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[ Small Beekeeper Financial Burden Relief Effort ] | [ FL Senate & House Bills ] | [ Newsletter ] | [ Committees ]
[ 90th FSBA 2010 Convention, Estero, FL ~ Photos and More ] | [ National Bee Awareness Day ]
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[ MEMBERS ONLY Area ] | [ YES I am a MEMBER, send LOGIN info ] | [ Download Consent & Release Form ] | Our E-MAIL Address

Consent and Release Form as previously explained at meetings, is so our club has permission to use your provided information for such things as:  Creation of a printed CLUB DIRECTORY for members only, so members can more easily stay in contact with each other by having phone numbers, contact information, etc. shared between members or for displaying your photos taken at website activities, etc. on our website for public viewing... or so we can contact you about upcoming special meetings, events, sales, etc.; however, please do not abuse the club directory by sending mass e-mails to complain to the membership about your club dislikes or problems with the leadership, to send junk to our members, for spamming, for hate e-mails, etc... as this is not the purpose of a club directory.

Login Information (User Name & Password) is required to view our "MEMBERS ONLY" Area.  If and only if you are a DUES paying member of our club, then you may (if your browser is correctly configured for your e-mail client) simply CLICK HERE otherwise just E-MAIL US and state in your e-mail that you are "a dues paying member of our association and are requesting your LOGIN information.

Our regular 2012 meetings are on the 2nd Wednesday of each month unless otherwise noted.

Our Next Meeting will be
February 8, 2012 at 6:30 PM


 "Speaker and Topic":  About the Farm Bureau:  Our speaker will be Andy Neuhofer, Assistant Director Field Services and the person in charge of New Membership will be presenting information on the Farm Bureau (mission, benefits, etc.).   David Gatley will NOT be presenting NATIVE POLLINATORS Part 3 (final part) at this meeting, but will conclude his presentations at another meeting.

Click here for MAP of our Regular meeting facility
Lee County Extension, 3406 Palm Beach Blvd, Ft. Myers, FL 33916-3736

Banning of Backyard Beekeeping in our Area
In spite of warm and fuzzy feelings for the honey bee, general fear of insects is canceling out common sense!
Citations issued... Fight or Flight?  Your help is needed to replace fear/ignorance with acceptance/knowledge.

Learn about the benefits of backyard beekeeping in both residential and urban areas of our community... and why issuing citations to backyard beekeepers is not in the best interest of our community.  What you can do to help.  Equip, educate yourself, the public, media, and community leaders.  Practice good beekeeping, be a model beekeeper... use Best Management Practices.  Write a letter!

[ Sample Letter to Councilman ] | [ Contact Your City Councilman ] | [ Contact Your County Commissioner ]
[ More Resources: PowerPoints, pdf docs, etc. ] | [ Best Management Practices of Beekeeping ] | [ Sample Ordinance ]

Beekeeper, Laurence P. Cutts will be inducted into the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame

Annual Banquet and Ceremony
February 14, 2012
Reception: 5:30 p.m.
Dinner and program: 7:00 p.m.

$60.00 per person,   RSVP by February 10, 2012

The banquet takes place in the Special Event Center at the Fairgrounds.  Use the Martin Luther King Boulevard Fair Entrance

Laurence will be honored at Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame banquet during the Florida State Fair in Tampa.

Laurence is a third-generation beekeeper who was instrumental in advocating for research to reduce bee hive losses in Florida. He also invented a trap for small hive beetles. Cutts served as chief of the Apiary Inspection Bureau at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. ... read more

If interested in attending and sitting at a FL Beekeeper's table, please send to your check in the amount of $60.00 (per person) to Gary Ranker. Include your name as you wish it to be printed on the name tagClick Here for Gary's contact information.    SEE VIDEOS of Laurence Cutts

Seating assignment will appear on your name badge at the event.


Pot Luck Dinner and Meeting
was held on Wednesday, 12-14-11, 6:30 PM


Click Here or on Images above to see all the pictures, etc. from this event.

State Preemption/Apiculture -
SB 1132 (Hays) & HB 1197 (Horner)


View Bill:  Web Page (html) | Document (pdf) | ...more details


View Bill: Original Filed Version | ...more details

This bill would give the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) exclusive authority to regulate beekeeping, apiaries and their locations.

Farm Bureau’s annual legislative days in Tallahassee

Briefing Dinner: Monday, January 30, 2012 at the Antique Car Museum (6800 Mahan Drive 32308) beginning at 6:30 p.m. RSVPs are required. Admission is $15 and is payable at the door.

