Bees Alive Club

Sharing Experiences, Examples, & Knowledge...

Education for ALL ages!

Join us for our upcoming BAC meeting on Thursday, September 3rd!

Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Meeting Location:

Nixa Senior Center

404 S. Main

Nixa, MO 65714

Click HERE for a map to our meeting location.

September Agenda:

This month we welcome guest speakers... Christina & Tristan Corey! They will be speaking to us about “Cooking with Honey”. Tristan started keeping bees in the 8th grade after his dad brought home a book from a flea market. Using that book, other literature and information gained from the internet, he was able to keep the bees alive. Now he and his wife, Christina, run 3 apiaries with 30 hives and have created T&C Bee Co which provides natural, organic skin safe products for those with sensitive skin or those who just want to know where their products come from. Visit their website: tandcbeeco.com.

This is an election year for leadership positions within our club! Terms are for 2 years. According to our board rules, a board position can only be held for 2 terms per position. We have several board members that will be leaving their current position. If you are interested in serving our club, please contact Hanna.

Important info you don't want to miss!

This year we have a volunteer point system to encourage BAC member participation! At the end of this year, the BAC member with the highest points will receive a $100 Nixa Hardware Gift Card and the BAC member with the 2nd highest points will receive a $50 Nixa Hardware Gift Card!

So....be looking for ways to volunteer your time and knowledge throughout the year! Some ways you may earn points include but is not limited to:

• Bring snacks or drinks to the meetings. *Please note there will be no monetary reimbursement for money spent on food and drinks. (1 point)

• Host a BAC Field Day (2 points)
• Provide a Show and Tell item at a meeting (1 point)
• Bee a mentor (2 points)
• Volunteer at the MO State Fair honey booth (2 points)
• Participate in the Annual Nixa Christmas Parade (2 points)
• Nixa Hardware Bee Day Booth Volunteer (1 point)
• Donating to our Annual Bee Club Auction (1 point per Item)

There is plenty of time to still earn points! The final tally will be taken at the end of December.

Simply log into beesaliveclub.org to find the membership area under the shop section. You can securely pay your $25.00 dues from the comfort of your own home!

You can also join or renew your B.A.C.membership for 2026 at our upcoming meeting! Cash or check is preferred.

Some perks to being a BAC member include...

• BAC member sticker
• being put on a swarm list
• ability to have a mentor
• checking out books from the BAC library
• access to our club's honey extractor
• access to our Oxalic Acid Vaporizer
• participate in the monthly raffle
• having the opportunity to be on the BAC Sub-Committees
• the ability to vote or hold a BAC Board position

2026 membership = $25.00 Individual (1 vote, 1 person) or Family (1 vote, 2+ people)

Dave Loftin has graciously coordinated a Soapmaking Class for our club! The cost is $40. Joli Winer from the Northeast Kansas Bee Club will be here on October 18th to teach us how to make our own soap. All supplies will be provided. This will be a hands on experience with each person making and taking home a 2 lb. block of soap! She will provide instructions on how to finish the process telling us how long to wait before taking the soap out of the mold, how to cure it and slice it up into bars.

Class size is limited to 20 people. The Class will be on Oct 18th at the Nixa Senior Center from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm and the second class is from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Feel free to let your friends and family know! Registration will be on a first come first served basis. Please contact Dave to save your seat.

October 1st – BAC Annual Picnic

This year we are having our picnic at Als House @ 6:00 p.m. His address is 490 South Gregg Road, Nixa. Attendees with a last name starting with A-H, please bring a dessert! Attendees with a last name starting with I-Z, please bring a side dish or a salad to share!

Friday, October 16th – Missouri State Beekeepers Association Fall Conference Friday Night Social in the vendor area @ 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 17th - MSBA Fall Conference and Honey Show - 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

This event is located at the University Plaza Hotel, 333 S John Q Hammons Pkwy, Springfield MO.

