woman looking at bee association website on her computer

U.S. Beekeeping Associations According to State. Revised for 2020.

Sep 08, 2020

Beekeeping associations are a great place to network with other beekeepers, learn about beekeeping in your climate, get recommendations for local places to buy bees and equipment and, most importantly, talk about bees so you stop boring your friends and family with bee talk. Here's a list of state bee clubs as well as local beekeeping associations according to state. This list was revised in 2020 to remove websites that no longer exist and update ones that has changed their address.

If you can't find a local club in our list below, here are some additional ways you can find a local bee association:

Search on google for "[your county] bee association" as well as other nicknames and descriptions for your area. Some associations are named after their county, town, city or area of the state (like the Northern Jersey Bee Association).
Search facebook for your local bee association. A lot of associations are moving to facebook instead of having a website.
Go to beesource.com, Women in Beekeeping facebook group or other Facebook groups with a lot of members and ask if anyone in your county knows of a local bee club. The Women in Beekeeping Facebook group is very active and has over 20,000 members.
Ask the person at the honey table at your local farmer's market if they know of a local bee association.
In the list below, I have also included the state association. Contact them and ask if they know of a club in your county.

If you still can't find a local association, then:

Join the closest bee club to you. It could be 3+ hours away. That's ok! Most clubs have zoom meetings at the moment, so it doesn't matter how far away they are. They might also have an active Facebook page where you can post questions to members.
Start your own association. That's what I did. You don't have to be an experienced beekeeper to do this. You just have to be someone with interest and initiative! Scroll down the the bottom of this blog post for how I started a bee association in 20 minutes AND got people to come to the first meeting.

The benefits of joining a beekeeping association

EVERYONE says "First. Join your local bee association." Is this really necessary and what will it get you? Well, not much, really. I joined my local bee club and I didn't learn much. It was a lot of people who knew each other standing around talking. Someone did a presentation about a topic that was interesting but not something I really needed to know about and that was really it.

So why does everyone say to go, myself included? Because there are a few things a bee club is good for. As a beginner, it's good to ask around for where to buy bees. You can order them online and have them shipped, but it's common for the bees to arrive dead or at the very least very stressed out. Go local for your bees.

If something happens to your queen and you need to buy one ASAP, then you really really need to go local. My 2nd year keeping bees, the queen was dead in her cage when I opened it up to let her out. With a newly installed package of bees, having no queen for more than a week can be fatal. Luckily, I contacted the farm I bought my package from and he met me the next day (which was a Sunday) to sell me one single queen.

When it comes to getting advice, I wouldn't, personally, go to a bee club for that. You'll most likely get more advice than you wanted and it will make you more confused than when you started. Have 1 or 2 people who have been doing it for awhile to ask questions. Don't pose your questions to a group.

The other nice thing about bee associations is the classes. If you've never been around bees before, you might want to take an in-person class and get a feel for it. I don't recommend in-person classes for the beekeeping how-to. I don't think students remember all that important information months later when they have their bees, but in-person classes are great for getting a feel for things. Most clubs also have workshops and guest speakers so you can learn about new gadgets, mite treatments, programs at the universities nearby and other interesting bee topics.

Many associations also have an extractor that they let their members use. With this, you never have to store a super large bulky extractor in your house, worry about your extractor breaking or buying an item that costs hundreds of dollars.

Finally, beekeeping associations are a great resource for networking. If you want to shadow a beekeeper, ask if they can send out an email in the next newsletter asking members if anyone is willing to let you join them. If you are looking to buy jars, want to know the county laws for beekeeping, or how to label your honey, you can ask the association. These people are beekeepers that have been doing it awhile. When contacting your association asking for help, it's always best if they know you as opposed to being some random person on the internet that has never gotten involved or paid for a membership and suddenly wants their help. So get involved before you need them. If you enjoy the meetings, great! If you don't, try to stay involved at least a little and continue your membership (it's usually between $20-$35 for the year). If your association meetings leave you feeling overwhelmed, confused or incompetent, it's ok. I sometimes feel that way and I've been doing this for over 10 years. Some beekeepers are very nice and some are cranky old men who think they know everything :)

Don't forget to check out our free guide, The 7 Steps to Getting Started Keeping Bees, for a simple, easy-to-follow- list of steps to take to become a beekeeper.