Legislative Reception: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 at the Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. ...read more


Program Brochure | Registration Form | Schedule
Bee College Honey Show Rules | ...More info

Registration is now open for the
5th Annual University of Florida
Bee College Program
Friday and Saturday March 9th & 10th, 2012

The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
9505 Ocean Shore Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL 32080-8610


Brochure | Registration Form & Course Outlines

Palm Beach Beekeepers Conference
Saturday April 14, 2012
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Pine Jog Environmental Education Center
6301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL 33415

 


Fair Brochure | Info Regarding FSBA Booth | Volunteer to work FSBA Booth

The FSBA will have a booth at the Florida State Fair, Tampa, FL ~ February 9 -20, 2012.  Bert Kelley is the coordinator. Bert carries his master sign-up sheet with him at all times during the day, so just give him a call to be added to the list.


Look "REAL CLOSE" and Magnify Your Knowledge


Sign up for
Newsletter and Meeting Announcements

Carefully enter your e-mail address below:
 



Dennis spoke at the Venice Area Garden Club, Venice, FL on Thursday, January 5, 2012.  His one-hour talk/demonstration included basic bee biology, beekeeping as a hobby, and honey from the hive to the market place.  Observation hive with live bees were on display during the presentation.  He was well-received, many questions, and much interest in beekeeping.  BASF flyers, club meeting information, Honey Queen recipes, etc. were distributed to those interested.  Pictured below is Bea Holt and Dennis.

"Thank you for your informative and entertaining presentation."  Bea Holt, VP Venice Area Garden Club, Venice, FL



The Curious Kids meet beekeeper Keith Councell to learn just how creative bees can be! From honey to furniture polish and candy, bees keep pretty busy!

 


  2010 Banquet Highlights | Natural Beekeeping | Top Bar Hives | Cape Honey Bee | Honey Princess | Pesticides | Monkies | Hive Products | Opening Ceremony

Better late than never.  Found Videos from last year's convention... thanks to Brendhan for posting them on web at vimeo.  For those who missed the convention, you can watch videos from last year's event using menu directly above.  A couple of videos included below for your enjoyment:

 

Bee Bearding at our 2010 Convention for FSBA

 

 
Our David Mendes at Day in Bee Yard portion of our Convention 2010 for FSBA

 


2011 Back Issues: January | February | March | April | MayJune | June July | August | September | October
2010 Back Issues:
April | May | June | July | August | October | November | December

Reminder to registered beekeepers from Freddie Howard, local apiary inspector:
If you have not already done so, please call Freddie and schedule your yearly inspection

| Find your Legislators | Write to your Representative | Locate your Senator |

FAQ (Frequently Asked Question):

  QUESTION:  Where can I get package bees, queens, and equipment?
ANSWER: 
Click HERE or on LINKS in menu above.

Our Event Calendar  

Our Local Beekeepers Association of Southwest Florida Calendar.  Primarily Local BEEKEEPING Events and BEEKEEPING Activities.  Events with some State (Florida) Events.

   Global Event Calendar

FSBA Calendar includes all Beekeeping Events (Local, Florida, and other locations).  We are often incorrectly listed as Southwest Beekeepers on this calendar.

Free Bee Removal?
BEES ON MY PROPERTY!... What Should I do?  CLICK HERE before doing anything!

Annual UF Bee College and Master Beekeeper Program
 

Click logos below for more information!

   

Bee College: March 9 & 10, 2012   ~   Master Beekeeper Program October 27, 2011

CLICK HERE for more information

Click here to join riggsfriends
Click to join our Yahoo Group FREE (swfbees)

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Not a beekeeper, but wish to support our efforts and show your support for our cause, then please consider donating.  You may use the convenient "Donate" button to donate online (securely and safely) using your credit card... or you may mail your donations to our treasurer. 

Beekeepers Association of Southwest Florida can use your help.  Please DONATE to support our group's efforts.
 We are a now a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization and your donations are tax deductible!:

 Notice:  You do NOT have to be a member of PayPal (or sign up) to use your credit card to donate, simply look during the donation process for the section "Don't have a PayPal account? and click continue.


This document was created on 1/09/08, rev. 01/22/12

©2008-2012 Denrig, Inc., All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do I join Beekeepers Association of Southwest Florida (BASF)?  Attend one of our meetings and pay applicable dues to our Treasurer, or you can DOWNLOAD an application for membership, and mail it to our treasurer along with applicable dues.  Currently $10 for current year if you are already a member of the Florida State Beekeepers Association (FSBA).  If you are not a member of FSBA then we can collect membership dues for FSBA as well, in which case the total amount would be $25 ($10 BASF + $15 FSBA).