the booth.