Home - Chester County Beekeepers Association

Grant Program

The CCBA has granted over $50,000 over the past eight years to further the art and science of beekeeping, pollinators, conservation, agriculture, and/or education. This program grants money to institutions, groups, or corporations, but not individuals, with priority given to schools and non-profit organizations. The grants competitively awarded annually. Deadline: April 1, 2025

Grant Application

Bee Grants

Do you have a swarm of bees on your property? CLICK BELOW to access a list of people you can call by township and county who may be able to remove the bees.

Please note, if the bees are in your house, barn, etc please select a beekeeper who does cut-outs

Help With Swarms 2025

Speaker Request

Are you looking for a speaker to talk to your group about honeybees and beekeeping? Would you like beekeepers to attend your event pop up tent with an observation hive to meet and greet with your attendees? If so, please click below

Speaker Request

BVM Family Day CE ObHive 2024

Join the CCBA Education YouTube channel for more riveting video information on keeping healthy honey bees ;-)

CCBA Education

🎃ctober Speaker Series
Who: Amber Leach
What: Apivar 2.0
When: October 20th @ 7pm
Where: Zoom
(Zoom link is on the calendar)

The Objectives of the Association

To assist members in the art and science of beekeeping, including sharing effective techniques, coping with problems, meeting challenges, and supporting each other in our efforts; to educate members about and encourage compliance with laws pertaining to beekeeping, including inspection and suppression of contagious diseases among honey bees; to promulgate information to the public about beekeeping and the valuable role of honey bees in nature and agriculture; to encourage responsible beekeeping.

Monthly Meeting
Second Saturday of each month at 9am-11:00am

Location:
Boy Scouts PARC
1 Scouting Way, Exton 19341
Also on Zoom. See events calendar for Zoom link

2026 Beginners Course

The course is not yet available for signup. We plan to have it available in February 2026.

The course is made up of classroom virtual/in-person training and hands-on lab sessions.

The classroom sessions will be held once a month from March thru October. The classroom sessions will be on the 2nd Tuesday from 7-9 pm at Historic Sugartown's Carriage Museum. A Zoom session will be available.

The hands-on labs will be held at the Historic Sugartown and Bondsville Mill Park apiaries. Labs will take place April through September. The cohort size will be limited to ten people each. When you register, you will select one location for your lab component. Rain dates will be scheduled as needed. If enough demand exists, we will add additional sessions.

You must be a CCBA member and logged in to the website to sign-up or register for the course. To join the CCBA Member Signup / Information

Tentatively we will have a lab schedule like the one shown below.

2nd Sunday at Historic Sugartown @ 2-4pm

3rd Saturday at Bondsville Mill Park @ 10am-12pm

2nd Wednesday at Historic Sugartown @ 5-7pm

4th Saturday at TBD @ 10am-12pm

Costs: The training cost is $TBD for the entire annual program plus a hivetool. There is not an option to buy a specific number of classes and there will be no refunds unless the class cannot be conducted.

Beginners Course Syllabus

2025 Apprentice Program is completed.

The 2026 program will be announced in February 2026

One of the best ways to learn how best to keep your bees alive is to work with someone who has done it over many seasons.

**Requires CCBA membership before enrolling**

If you are a new beekeeper who is thinking about getting bees or who has not been able to overwinter a hive, the apprentice program maybe right for you. You will be paired up with an experienced beekeeper (teacher) who you will work with at the teacher's apiary twice a month for an entire bee season. The cost for this program is $TBD.
Click to register as a Student:

Click to register as a Teacher: TEACHER

If you complete the apprentice program, you will be offered the opportunity to purchase a CCBA nucleus colony the following spring for a reasonable price!

🐝 October Colony Management

Remove Queen excluder
Add thick top insulation
Add mouse guards (3/8 in opening)
Consider adding fondant if really light
Consider wrapping hives with black roofing paper or insulation
Join Friday Night Bee Chat to learn more!

Join the hive!