March 2026 Newsletter
President's Hive
Dear Members,
First and foremost, thank you to everyone who attended our Banquet and Fundraiser on February 21st. It was a great time! So much so, our auctioneer Gary volunteered to wear a yellow wig for the entire evening as a last minute live auction item. (If you’re wondering, are there pictures, the answer is yes.) The honey tasting table ended up in a tie for first place and we had delicious honey cupcakes - recipe courtesy of Anne Pierce. We will report on the amount of money that we raised for the Bee Lab at our member meeting in March. Spoiler alert, it’s more than last year! THANK YOU to all who donated items to the event and THANK YOU to the committee members: Charlie & Molly Kundinger, Cathy & Mark Lee, Michelle Maas, Anne Pierce, Gary Reuter, Bob Hinschberger, Quintin Holmberg and all the volunteers for making this event a success!
There were a few folks that left silent auction items behind. We’ll bring those winnings to the member meeting on March 10th for you to pick up.
Lastly, Spring is nearly here, and with the banquet in the rearview mirror, our focus should now be on the rapidly approaching beekeeping season. It’s time to inventory your beekeeping tools, equipment, and supplies and I encourage everyone to shop locally. Please support our wonderful beekeeping businesses, advertisers, and donors.
Here are some important things to know for this month:
March Member Meeting
Our March member meeting will feature Master Beekeeper, Dawn Beck, on Tuesday, March 10th at 7:00 PM. The topic will be: Fat Bodies and Bee Lifespan. Her biography is included below in this newsletter.
Please join us at the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus in Room 335, Borlaug Hall. Treats served! Directions to the meeting are found elsewhere in this newsletter. And as always, you can attend the meeting virtually if that aligns better with your needs. The link to join virtually can be found on the right-hand side within this newsletter.
Congratulations to our 2026 Youth Scholarship Recipients!
- Ethan Camp, Andover – Bob Hinschberger
- Asher Jeevanathan, Chanhassen – Bill Thompson
- Ezra Jensen, Carver Bees in Dassel, MN – Neil & Sue Scott
- Nora Sandstrom, Scandia - Mike Mackiewicz
Library Reminder
Don’t forget to return any library items that you might have borrowed.
Donation Request
We have a door prize drawing at the conclusion of most in-person meetings. Please consider donating new or slightly used bee-related items (or other items of interest) for the drawing.
Jess Marshall-Kurysh
MHBA President
Better Beekeeping Through Education
Next Meeting
March 10th
Fat Bodies and Bee Lifespan
Tuesday, February 10th
7:00 PM
Hybrid meeting:
In-Person: Borlaug Hall, Room 335
Via Zoom: Meeting Link
No Hive Demo
Click here for directions.
Upcoming Events
April 14
James Lee
Sustainable Beekeeping Guild of Michigan
May 12
May Splits Demo and Pizza Party
March Speaker: Dawn Beck
Dawn Beck is a Northwest native living in the Skagit Valley and a retired CPA. She received her Master Beekeeping Certificate from the University of Montana in 2020 and became a Master Beekeeper through Cornell’s challenging program in 2024.
Dawn serves beekeeping organizations as Vice President in three local clubs and WASBA. However, her true love is helping beekeepers learn to overwinter their bees and feel successful. She is the apiary manager or assistant for two club apiaries and cares for about 60 hives. Dawn has two grown children and loves spending time with her husband and hiking while travelling or staying close to home with her two dogs)
Fat Bodies and Bee Lifespan: A hidden but critical part of bee anatomy that has been her latest research topic.
March Management 2026
Hopefully, you have all had a good winter and had time to prepare a plan and equipment for the upcoming season. It is finally warming up to check on the bees, I hope you haven’t been too tempted to open them up! It is not recommended to open your hives below 50 degrees. Most of our clusters have moved into the top deep by now so when it is warm enough to peek, you will probably see a few heads peeking up at you.
