I have decided to join a local beekeeping club, the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association that is based right here in St. Louis.

The club meets once a month at a conservation area that's fairly close to where I live.

I showed up early to the meeting for the meet & greet which included lots of people gathered around a room talking to each other about their recent harvest(s), what sort of fall maintenance their performing, and how they think their bees will overwinter this year.

Since I'm a bee-ginner (sorry it couldn't be helped) I don't  have any bees yet, so I was working the room looking to meet folks and establish some mentors.

The meet & greet was followed by the actual meeting, where we discussed the club members results to the MO State Fair Honey Competition, "club honey" harvested recently, upcoming fall picnic, fall maintenance suggestions and of course, open Q&A from the members.

What I found most interesting about the club was how friendly the members were! I especially enjoyed the open Q&A session where people shared their situations, asked for advice and listened to others experiences in similar situations.

The EMBA has published a bunch of materials for the bee-ginner on their site that is free to the public (even for non-members).

Log onto the EMBA site, and look for this icon on the left hand side of the navigation. It contains great recommended readings, online resources and information about how the join the club.