Hello Maryland Beekeepers!

My name is Mary Laura Fitzgerald, and I am the incoming President of MSBA. It is an honor to serve you this season

I have been a beekeeper on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for eight years, with two years of commercial beekeeping experience, and I am currently studying for the EAS Master Beekeeper exam. I’m looking forward to working with you all!

2024 will be an exciting year for Maryland beekeepers. We will be hosting the Eastern Apiculture Society Conference in Ellicott City from August 5th through 9th. This conference brings together beekeepers from up and down the east coast of the US and Canada. It’s a fantastic educational opportunity with respected speakers on topics from research to practical beekeeping information.

EAS is a chance to talk to vendors in person and find apiary products. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to network with other beekeepers and solve problems you might have in your own apiary. I walk away every year, with a head full of new information and ideas.

The Maryland State Beekeepers Association is also hard at work to provide more excellent educational opportunities.  We recently held our well received annual Making Nucs and Splits class, and have more exciting offerings coming up in the future, including a workshop on Queen Rearing and Development and (hopefully) a harvest workshop that has been postponed due to the pandemic and personnel changes at UMD.

But there are also challenges on the horizon! In Baltimore, a court case is in progress that could prevent some beekeepers from keeping bees in the city. A growing concern for native bees has resulted in a proposed moratorium on keeping honey bees within state parks.  

As beekeepers, we must balance our beekeeping with the needs of native bees, and the communities around us.  Which means that we need the tools to be stewards for our bees. Sam Droege, who leads the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab, will give us some insight and facts on native bees and the impacts of European honey bees at the EAS Conference this summer.  

MSBA and our local clubs will continue to provide opportunities to enhance our beekeeping skills so that we can be responsible beekeepers in our communities, and good honey bee ambassadors. As educated beekeepers, we have the opportunity to educate our communities, and keep our bees in a positive light.  Join us for our fun and informative educational offerings, and you can jump right in this Saturday, with our great lineup at the state meeting in Catonsville.

[Return to February 2024 BeeLine newsletter]