Unless your bees are extremely light (less than 1 frame of honey) they should be fine for food stores. If they are light, you can give them honey frames (from another disease-free colony) by adding a box with honey frames or a frame or two to the sides of the cluster. You can feed dry sugar by putting it between the inner cover and the moisture board, or “Mountain Camping” or a candy patty on top of the frames. You can/should feed pollen at any time now, as the queens have likely started to raise a little brood. You can feed up to a third of a pollen patty at a time and place it on the top bars near the cluster. Remove and replace any moldy pollen patties as we move into spring.
If you have lost any colonies, or have “dead-outs”, you can clean the equipment out by scraping the bottom board and gently knocking out any dead bees between the frames. Do this away from the colony. Comb is very brittle in the cold so don’t try and get dead bees in cells out and shoot for a warmer day. Remember to close up all the entrances on any stored equipment.
Beyond checking your pollen patties every few weeks, now is the time to make a plan for dividing your overwintered colonies including having the equipment and any queen purchasing plans in place.
Happy Beekeeping!
Jenny
Classifieds
Mann Lake 3 frame manual honey extractor.
612-269-6777
5 frame nucs, $170. Carniolan and Italian. Healthy, strong, varroa-treated bees! Pick up around mid-May in Prior Lake.
Call Viktor at 952-212-6853
Wanted: 10-20 frame power honey extractor. Please call Dan at (320)296-5622
RAW HONEY FOR SALE:
Running low on honey, we have buckets of raw single source available.
3# PACKAGES & 5 FRAME NUCS:
For more information call Fieldstone Apiaries
Www.FieldstoneApiaries.com
612-979-8213
or email [email protected]
Did you know your membership allows you to place classified ads in the MHBA Newsletter?
MHBA OUTREACH EDUCATION
We receive many requests to table at community events where you can share your knowledge of honey bees, and beekeeping! You bring your knowledge and enthusiasm, and we provide educational props and supplies: photos, posters, beekeeping equipment, games, etc.!
To become an outreach volunteer, you must be a current MHBA member, complete and submit the Become A Community Outreach Educator form:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/get-involved/
At this time of year, I am receiving multiple requests. Below are some excellent opportunities that you may wish to consider. Once you have signed up I will share more details and information pertinent to the event you selected
Remember, we typically have at least 2 volunteers at a time! If this is your first time volunteering, you will have the support of your volunteer partner!
To SIGN UP - Please include in your response A, B, C, or D, etc. to indicate which event you are volunteering for/ inquiring about:
- MAY 2 (noon- 2:00pm) -Como Lutheran Church- "Growing for Good"
- June 3 - Spanish Immersion Preschool, Maple Grove- two 20 minute sessions between 9:30AM - 10:15am. This is a delightful, small group experience, we have a slide show and script already prepared that we used last year!
- JUNE 11 - Spanish immersion Preschool, MPLS- Three 20 minute sessions between 9:30 am - 10:30 am. This is a delightful small group experience, we have a slide show and script already prepared that we used last year!
- JULY 11th 11:00AM - 3:00PM - Como Pk. St. Paul -This is an event organized by Deaf Equity - ESL interpreters are provided! Such an AMAZING time we had 2 years ago and we are thrilled to be asked back!!
Thank you for considering these opportunities, I look forward to hearing from you!
Susan Bornstein
MHBA Outreach Education Coordinator
[email protected]
Tropilaelaps - Part II: Reproduction
Anne Pierce
The Tropilaelaps (tro-pill-lay-laps or “tropi” for short) mite was introduced in the February issue. Here are some facts about its reproduction and significant ways in which it differs from the Varroa mite.
TIME BETWEEN CELLS
Tropilaelaps mites do not have a phoretic/dispersal stage compared to Varroa mites. Varroa mites spend 4-6 days on adult bees, needing to feed on the fat body of adult bees before entering a cell. (More on what fat bodies are at the March membership meeting.) In contrast, Tropilaelaps mites do not need to feed on adult bees before entering a cell. Average time spent outside a cell is 1.3 days; upon emergence they can immediately enter another cell. Studies vary on how long Tropilaelaps can actually survive outside a capped cell; this is being studied.
Result: less time outside the cell and increased time spent reproducing inside pupal cells.
