Southeastern Indiana Beekeepers Association

05/22/2026

It was a great meeting for May at the Sunman legion. We got into the hives outside to do basic inspections and both hives are doing great. Eggs seen in both, and one is slightly ahead of the other. Well done to the new beekeepers running the hives. We’ll provide a recap later

Inside, Indiana coordinator for Hives for Heroes, Ron Ray, told us about the great work this organization is doing for first responders and veterans. They are also looking for mentors. For more information, visit https://hivesforheroes.org - See everyone in June!

05/17/2026

May 2026 SIBA Monthly Meeting Update -

It’s hard to believe how fast things have progressed since April. The black locust bloom came early this year, and once it hit, it seemed to stick around for a while. I’ve heard from several folks that they didn’t see many bees working the locust, but there’s a pretty specific window during ...

05/06/2026

Join us at Jim's Bee Barn on May 23rd, the Saturday following the monthly SIBA meeting, for talks and hands on demos of common problems that can happen in a hive and how to fix them.

Location:
The Bee Barn (Ark Farm and Kennel)
8340 E. IN-48 Milan, IN 47031

Date and time:
May 23rd, 9am-12pm

Ppitch-in meal after discussions and time for hive inspections if folks want to stick around for more bee time.

Join us at Jim’s Bee Barn for another free workshop about common problems in the hive and how to fix them! Tell a friend and see you there!

05/06/2026

For May, SIBA welcomes Indiana Hives for Heroes coordinator, Ron Ray. Every day, Veterans and First Responders come home carrying wounds most people never see. Hives for Heroes meets them where they are and gives them what so many are still searching for: purpose, community, and a reason to keep going.

Founded in 2018 with one hive in Houston, Hives for Heroes is now the largest beekeeping network in the United States, 10,000+ Heroes strong, in every state in the nation.

We invite one and all to attend! Spread the word to our veterans and first responders!

WHEN: Thursday, May 21st at 6:30pm
WHERE: The Sunman American Legion Post 337:
412 Eastern Ave.
Sunman, IN 47041

The monthly general meeting for all things beekeeping is held the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Sunman American Legion! Open and free to the public.

04/23/2026

Fellow beekeepers, The sun is shining, and Black Locust trees are in full bloom in Northern KY. SIBA member, Tyson Hermes has nucs for sale. Attend a free workshop, pick up a locally overwintered nuc.

They've had one of the most successful Springs so far and over-wintered 22 colonies. They have split them and have them ready for new beekeepers, or current beekeepers who would like to grow their apiary.

The nucs are $225 each, and include:

-5-frame wooden nuc with a mated and marked (white) queen
-Strong Winter-survivor Stock, bred for Cincinnati winters
-Chemical Free colony

Reservations will run out. First come first serve. Nucs will be available for pick up in 2-3 weeks in Erlanger, Burlington, or Walton.

Call to reserve your colony. No money down.

Tyson Hermes, 859-992-2470

P.S. If you know of someone who’s interested in learning more about beekeeping, please let them know about a free class on Beekeeping on Saturday May 16, 2026, from Noon to 2:00 at The Hive East Coast Kitchen, in Erlanger, KY. A flyer is attached.

04/23/2026

Big shoutout to SIBA member Garry Reeves, Honey.by.Reeves who was featured by Eagle Country today for his honey operation!

Garry has always been an inspiration to me personally and should be for any aspiring beekeeper. He has taken beekeeping to an incredible level through hard work, dedication, and a true passion for the craft. He always represents beekeeping, and SIBA, so well! Thanks Garry! Be sure to check it out!
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Garry Reeves and his wife Kathy Reeves run a home-based honey operation in Moores Hill.

04/18/2026

On Thursday, Julia Sizemore and Jason Bosch installed the two swarms of bees provided by Don Burkart at our "Sunman yard." These are two of the beekeepers that stepped up to help us manage these hives. It was a beautiful day as well.

We look forward to being able to open these hives ahead of the meetings this summer. We'll send reminders, but know that our plan is to meet at 5:30pm (30 minutes ahead of each meeting) to look in the hives to give a check and talk about what we saw. This is a great learning opportunity for our new beekeepers and anyone else wanting to look in. We'll have some extra protective jackets and veils for anyone interested but does not have a bee suit.

Thanks to everyone involved for coordinating this opportunity for our beekeepers and the community at large! See you in the yard this season!

04/17/2026

For April, Jason Morgan presented Honeybee Splits. What, Why and How? Before the meeting, we started outside at the legion hives and installed the bees provided by Don Burkart into their new hives. We put a few pics below. Then, we moved inside to talk splits! The type of split you do should be based on your goals in the apiary. Splits can be used for making honey, preventing swarming, increasing colonies and more. View the slide deck Jason presented at the April SIBA meeting by clicking below and we'll see everyone in May!

https://www.indianahoney.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Splitting-Honeybee-Colonies.pdf

04/12/2026

April 2026 SIBA Monthly Meeting Update - SIBA member Jason Morgan will cover the topic of SPLITS! Come to the meeting to learn about splits, then attend Jim's field day on Saturday Apr, 18 to see it in action! https://mailchi.mp/fa6900450323/march-2026-siba-monthly-meeting-update-9316304

01/16/2026

Mike and Debbie Seib visited us this month and gave us an update from the state and also covered the “Tropi” mite. While the current threat is Varroa, this new mite is on the rise and we hope it doesn’t soon find its way to the US. When it does, we all need to be watching fot it and know how to respond. This new mite as even smaller than the current one. They also passed around some pretty cool samples of different bees of various genuses (dorsata, mellifera, etc). There are honeybees that are both larger and smaller than apis mellifera that are common around here.  we thank them for making the track down to see us. Hope to see everyone at the February meeting!