Beekeeping organizations

• Iowa Honey Producers Association

• Iowa Beekeeping Clubs

• American Beekeeping Federation

• American Honey Producers Association

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Registering your beehives

A 2009 Iowa law is designed to protect honeybees from off-target pesticide applications by setting up a statewide, annual registry of all apiaries in Iowa, both commercial and hobby beekeepers.

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The nonprofit company FieldWatch partners with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) to register apiaries via its BeeCheck program or DriftWatch, its sensitive crops program. Honey producers can register hives through either program, and registration is free.

• BeeCheck

• DriftWatch

• More about specialty crop and apiary registries from IDALS and the protections​

• CIBA beecheck Page

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Bee laws

• Quick link to laws in various Iowa cities​

  • Information on cites has not been updated in several years.  Check with specific city administration for current status.​

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Swarms

• Contacts and helpful information from the Iowa Honey Producers Association​

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Honeybee research/educational resources

• Iowa Pollinator Conservation Working Group

• ​University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bee Lab 

• University of Minnesota Bee Lab   

• Great Plains Master Beekeeping 

• https://beehealthcollective.org/

• https://www.ohbees.com/pages/tutorials

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 Celebrating honeybees

• National Pollinator Week (usually in June)

• National Honey Bee Day (usually in August)

• Iowa Honey Bee Day (at State Capitol during legislative session)

• Why Bees and Pollinators are so Important

  • Contributed by a young lady researching bees for a school project!​

• Flower Fragrances that Attract Bees & Butterflies​

  • Contributed by a young lady working on her Girl Scout Flower Garden Badge!​

 

Advocacy groups

• Plant. Grow. Fly. Des Moines Blank Park Zoo’s program to increase bee habitat in home gardens

• Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Pollinator conservation

• Bee Informed Partnership, Annual winter loss survey of hives 

• Pollinator Stewardship Council

 

 

Great recipes

• National Honey Board

 

 

General information about bees

• The Wonderful World of Bees

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Popular beekeeping magazines

• Bee Culture

• American Bee Journal

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Beekeeping equipment

• Dadant & Sons

• Ebert Honey

• Lappe’s Bee Supply

• Mann Lake

• Spring Valley Honey Farms