Support BCBA
BCBA relies on the support of its members but also the community at large. We take pride in the services that we provide to Barnstable County as well as operating a website with the purpose to disseminate information to those who visit.
Over our many years of presenting our annual bee school, we have instructed over 1500 families from across the Cape and beyond in the art of beekeeping.The membership has given talks to elementary and high schools, libraries and garden clubs.
Our entire organization is volunteer led and run including our board of directors. Every bit of funding that we receive returns back into our club. As a not-for-profit (501(c)3, BCBA makes every effort to provide informative and educational monthly meetings for our members. This includes sponsoring researchers from across the country to present such as Dewey Caron, PhD, Sammy Ramsey PhD, Tom Seeley, PhD, Jamie Ellis, PhD to name a few.
We have participated with Bee Informed Partnership, a national non-profit organization in the collection of honey bee samples to alert beekeepers of potential problems due to increases in Varroa and Nosema.
In the past, some of our donations and grants received have supported our club apiary with new diagnostic equipment of which the results are made available to all members to improve their beekeeping management.
We are grateful to our community for their generosity and support over the years.
Queen Rearing Program
Because keeping honeybees on Cape Cod is unique and the current challenges facing honeybees these days, years ago BCBA decided that developing "Cape Cod Queen" would be something that would allow for greater survival of overwintered bees.
What is a Cape Cod Queen? Honeybees that have shown strong genetic propensity to not only survive but thrive in Cape Cod's climate and ecosystem.
We currently run a queen rearing program in the attempt to do just that. Selecting and rearing queens that do well on Cape Cod will enable us to eventually and hopefully influence the genetic landscape of the honeybees on Cape Cod and ensure long-term survival.
Did You Know?
The lemongrass-like smell made by the Nasanov gland attracts lost bees to a new colony. Alarm pheromones, which are made by the mandibular gland near the mouth, can smell a bit like nail varnish or ripe bananas.