FASTER REPRODUCTION
Tropilaelaps foundresses begin laying eggs approximately 10 hours after a brood cell is capped; Varroa only begins laying eggs 60 hours after capping. Tropilaelaps also lay at a faster rate: every 24 hours, compared to Varroa’s 30.
Result: more rapid egg-laying and more than one brood.
FEEDING
While Varroa feeds on the pupa in only 1-2 spots, Tropilaelaps inflicts multiple wounds while feeding. Studies have noted Tropilaelaps feeding injuries/deformities on bee’s antennae, wings, probosces and abdomens. Bees also suffer decreased weights and diminished longevity from infestation.
Result: Increased physical injuries to bees from Tropilaelaps’ feeding as well as impaired health .
SO, rapid reproduction, feeding injuries - what does all this mean and why should we care since it (apparently) hasn’t reached our shores yet? More on this in coming issues!
(Note: I am far from an expert on this subject, but have attended multiple sessions on Tropi at conferences and have based this content on scientific articles. Still, any errors are mine and mine alone! Tropilaelaps is constantly being studied, and we continue to learn about this potential threat. Anne)
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Email a photo to [email protected] before noon on the day of the member's meeting so he can project it on the screen during “Ask the Expert.” We will all learn from you what you see in your hive.
Online Resources
Please visit our website!
https://mnbeekeepers.com/
We continue to make updates and changes to our website. Recently, we reorganized the Education page.
https://mnbeekeepers.com/ed/
Stay tuned for no-cost Community-based beekeeping classes & events in the new calendar:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/events/
If you are offering a class/event, you may submit the details to have it listed on our website:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/add-a-community-event/
Join Us On Facebook
Join our members only Facebook group:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/facebook-group/
This is a place for members to ask questions, share answers, share photos and videos, and socialize online.
MHBA Board Minutes
Please check the website for the latest, approved Board meeting minutes.
More Announcements
Membership Renewal
There are three ways to renew your membership today!
- Renew your membership online with a credit card (preferred).
- Mail the membership renewal form to our treasurer at the address provided
- Renew in person by bringing your completed form and check to the next meeting.
Our Renewal Form can be found at our Become a Member page:
https://www.mnbeekeepers.com/become_member
Newsletter Submissions
The MHBA newsletter welcomes articles, photos, recipes, etc. from members. Please send them to the editor:
[email protected]
If an article is a reprint from another source, permission must be gained if required. The due date for newsletter submission is the 25th of the month for the next month's newsletter.
MHBA Board
| Position | Member |
|---|---|
| President | Jessica Marshall-Kurysh |
| Vice President | Bill Thompson |
| Secretary | Michelle Maas |
| Treasurer | Bob Hinschberger |
| Directors | |
| Ryan Alaniz | |
| Peg DeSanto | |
| Willie Gabberd | |
| Quintin Holmberg | |
| Charlie Kundinger | |
| Katie Lee, PhD. (appointed) | |
| Mike Paskeuric | |
| Liz Pepin | |
| Anne Pierce | |
| Gary Reuter | |
| Karen Voy | |
| Past President | Kate Winsor |
| Membership | Steve Buck |
| Newsletter | Willie Gabbard (Advertising) |
| Quintin Holmberg (Editor) | |
| Technology | Quintin Holmberg |
| Gary Reuter | |
| Librarian | Gail Dramen |
| Outreach | Susan Bornstein |
| Ask Buzz | JoAnne Sabin |
| Swarm Chasers | Bob Sitko |
| Hospitality | Mark & Cathy Lee |
| Banquet | Jessica Marshall-Kurysh |
| Youth Scholarship | Christine Shoemaker |
Get Involved
Make this the year to get more involved in your club! To become a Community Outreach volunteer or a Swarm Chaser please complete and submit the appropriate form by visiting:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/get-involved/
NOTE: The contents of this Newsletter are the sole property of the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association (MHBA). NO REPUBLICATION OR USE in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, by any other person or entity without the prior express written permission from MHBA’s Board of Directors is permitted. MHBA may be contacted at [email protected]