Rhea County Bee Club

05/14/2026

🐝🛠️ RCBA Swarm Saver Shoutout! 🛠️🐝

We want to give a HUGE thank you to Rick Sharpe and Harold Nail for all the incredible work they’ve been doing this swarm season helping with bee swarms and cut-outs throughout our community 💛

So far this season, they have successfully completed five swarm/cut-out removals, including one that became a hands-on group demonstration for Rhea County Beekeepers Association members to learn from 🐝✨

From climbing high spaces to helping safely relocate colonies, these guys have gone above and beyond to help protect pollinators and support our local community.

🐝💛 THANK YOU, Rick and Harold, for your time, knowledge, hard work, and willingness to answer the call when bees need saving!

🤔 Interested in helping save swarms too?

RCBA is always looking for members who want to become part of our Swarm Savers Team and learn more about swarm collection and bee removals.

📩 If you’d like to get involved, or if you have a swarm or bee removal need, message us here or contact Rick Sharpe at 423-240-1650 for assistance.

Every swarm safely relocated is thousands of bees given a second chance 🌼🐝

05/13/2026

We had a wonderful evening at last night’s Rhea County Beekeepers Association meeting filled with learning, fellowship, great food, and community 🍯✨

A huge thank you to Dr. Larry Millet for his thought-provoking presentation and for sharing his knowledge and perspective on hive health, and the future of honey bees. We truly appreciate the time and expertise he shared with our club last night! 🐝📚

🍽️ Thank you as well to everyone who brought food for our potluck dinner. Sharing meals together is one of our favorite parts of RCBA meetings!

And a special shoutout to Amanda Westfall for the AMAZING homemade chocolate cake 🎂 Was definitely a crowd favorite! 💛

🎁 We’d also like to thank everyone who contributed raffle and giveaway items for tonight’s meeting:

🌸 Jonathan Jouben- for the beautiful flowers
🖼️ Stephanie Gose and Kellye Bishop- for the wax frames
🐝 Andrea Porter- for the bee pillow cover
🥚 Tim Abbey- for the fresh eggs

Your generosity helps make our meetings fun, welcoming, and memorable for everyone who attends 💛

We are so thankful for this growing community of beekeepers, families, and pollinator supporters. Nights like this remind us how special RCBA truly is 🐝✨

05/11/2026

05/11/2026

🐝🍓💛 THANK YOU from RCBA! 💛🍓🐝

What a great time at the Strawberry Festival Parade! We are so grateful for everyone who helped bring our Rhea County Beekeepers Association parade float to life and helped us spread awareness about bees, pollinators, and our local beekeeping community 🐝✨

A HUGE thank you to:

🐝 John Garrison, our RCBA President- for helping lead and support the club every step of the way.

🚛💧 Radford & Emily Harrell- for providing the truck, water, and drinks for everyone, and a special thank you to Emily for designing our beautiful banner! And thank you to their son, Gress, who literally “hung out” on the truck and helped toss candy 🤣

🎨✨ Andrea Porter- for all your help ordering supplies and helping decorate the float.

🍓🐝 Amanda Westfall & Erica Axmacher- for putting together the adorable hand fans we passed out during the parade.

👯‍♀️🍭 Evelyn and Grace- for walking the route with us and helping pass out hand fans and candy to all the children.

🛴🍬 Erica & Josh Axmacher- for bringing your four girls on decorated scooters to help pass out candy and bring joy to the parade route!

🎨✨ Kelly Kissell- for helping us decorate and beautify the truck.

🍬💛 Kelly & Ryan Young- for bringing your three boys to help pass out candy… all while being 8 months pregnant! Absolute queen status 🐝✨

🐝🍭 Bali Santiago- for helping decorate and pass out candy alongside our nephews and niece.

🫧✨ Melanie Lavigne- for being on bubble duty and helping hand out candy during the parade!

🏆🐝 And finally… our PARADE MVP… Mabry Harrell!

Mabry wore the inflatable bee suit for the ENTIRE parade route 🙌🏽 She waggle danced down the streets, “stung” parade-goers, kept the energy high, and had everyone smiling and laughing the whole way through 💛✨

By the end of the parade she was HOT 🥵 but she absolutely committed to the bee life 😂🐝

It truly takes a village to make something like this happen, and we are so thankful for every person who showed up, walked, decorated, donated, supported, and helped us represent RCBA in such a fun and meaningful way 💛

We loved seeing the smiles, the bee gear, the bubbles, the scooters, and all the community support along the route 🐝🍓✨

THANK YOU for helping us make this one of our most BUZZ-worthy parades yet!