Alabama

State Association - http://www.alabamabeekeepers.com/

Local Beekeeping Clubs in Alabama

Alaska

Local Beekeeping Clubs in Alabama

Arizona

Local Beekeeping Clubs in Arizona

Arkansas

State Association - Arkansas Beekeepers Association

Local Beekeeping Clubs in Arkansas

California

State Association - California State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in CA

Colorado

State Association Colorado State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Colorado

Connecticut

State Association - Connecticut Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Connecticut

Delaware

State Association - Delaware Beekeepers Association

Florida

State Association - Florida State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Florida

Georgia

State Association - Georgia Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Georgia

Hawaii

State Association - Hawaii State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Hawaii

Idaho

State Association Idaho Honey Industry Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Idaho

Illinois

State Association - Illinois State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Illinois

Indiana

State Association - The Beekeepers of Indiana

Local Associations and Clubs in Indiana

Iowa

State Association - Iowa Honey Producers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Iowa

Kansas

State Association - Kansas Honey Producers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Kansas

Kentucky

State Association - Kentucky State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Kentucky

Louisiana

State Association - Louisiana Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Louisiana

Maine

State Association - Maine State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Maine

Maryland

State Association - Maryland State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Maryland

Massachusetts

State Association - Massachusetts Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Mass

Michigan

State Association - Michigan Beekeepers’ Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Michigan

Minnesota

State Association - Minnesota Honey Producers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Minnesota

Mississippi

State Association - Mississippi Beekeepers’ Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Mississippi

Missouri

State Association - Missouri State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Missouri

Nebraska

State Association - Nebraska Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Nebraska

Omaha Bee Club

Nevada

Northern Nevada Beekeepers Association

New Hampshire

State Association - New Hampshire Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in New Hampshire

New Jersey

State Association - New Jersey Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in New Jersey

New Mexico

State Association - New Mexico Beekeepers Association

New York

State Association - Empire State Honey Producers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in NY

North Carolina

State Association - North Carolina State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in NC

Ohio

State Association - Ohio State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Ohio

Oklahoma

State Association - Oklahoma State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Oklahoma

Oregon

State Association - Oregon State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Oregon

Pennsylvania

State Association - Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in PA

Rhode Island

State Association - Rhode Island Beekeepers Association

South Carolina

State Association - South Carolina Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in South Carolina

South Dakota

State Association - South Dakota Department of Agriculture Beekeeping/Apiary Resources

Tennessee

State Association - Tennessee Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Tennessee

Texas

State Association - Texas Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Texas

Utah

State Association - Utah Beekeepers’ Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Utah

Utah County Beekeepers Association

Vermont

State Association - Vermont Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Vermont

Virginia

State Association - Virginia State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Virginia

Washington

State Association - Washington State Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Washington

West Virginia

State Association - West Virginia Beekeepers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in West Virginia

Wisconsin

State Association - Wisconsin Honey Producers Association

Local Associations and Clubs in Wisconsin

Wyoming

State Association - Wyoming Beekeepers Association

How to start a Beekeeping Association

Like I said, don't be intimidated by beekeepers. It's ok if you're not a beekeeper yet. Starting a bee club is easy and a great way to network with local beekeepers.

Here's how you can start a local beekeeping association in 20 minutes:

Give it a name (specific to your area so other people can find it easily)
Start a Facebook page (or group) with this name.
Go to meetup.com and create a meetup group that is the name of the bee association.
Create a zoom account at zoom.com (free) and decide when your first online meeting will be. Create a zoom meeting at this day and time.
Go to meetup.com and create a meetup. Add in the log in details from zoom so people know how to join.
Go to Facebook and create an event for the meeting. Add in the info about how to join via zoom.

That's it! Meetup.com will share this meeting with all their subscribers that are in your area.

If you'd really like to get a good turn out, go to Women in Beekeeping and other beekeeping groups on Facebook and post a message about your meeting and facebook page.

You can also contact your state bee association and local associations in your state or neighboring states to let them know about your club and ask if they would be willing to message their members about it. It's possible people are members of another club, but would be happy to join your club if its closer.

Keep it simple and just start out with one zoom gathering to say hi. Ask questions and find out what days and times work well for people. Ask if anyone wants to help update the facebook page or create a newsletter. It can be very simple to start and you can build (if you want to) later.

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