The cost is $75 for members, $90 for non-members, and $15 for youth under the age of 18.

For more information and to register visit www.mobees.org.

October 18th – Soap Making Class with Joli Winer at the Nixa Senior Center

1st session is at 2:30 p.m. and the 2nd session is at 6:00 p.m.

October 31st

Bee related photos are due to Hanna. You can email or text them to her! We will be voting on our favorite photos to be included in next year’s calendar!

November 5th - BAC meeting at the Nixa Senior Center @ 7:00 p.m.

Did you know that September is officially designated as National Honey Month?! Created in 1989 by the National Honey Board, this annual observance celebrates honey bees, honors local beekeepers, and highlights the importance of the honey harvest as hives prepare for winter.

Ways to Celebrate

• Buy Local: Purchase raw honey, beeswax candles, or honeycomb straight from regional apiaries and farmers' markets.
• Support Habitats: Plant late-blooming, nectar-rich native flowers to give local pollinators a final food source before cold weather arrives.
• Learn and Share: Explore educational resources through organizations like the National Honey Board to discover how critical bees are to our food supply.

We will begin taking student beekeeper scholarship applications on 1/1/2027.

Our scholarship is offered to youth between the ages of 13 and 18, who are residents of the SW MO area and enrolled in public, private or homeschool. The program provides all the equipment necessary for the recipient(s) to become a hobbyist beekeeper. Recipient(s) will receive a mentor and receive their own hive to learn from and take care of during the process. The direct mentorship and close supervision are for a one-year period, which is long enough to ensure the student(s) has had enough time to be on their own in the hobby. Upon successful completion of the scholarship requirements, the recipient(s) will receive a recognition certificate and full ownership of the hive!

We would like to open up the meetings to members to share tips, tricks and products that they do or use in their apiaries. This could be a product they have made like swarm traps, feeders, etc. or recipes for bee products, favorite books, anything you think a fellow beekeeper will benefit from knowing. If you have something you would like to share, please contact Hannah so she can put you on the agenda.

BIG THANKS to BJ and Al for being our August presenters and speaking about how to do mite checks and treatments! We appreciate the BOTH of you!

We have completed our field day learning events for 2026. We will start these amazing learning experiences again next April, so start considering now to be a field day host in 2027!

We are continuing our meeting snack sign up sheet and would appreciate everyone's participation. Please contact Cathy Huber if you would like to sign up for a specific month. Thanks so much!

Join Christian County Master Gardeners in partnership with Christian County Libraries for these FREE and informative classes! All adults welcome! Click HERE for more info!

September 2nd — Composting/Vermi Composting ~ How to turn your garbage into gold!

Nixa Library 10:00–11:00 a.m.

September 15th — Composting/Vermi Composting ~ How to turn your garbage into gold!

Sparta Library 5:45–6:45 p.m.

Library Addresses:

Nixa Library, 208 N. McCroskey St., Nixa

Clever Library, 7428 W. Veterans Blvd, Clever

Sparta Library, 147 Library Lane, Sparta

Ozark Library, 1005 N. 4th Ave., Ozark

Contact us with any questions or concerns.

We'd love to 'BEE' of service!

President: Hanna Price (417) 559-9044

Vice President: Clayton Caperton (303) 210-3048

Treasurer: Bruce (BJ) Jones (417) 719-3129

Secretary: Amy Coates (417) 861-4127

Education Director: Dave Loftin (417) 827-9391

Mentoring Director: Dee Thomas (417) 840-5883 / deelara.4@gmail.com

Hospitality Chair: Cathy Huber (417) 263-2090

Director of First Impressions: Carolyn Janus (417) 413-6678

Newsletter Editor: Karie Janus

Website & Facebook Manager: Kim Murphy

Is there something you'd like to have posted in an upcoming BAC newsletter? We'd love to share your photographs & stories!

Email Karie Janus at: beesaliveclub2023@gmail.com