📸 Stay tuned for our photo album! 📸

05/08/2026

🍓🐝 Find the Bees at the Strawberry Festival! 🐝🍓

The Rhea County Beekeepers Association is excited to be part of this year’s Strawberry Festival fun!

🐝✨ Be sure to catch RCBA in the parade tomorrow at 1:00 PM as we help spread awareness about honey bees, pollinators, and our local beekeeping community!

While you’re enjoying the festival, stop by and support some of our amazing local bee vendors:

🍯 Susan McCoy Olinger — Booth #244 (by Region’s Bank)

Susan will have:
🍯 Spring wildflower honey
⛰️ Fall mountain honey
🌶️ Habanero hot honey
🍋 Whipped honey (lemon, cinnamon & plain)
🥜 Honey soaked pecans
🍓 And berries!

🍯 Diana's Daughters
📍 South side of the Courthouse near the food trucks 🛻

Visit Diane for:
🐝 Honey decor
🌼 Bee pollen
🍯 Local honey
👀 Observation hive

Come celebrate local bees, beekeepers, berries, and community with us this weekend! 🐝🍓✨

05/07/2026

🐝♻️ Your Old Yard Signs Can Help Save the Bees! ♻️🐝

Election season means yard signs everywhere but instead of tossing them in the trash, give them a second life helping local beekeepers and pollinators 💛

Rhea County Beekeepers Association is excited to partner with PostNet of Dayton to collect and recycle old corrugated plastic yard signs! 🪧

🍯 These recycled boards can be repurposed by beekeepers as “sticky boards” to:
✅ Monitor pests like Varroa mites & hive beetles
✅ Help regulate hive temperatures during winter
✅ Save local beekeepers money on hive supplies

✨ One old sign may not seem like much but together, they can make a BIG difference for our local beekeeping community.

📍 DROP-OFF LOCATION:
PostNet of Dayton
4155 Rhea County Hwy, Dayton, TN

🐝 Help us keep useful materials out of landfills and put them back to work supporting our pollinators!

05/07/2026

🐝🍯 Join Us for the May RCBA Meeting! 🍯🐝

📅 Tuesday, May 12th
🕕 Fellowship & Potluck: 6:00 PM
🕡 Meeting Begins: Around 6:30 PM
📍 Rhea County Fairgrounds
334 Eagle Lane, Evensville, TN
(We’re in the building just past the barn!)

This month’s guest speaker is Dr. Larry Millet, presenting:

💭 “Managed Hives Vs. Treatment Free Beekeeping”

Dr. Millet will lead a thought-provoking discussion on:
🐝 What a truly healthy hive looks like
🐝 How to recognize hive health
🐝 Treatment vs. no-treatment approaches
🐝 And how honey bees are not in trouble… we are.

Dr. Millet is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, specializing in cellular biology, neuroscience, microfabrication, and honey bee technology. He has published more than forty scientific papers and began beekeeping in 2017.

🍽️ We’ll also have a potluck dinner, so bring a dish or snack to share!

🎁 Have door prizes to donate?
Please give them to Rick or Tracy at check-in.

👕 RCBA t-shirts will also be available for purchase at the meeting!
(Proceeds support the club 💛)

✨ New to beekeeping or curious about getting started? Come check us out 🤗 we’d love to meet you!



Rhea County Beekeepers Association

05/05/2026

🍓🐝 Walk With RCBA in the Strawberry Parade! 🐝🍓

Come join the buzz and walk with us in the Strawberry Festival Parade this Saturday, May 9th!

Throw on your bee gear 🐝, grab a friend, and help us represent the Rhea County Bee Association while celebrating our community 💛

🚶‍♀️ Easy, fun 1.5–2 mile route
🎉 Great vibes + great people
🐝 All about supporting our pollinators!

📍 Meet: Market Street North (by Coulter Garrison Funeral Home)
🕛 Arrive: Between 12:00-12:45 PM
🕐 Parade Starts: 1:00 PM

Let’s show up, stand out, and make it BUZZ 🐝✨

05/02/2026

5.2.26 ☀️🌼🐝 Our New Beekeepers gather to inspect their hives on this beautiful spring day.