Dubuque Swiss Valley Bee Club

03/30/2026

03/27/2026

🐝 Proclamation: Iowa Honey Bee Day – March 25, 2026 🍯

The City of Asbury is proud to recognize Iowa Honey Bee Day! Mayor Adams has signed a proclamation celebrating the important role honey bees play in our environment and food supply.

🌼 Help support our pollinators by planting flowers and creating bee-friendly spaces in our community!

03/26/2026

It was a great day at the Iowa Capital today!
🐝 🍯 🐝 🍯

03/18/2026

Phil Ebert started Ebert Honey in 1980 with fewer than ten hives in his backyard near Fairfield, Iowa. What began as a hobby has grown into a thriving family business, now producing around 100,000 pounds of honey each year. Today, Phil and his sons Adam and Alex continue the tradition, supplying local grocery stores, bakeries, breweries, and restaurants across central and eastern Iowa with their honey. 🍯🐝
This Saturday at the Winter Seminar, Phil will utilize his years of experience and knowledge in his presentation on Preparing for Spring.🌷🌸🌞

08/11/2025

Did you all hear the buzz!!!
Our own Deb and Tony Zenner and HR Cook brought home 1st and 2nd Place at the State Fair this year!!!
Eastern Iowa Beekeeing, clean sweep!!
Congratulations all!!!!

07/29/2025

Who is pulling honey supers? How is your harvest going? Has the rain or extreme heat affected your decision to harvest honey?

07/29/2025

After honey harvest and preparing for winter, it is time to for fall and winter meetings. Don't forget October 24-25 IHPA Annual Conference and Trade Show

Beekeeping is a lifelong adventure. Fall & winter are good times to invest in yourself. Whether a regional or national conference, or a good beekeeping book, now is the time to invest in yourself!

07/12/2025

Early Bird registration is now open for the biggest baddest beekeeping conference in the midwest The Iowa Honey Producers Association Annual Conference and Trade show October 24-25 at Prairie Meadows Resort boasts SEVEN major speakers including Bob Binnie plus breakouts, contests and a lot of vendors. Check it out and save some dough!

https://www.iowahoneyproducers.org/

07/12/2025

We hope everyone came through the storms okay the last few days. Let us know in the comments how your hives fared.

05/16/2025

By now, you have been seeing the yellow ad about summer field day and we are beyond thrilled to be able to have this great event at Ebert Honey in Mt. Vernon, IA this year. The day is going to be filled with informational sessions, live demonstrations and panels just to name a few things. When putting this event together, we wanted to make sure we tailor this to hobbyists with a couple colonies up to the folks starting a small business and ensure it’s beneficial for all. In addition, we have some great vending options for you here!

Saturday, June 21st
Ebert Honey 1090 IA-1N, Mt Vernon, IA 52314

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
https://www.iowahoneyproducers.org/online-store

Let’s start off with the program!

Sessions:

Ross Rounds and Cut Comb Honey:
Who doesn’t love comb honey? Who doesn’t like the challenge of making comb honey? This session is set for those who want to learn the process of getting bees to draw our frame or ross rounds so you can either produce this for home use or as a value added product to offer to your customers. We are thrilled to have Phil Ebert and Shannon Bardole-Foley walking us through the process of making this happen.

Identifying Pests and Diseases:
This session will be featuring our own State Apiarist, Andrew Joseph provinging the information we need to identify issues with hives, and how to deal with those. From the common varroa mite to discussion of AFB, Andrew will be talking about how we keep our bees healthy and strong to face the Iowa Winters.

Best Practices in Honey Harvest:
As a beekeeper, honey harvest is one of the most exciting times, we get to see the fruits of our labor finally pay off. This session is going to be reviewing how to know when it’s time to pull honey supers, storage and bottling - including the elusive label requirements (not the elusive, but it’s a great refresher).

Starting a Bee Business what you need to know to get going:
Don’t mistake this session for only those wanting to get into farmers markets or the commercial space. There’s a lot of questions that come when starting your beekeeping journey. This session is going to be part presentation, part panel from hobbyist to commercial beekeepers sharing their story, challenges and advice on how to have the best beekeeping operation, regardless of the number of hives, or aspirations. Come with questions ready to go, it’s encouraged!

Live Hive Inspections & Splits:
We can’t have a Summer Field day without getting into some hives and Ebert Honey has been kind enough to provide the bees! These sessions will be led by Tyler Holton and you can expect the IHPA board to come in with an assist. Bring your bee suits, things will be buzzing!

04/04/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Cqqiuw3yK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Here's a snippet from an article in our most recent edition of Bee Culture Magazine. Like what you read? Subscribe today! Just go to www.BeeCulture.com (outside of the U.S. - head to www.Store.BeeCulture.com).

The Auburn Series
Tracking Colony Losses: A Collaborative Effort Through Time
By: Agostina Giacobino & Nathalie Steinhauer

At the time of writing, the Auburn University Bee Lab, along with the Apiary Inspectors of America, are diligently preparing to launch the 2024-2025 US Beekeeping Survey: Colony Loss and Management by the 1st of April. Why is it important to track colony losses over time, and how can we use this information, you might ask? Well, to start, every year the survey’s results help provide a clear picture of colony loss numbers based on reports from beekeepers, shedding light on the challenges they face. These numbers give the beekeeping industry a stronger voice in the ongoing conversation about the many threats to honey bees, other important pollinators and ultimately food safety. By consistently monitoring colony losses, researchers and beekeepers can identify trends, such as whether certain regions are more frequently affected, or if environmental factors or pest infestations play a significant role in the loss of those colonies. In addition, it is important to monitor shifts in the popularity of management practices, especially considering regional differences and variations in operation size, since beekeeping isn’t uniform and practices can vary widely across the country. This is important, especially in the face of resistance to some treatments that we use.

To read on, go to: https://www.beeculture.com/the-auburn-series-2/