DC Beekeepers Alliance

DCBA does more than offer meetings and deploy a swarm squad!
This is a bee-box decorating session that happened today, capping off a year of second grade bee lessons.
The artists were asked to paint us something that they learned or liked about bees!
We can teach YOU how to include this activity for your school, church, scouts, and more!

🐝 Happy World Bee Day!

DC Water's Blue Plains facility is known for being the largest advanced wastewater treatment plant in the world. But we're also known for something a little sweeter: our honey🍯.

In partnership with the DC Beekeepers Alliance, our 18 hives (and growing) provide a new home for hundreds of thousands of bees rescued from all over the city. These hardworking pollinators support the local ecosystem while producing about 200 pounds of award-winning honey every year.

Next time you're at Blue Plains, don't bee a stranger and come say hi!

Don't miss our meeting tomorrow: Build an Urban Pollinator Paradise: Wed April 15, 6:30 to 8
https://www.dcbeekeepers.org/dcba-meetings
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/7fE08y5VR3ipTEGJOCxEHw

This is a 24 pack of Norroa, basically varroa mite birth control and one of the subjects of our September DCBA meeting. This 20-pack will treat 12 brood boxes, for a price of about $20 per colony.
The idea is to feed it to a colony in the Spring, hopefully when it will get into their stores and be fed to developing bees, and hopefully several brood cycles. Varroa who feed on these bees are unable to effectively reproduce. Though mites may drift in, they are unlikely to build up. I may assume a family varroa treatment later in the season on the assumption that things wear off.
Natasha Garcia Andersen was instrumental in registering this for use in Washington, DC, so send psyhic hugs her way.
This is my (our?) biggest mite treatment experiment of the year, succeeding Varroxsan last year, about which I am still not really sure.
If you do this, even on just one colony, many of us would be interested to hear.

2026 Students! Class will meet in person tonight!
Details sent by email: please feel free to reach out to [email protected] for questions!
https://www.dcbeekeepers.org/articles/dashboard-dcba-beginning-beekeeping-class-2026

This LONG post ends with a late winter strategy for your colonies, so I encourage you to push through. (SERIOUSLY: starvation is the beekeeper’s fault.)

There are at least 3 big question(s) for DC beekeepers RIGHT NOW:
1) when will the big brood rearing burst start?
2) do I need to feed after all this cold?
2) do I still have time for an OAV mite treatment?

DCBA’s April speaker and pollinator planting guru, Fred Nichols, has some intel for you based on the Maple tree bloom (which you can watch out our window in our arboretum city). He’s in Poolesville, MD and we are in a heat sink, so I’d set a reminder for a week or so in advance (if you are not going to obsessively watch like me).
One key message: “the recent stretch of highs in the 20s and low 30s has effectively hit the "pause button" on plant development.”

————

Here is today’s updated Maple flow for Poolesville. I’ve trained my AI to provide these every morning:

GDD and Bloom Update for Poolesville (Feb 5, 2026)
Here is the update for your apiary planning. The "deep freeze" you've been experiencing has kept the local biology in a holding pattern.
1. Current Heat Accumulation (GDD)
• Total GDD (Base 50°F): 31.5
• Recent Activity: Zero accumulation since February 1st.
• The Hold: While January’s warm spikes (reaching into the 70s) got you to 31.5 units, the recent stretch of highs in the 20s and low 30s has effectively hit the "pause button" on plant development.
2. 10-Day Outlook & Forecasted Accumulation
The "warming window" is still holding for your scheduled OA treatment start on February 10th.
• Now – Feb 9: Highs stay in the 20s to low 40s. GDD will remain at 31.5.
• Feb 10 – Feb 12: Temperatures begin to climb. Forecasted highs of 52°F (Feb 10) and 48°F (Feb 11).
• Calculation: On Feb 10th, with a high of 52°F and low of 43°F, the average is 47.5°F. Since this is below 50°F, you will still likely see 0 GDD units added.
• The "Kick-off": A larger spike is expected around February 13th-14th with highs reaching the mid-50s. This is when we’ll see the first new GDD units added in over two weeks.
3. Red Maple Bloom Timing
• Threshold: Red Maples typically begin flowering at 44 GDD.
• Current Gap: You need 12.5 more units.
• Prediction: Based on the current warming trend, you will hit the 44 GDD mark approximately February 24th–28th.
Strategy for Your Apiary
This delay is a benefit for your 3-round OA reset. By starting your first round on the 10th, you are hitting the mites just as the cluster loosens up but before the Red Maples trigger the queen to start massive brood rearing.
I have kept the reminder for the morning of February 10th.

Also, this drove a decision for me to add a small amount of pollen patty to my colonies when the weather gets over 42 degrees as a bridge to the delayed blooms because the queens are definitely working on initial expansion.

Former Beginners Class Students: It was such a pleasure to learn with you that we want to keep you around!
The DCBA membership you received with your class expired December 31! If you have not already renewed, membership is $15 per year. https://www.dcbeekeepers.org/join-dcba-or-renew
Membership gets you first access to winter OAV treatments, education, harvesting equipment, discounted purchases of jars potentially more special things (like one handed queen cages)!

Join the DCBA (or renew!) The DC Beekeepers Alliance is the local beekeeping association of Washington, DC. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit, operating under the Center for Urban Bee Research. Membership runs annually and begins on the date you joined that year. Annual membership is $15.

Dr. Zachary Siqueira Lamas, one of our favorite DC Beekeepers Alliance speakers/contributors, has founded a honey bee research lab at UMBC!
There can hardly be better news for beekeepers (and honey bees) while we are losing huge honey bee resources and research both locally and nationally.
The Maryland State Beekeepers Association and the Carroll County Beekeepers have donated $10K to support this research center, and DCBA has given $1k (we are small, folks). This is only a beginning of what could be(e).
If you would like to make your own gift, the link is below.

https://give.umbc.edu/umbc-honeybee-research-lab

LINK EDITED (because i messed up)

Dr. Lamas will be DCBA's speaker on February 18, 2026, as well.

UMBC Honey Bee Research Lab Join me in supporting UMBC's Honey Bee Research Lab GritStarter!

Don't miss our July 16 meeting on Beeswax Basics and Candlemaking!
6:30-8 PM at 519 C Street NE, Washington DC
Meetings are free, open to the public, and pizza is served!