So you want to be a beekeeper?
If you want to keep bees, the best thing you can do is join a local beekeeping club. Here you’ll find expert advice and support, and perhaps a personal mentor to explain the intricacies of beekeeping.
• The largest club in the area is in Buncombe County, which has members from across Western North Carolina. The group’s website is www.wncbees.org. Buncombe County Beekeepers meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the county government building, 94 Coxe Ave., Asheville. Check before you go, though, because the group periodically meets elsewhere.
• Smoky Mountain Beekeepers is made up of beekeepers in Jackson and Swain counties and the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The group meets the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Emergency Management Services building on Acquoni Road in Cherokee. Call president Al McNeely at 828.293.3142 for more information.
• Macon County Beekeepers meets the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Agriculture Extension Building in Franklin. Call Janet Hill at 828.369.9819 for more information.
On the Internet, these are useful beekeeping sites to check out:
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• N.C. State Beekeepers Association: www.ncbeekeepers.org
• Mid-Atlantic Apiculture is the clearinghouse for the latest information on Colony Collapse Disorder: http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/index.html.
• BeeSource.com contains a wealth of information and an active forum of beekeepers discussing beekeeping: http://beesource.com.
