The Toe Cane Beekeepers Association will welcome fellow member and top-bar beekeeping expert Christy Hemenway as the speaker at the first meeting of the year, Feb. 26, 2019.  The meeting will be at the United Community Bank in Burnsville and begins with a pot-luck dinner at 6 p.m.

Christy is a bee business owner, an author, a teacher and a speaker. She founded Gold Star Honeybees in Bath, Maine, in 2007 to support and further the keeping of bees on their own natural wax comb, in light-weight, easy-to-manage top bar hives. Gold Star Honeybees, now located in Spruce Pine, produces the Gold Star top bar hive and other quality tools and accessories for top bar beekeeping.  (https://www. goldstarhoneybees.com)

She is the author of two books – “The Thinking Beekeeper-A Guide to Natural Beekeeping in Top Bar Hives” and its sequel “Advanced Top Bar Beekeeping – Next Steps for the Thinking Beekeeper” that support top bar hive beekeepers from beginner to advanced.

In addition, she offers the Gold Star Weekend Intensive class in which she travels worldwide to provide face-to-face instruction in the art of top bar beekeeping.  Designed to support all levels of aspiring top bar beekeepers, this weekend class is an engaging, “soup to nuts” class on how to keep bees in top bar hives – and why it matters.

Christy’s recent TED talk was titled “Making the Connection – Honeybees, Food, and YOU.”  It points up the importance of the connection between bees and all things food. She also has spoken at Mother Earth News Fairs, Green Festivals, for state and local beekeeping clubs, and sustainability-focused events and organizations.

Please join us for this interesting meeting and learn about all the new activities planned for the coming year. The meeting is open to the public and free of charge.  Please bring a dish to share for the pot-luck dinner.