Roane/Morgan County Bee Club

07/28/2026

Good Tuesday Morning, fellow beekeepers!

I hope everyone is doing well as we putter through the summer heat and that everyone is enjoying the fruits of you and your bees' labor through all of the honey extracting.

I'm reaching out today to see if anyone is experiencing a heavy presence of hive beetles this year. I have been requested to reach out to our club and see if any of you could share the status on your hive beetle numbers. This is for research purposes (not personal but professional) so, please reply to the email that was sent out (do not Reply All) or message us on Facebook if your hives fit this category.

Thank you all and I look forward to seeing you at our August meeting!

- Conner

07/16/2026

Hello there, keepers of the bees! We sunk into the dead heat of summer with a fantastic July meeting led by renowned local beekeeper, Harold "Peanut" Inman. If memory serves correctly, this was his 4th or 5th consecutive year speaking with us at the club and we simply cannot state how happy we were for him to return.

If you know Peanut, or have heard him speak before, then you're familiar with the fact that he can sure talk bees. It really is quite fascinating the attention to detail he puts forward into all things beekeeping. Tuesday night was no different, as Peanut walked us through his strategy of super'ing during the nectar flow, staying organized, and maximizing convenience when taking supers off by utilizing escape boards. (THE SCREEN SIDE GOES DOWN) He also shared with us his unfeigned love for having on-demand comb that's pulled out and readily available which, mind you, is the true bread and butter of maximizing honey production. And what do you do when you need bees to draw comb? Feed. Feed. Feed. Peanut shared many more insights into his philosophy on feeding your bees, nutrition, and how to help your bees out in any way we can. We really appreciate Peanut and his wife visiting us again. It's always a treat to have them. Be sure and look for the full summary in next month's newsletter.

We appreciated Tracy from TLC Apiary visiting us with his truck load of supplies, as well as Cumberland County Beekeepers Association President Sherri Byars making the drive down for the evening.

Please remember the Local Inspector's Certification course coming up on the evenings of August 31st and September 1st at 6:00 PM CENTRAL Time, hosted by Cumberland County Beekeepers. That will be held at Crossville First United Methodist Church on 69 Neecham Street, Crossville, TN. If you are a beekeeper with 4-5 years experience and would like to signup, please send us a message.

It is hard to believe we are winding down to August already. This season at the club has been good and I simply cannot thank everyone who has attended, brought food, or helped in any way enough. Next month's speaker will be announced later on. We look forward to seeing everyone then.

God Bless You and all of your bees,

- Conner

07/14/2026

ATTENTION: TLC Apiary will be at the meeting tonight at 6:30 PM with all our equipment needs

Send a message to learn more

07/07/2026

Boy oh boy! Time sure has slipped away from me this past month and I sincerely apologize for the lack of an update from last month's meeting.

As you can tell you from the photo (please don't notice my poor panorama skills), June was our biggest turnout of the year so far. That's not really surprising considering the famed presence of Kentucky Master Beekeeper, Kent Williams. I am not sure how many consecutive years he has been speaking at our club, but it's extremely likely we will always be coordinating with him on returning each season.

I must admit that I am incapable of providing as eloquent of a synopsis that our members/email recipients will receive from our monthly newsletter that's sure to be in our inboxes pretty soon. We covered a lot of information which has been well over a month ago. And let's be real, if anyone happens to have a memory that good, it's crucial that we know! However, an acceptable review on Facebook would simply be: "Queens, Queens, and More Queens." Kent gave an invaluable discussion on everything queens, from which traits are actually passed down from royalty versus which ones come from the drones, to how he manages who and where his queens mate. So much of beekeeping relies on knowing the ins-and-outs of proper queen management that their importance simply cannot be overstated enough. Be on the lookout for the full review from our monthly newsletter coming to an email near you!

For anyone that did not catch last month's meeting, we mentioned the great news that Cumberland County Beekeepers Association will be hosting a Local Inspector's Course for certification soon. There are currently 20 more slots available. The course will be on Monday, August 31st from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM EASTERN TIME (location to be determined). You must have at least 4-5 years of beekeeping experience in order to attend. A link to sign up will be included in our monthly newsletter, so please sign up if you are interested. We greatly appreciate CCBA extending an invitation to us.

Looking forward to our meeting next Tuesday with Harold "Peanut" Inman. He is from beautiful Townsend and is another repeat speaker from over the past few years. If you have not heard one of his talks before, then I highly advise you don't miss this one as your love for the bees is sure to be reignited.

Tuesday, July 14.
North Point Church. Harriman.
Potluck at 6:00.
Speaker at 6:30.
You all know the drill.

God Bless All of You and Your Colonies

- Conner

07/04/2026

07/04/2026

Only 3 sets left at this price! Call Tracy 931-287-5029 to claim!

07/04/2026

07/04/2026

I thought this was interesting

05/13/2026

Another successful monthly meeting at the club with what was personally my favorite talk of the season. When you have two veteran beekeepers with the personality, patience, humor, wit, and pure, unadulterated love for honey bees like Ivan and Monica do, you are 100%-guaranteed to have a fun time.

Ivan and Monica have been beekeeper partners for the past 11 years, with Ivan having over 25 years of experience. They shared their story of how they met and entered into beekeeping, as well as all of their tips, tricks, and current endeavors with raising bees and queens. They emphasized that there are really two sides to beekeeping: making honey and raising bees. The latter being one that I feel is often neglected and is equally, if not more, important than the former.

We treated this month as our annual open discussion meeting where everyone is open to asking anything and everything. We had a great turnout, lots of questions, and of course all of the delicious food. I appreciate each and everyone who came and participated. You make the club what it is.

Also, a shoutout to Tracy from TLC Apiary who came as well with a truckload full of bee supplies. Be sure and look for announcements for when he will be coming to meetings, in case you need to stock up on a few items. We REALLY appreciate him and his business within this region of beekeepers.

Our speaker next month is the legendary commercial beekeeper Kent Williams. We're always so delighted to have him. You won't want to miss it.

And finally, to something Ivan and Monica said. Beekeeping is a "disease" - they have to do it because they love it so much. I had never heard it put like that before. May that be the only disease we spread to one another so that we may revel in the love for beekeeping like they do.

- Conner