"Featured Fun":

• Spring Hive Opening with club member, Paul Tessier, MDAR Apiary Inspector (bring protective gear)
  
• New: Bee Suits for Kids Program
  
• Informational Table
  
• Delicious Buffet Lunch and time to talk about bees with other club members
  
• Mead tasting
  
• Honey Dessert Contest-winner receives $50 gift certificate to BetterBee
  
• Amazing Raffle-over 15 bee themed prizes and beloved "Box Full of Scratch Tickets"
  

Please bring:

• your favorite honey dessert for the contest
  
• protective gear for hive opening
  
• a SCRATCH TICKET for the raffle
  
• cash/credit card for raffle and merchandise

Educational Presentation:
The Delicate Balance of the Beehive

All healthy honeybee colonies are hardwired to swarm at some time in their development. But the delicate balance of the hive can be maintained if the beekeeper knows and uses swarm prevention management.

This talk will address:

• Why and how honeybees swarm; 
• How, by taking planned action, you can delay and prevent a swarm. 
• Swarm prevention is no longer a hive management practice reserved for just experienced beekeepers, but is available to those with all levels of understanding. 
• A swarm can result in the loss of between 30% - 50% of the hive’s population. 
• By effectively performing easily learned swarm management practices, you can prevent that loss.
  
  This presentation will be delivered by Dave Lewcon, owner/operator of Dave Lewcon Apiaries.

• Manages approx. 140 hives in Worcester & Norfolk Counties 
• Opening Hive presenter at outdoor Worcester County Beekeepers Association meetings
• WCBA Bee School Instructor (Swarm Prevention/Installation of bee packages and nucs/Question & Answer Panel) 
• 2015 recipient of the WCBA “Appreciation Award” 
• 2018 WCBA BEEKEEPER OF THE YEAR 
• Participant in the Cornell Master Beekeeping Program 
• Received certificates in Queen Rearing: from Cornell University and Wetland Apiaries