Last year, WASBA began providing monthly educational programs via Facebook Live with the goal of reaching beekeepers who may not have access to a club or mentors. We now have a year’s worth of programs under our belt. We have overcome some technology challenges, and we are getting better at running the program and at figuring out its reach. In recent weeks, we have been busy uploading the videos to YouTube!
Early on, the Live presentation had more than a dozen viewers, but that number has fallen off, although we normally see two to five live viewers with questions. However, people do visit the “Ask a Washington Beekeeper” Facebook page later to view the programs. The programs have been on YouTube for only a short time, some of them only a couple of days, but people are finding the programs here as well.
Upcoming Events
- November 21, 2024: A speaker from the Washington Native Bee Society. She will talk about Washington native bees and how they compare to honeybees. FB Event here!
- December 2024: No program – Happy Holidays!
- January 16, 2024: A program on Overwintering FB Event here!
- February 20, 2025: A WSU Ph.D. candidate will give an overview of queen rearing. FB Event here!
Looking for Ideas & Help
We have been fortunate to get a good range of speakers and topics. We would like to focus our attention on topics that might interest you, WASBA members. If you have an idea for a presentation or a speaker, please reach out to Margo Buckles at Margo.L.Buckles@gmail.com.
We could also use another volunteer or two to help us moderate and run the program. Margo Buckles and Ellen Miller have been moderating and running the program for the last year, but they would like to have backup, as they are both club officers and are active elsewhere in WASBA. If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to Margo Buckles at Margo.L.Buckles@gmail.com or Ellen Miller at vp@wasba.org.
Finally, tell your friends about “Ask A Washington Beekeeper” on Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/AskAWABeekeeper). The program is each month on the third (3rd) Thursday at 6:30p.m. If you attend the live program, you can ask real time questions of the speaker and the moderators about the topic or about anything relating to beekeeping.
If you can’t catch the live broadcast, you can see the video on Facebook later, or you can check out the videos on WASBA’s YouTube channel and the Ask a Washington Beekeeper Playlist here! (https://www.youtube.com/@wasba1358)