April 18th General Meeting

6:30 Hive Dive if weather permits (bring your veil) or Q and A
7:15 Club Business
7:30 Break
7:45 Cody Ray: Moving to Sustainability: Making Splits

Making splits is essential as a beekeeper to use to maintain your hives, create brood breaks to reduce varroa levels, and allow you to procreate from your favorite queens.

Learn how Cody makes splits in his yard.

Cody Ray with a swarm

Brent “Cody” Ray was born in Arizona but grew up on military bases around the world. Cody joined the Army in 2007, where he met his wife, Michelle, and they married in 2009. An eclectic, he has Associate Degrees in Russian Studies from the Defense Language Institute and Intelligence Studies from Cochise Community College. However, he self-avowedly admits he just can’t choose a major for his Bachelor’s Degree. In 2020, after touring a friend’s apiary, Cody and his wife decided to add bees to their 1/4-acre urban homestead because gardens, berries, dogs, cats, rats, rabbits, and children just weren’t enough. Adding bees was a decision that blessed their lives immediately, helping Cody overcome deployment-related stress. Growing from 2 hives to 20, the only thing he admits to knowing is “not all that much,” but he is excited to talk bees and help anyone he can be a better beekeeper.