Past home page news will be stored here!
Frostburg Block Party 2018
Once again, the Allegheny Mountain Beekeepers set up a table at the 2018 Frostburg Block Party. Lew and Nancy Smith, along with Marjorie and Brittany Llewellyn worked the table from 5pm-9pm. Lew provided a tent, observation hive, and several tools. Marjorie and Brittany provided tools, wax items and learning materials for those interested. The table was visited by many locals and college students. Flyers for the clubs times, dates and location were provided to those interested in attending.
AMBA
Beekeeper
Of The Year
Winner
Ben Cooper
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Ben Cooper was recognized as Beekeeper of the Year for AMBA because of all of his hard work in the bee community. Ben teaches Intro To Beekeeping at Allegany College of Maryland: Continuing Education, along with doing bee presentations to the community. Ben also helped pass HB-0177 (better known at the Bear Bill) for the state of Maryland. We thank Ben for his past years, and continued years of service to not only AMBA, but the bee community. Congratulations Ben!
Spreading The Word
On April 28th, at the George's Creek Regional Library, Marjorie and Brittany Llewellyn along with Lewis and Nancy Smith, spent the day teaching visitors about bees. Lewis provided and observation hive and Brittany provided several projects and crafts for young kids to do. With about 30 visitors, it was a very informative and productive day.
We are excited to start the new year off with you, at our first 2018 meeting on January 12th at 7pm at the LaVale Library in LaVale Maryland. 2017 blessed us with new memberships and new friendships to AMBA! Members spent a lot of 2017 promoting our club and speaking out for bees! Ben Cooper taught a spring and fall beekeeping class at Allegheny College of Maryland along with doing several presentations to the public at various locations. Lewis and Nancy Smith, Jeff McIntyre, Richard Cutter and Marjorie and Brittany Llewellyn spent a rainy evening on the streets of Frostburg at the Block Party talking with the community and FSU members about bees! Ben and Brittany also spent a day at FSU for the S.T.E.M. Program, talking to hundreds of students and parents. Members Jim Egros, Richard Cutter, Jeff McIntyre and Ben Cooper entered bee related items into the 2017 Allegany County Fair and received ribbons. AMBA members also joined Garrett County Beekeepers at Camp Hickory in June for a day filled with speakers and activities involving honey bees.
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2017 also saw a step in the right direction for beekeepers in Maryland regarding the law on protecting their hives against bear. Ben Cooper worked hard to pass the Bear Bill (HB-0177) which states: "Exempting an individual who kills or wounds a black bear in defense of the life of a honey bee in a honey bee colony managed by the individual on the individual's property from specified penalties, subject to a specified exception; and establishing that the exemption applies only if the individual has installed and properly maintained an electric fence." For beekeepers in Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Fredrick counties, that see a bear population of around 2000, this is a great achievement, and we thank Ben for all of his hard work!
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As we start our 2018 meetings with our newly elected President, Lewis Smith, we look forward to seeing you and we can't wait to see what the year brings for our bee community!
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All homepage articles will be added to the PAST NEWS page, so we never delete a bee moment!
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We also have something fun coming to the site for 2018, so stay tuned!
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If you have ever wanted to keep bees or learn more about them, now is the perfect time to join us at our meetings. Come start your new year off right with AMBA at the LaVale Library at 7pm, on the second Friday of every month. Check the website after meetings, as we log meeting notes and highlights from our evening. You can also subscribe to the site so you never miss a moment of news!
2017 Frostburg Block Party
On September 6th 2017, after being invited by the city of Frostburg Maryland, 6 members of AMBA set up table displays at The Block Party. The Block Party is a annual event hosted by the city to bring community members and students from FSU together. AMBA used the evening as a way to teach people about bees and offer those interested in beekeeping a chance to learn about meetings and talk to beekeepers. Special thanks to AMBA Members Brittany and Marjorie Llewellyn, Lew and Nancy Smith, Richard Cutter and Jeff McIntyre for participating and setting up the tent and tables. The community and several students of FSU showed interest in our organization and were able to make some connections to get started.
Allegany County Fair & Agricultural Expo
The 2017 Allegany County Fair was a great year for beekeeping displays and entries! 4 of out very own members took home ribbons! Jim Egros (1st place) Ben Cooper (2nd place) and Jeff McIntyre (3rd place) took home awards for their framed comb honey. Richard Cutter took home a first place ribbon for 2 lbs of bees wax and first place for fancy wax figure. Congratulations to our AMBA winners and to everyone that participated in the honey/beekeeping section at the 2017 fair!
Jim Egros- First place
Ben Cooper- Second place
Richard Cutter- 2 First place ribbons
Jeff McIntyre- Third Place
Congratulations to AMBA Member Ben Cooper on
receiving the 2017 Freestate Beekeeper Citizenship Award. Ben received this award because of his work in helping to pass HB 177, better known as the Bear Bill for the state of Maryland. The award was announced at the 2017 Maryland State Beekeepers 2017 Fall Meeting on Saturday November 4th. He and Brittany Llewellyn had a full day of bee learning and managed to sell many raffle tickets for the Bee Box Raffle. Congratulations to Ben and thank you for all you do!
