Portland Metro Beekeepers Association upcoming events

Saturday in the Club Apiary (25 Apr 2026)

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:45:00 GMT

Join us at the PMBA "Sweet Ass Learning Apiary" at the Oregon Donkey Sanctuary to get hands-on experience with honeybees. The program is designed for beginning to intermediate beekeepers to learn about hive management strategies for the month. This is a casual, loosely structured gathering intended to provide a learning experience in a relaxed setting. It is located at:

15900 S Thayer Rd, Oregon City, OR 97045

The Oregon Donkey Sanctuary is kind enough to let us use their land for our apiary. They do have a locked electronic gate at the entrance to keep the Donkeys in. We have a 15 minute window to get into the sanctuary from 10:45-11:00. Plan to get there during that time window as we cannot let people in early or late.

Weather permitting, we open hives so bring your bee suit and gloves. Minimum PPE to attend is a veil.

Signed waivers are required to attend. Please do this ahead of time:

Oregon Donkey Sanctuary Waiver:
https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/echkt2vav6cmnhkxzduauc/web/https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/echkt2vav6cmnhkxzduauc/web/
Portland Metro Beekeepers Association Waiver:

PMBA Apiary Waiver.pdf

PMBA Bee Day 2026 (9 May 2026)

Sat, 09 May 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Queen Rearing Course (15 May 2026)

Sat, 16 May 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Back by popular demand is our queen rearing course. This will be a 3 part course using grafting techniques combined with Cloake boards. The first session is on Friday May 15th at 7pm via Zoom. This is a didactic session where we will go over the details of how to raise queens. This is free and open to the public. The link is HERE. The other sessions will be hands on and limited to 10 people. If more than 10 people register, then we will have a lottery on May 1st to select participants and alternates. Those selected and alternates will be notified in 1-2 days by email. There are several pre-requisites for the hands on sessions.

4-5 years of beekeeping experience
Able to attend both hands on sessions on May 17th and May 31st from 1-3pm
Able to pick up queen cells on June 10th
Able to bring your own 1 day old larvae to practice and to graft.
Cost is $50 payable at the first hands on session if selected.
Must be a club member

The course instructors are Paul Stromberg and Joe Maresh and the in person classes will be in Milwaukie. Depending on success rate, individuals can expect to get 1-2 queen cells. It will be up to each individual to set up mating nuc(s) at their own apiary just prior to queen cell arrival.

Queen Rearing Course (17 May 2026)

Sun, 17 May 2026 20:00:00 GMT

4-5 years of beekeeping experience
Able to attend both hands on sessions on May 17th and May 31st from 1-3pm
Able to pick up queen cells on June 10th
Able to bring your own 1 day old larvae to practice and to graft.
Cost is $50 payable at the first hands on session if selected.
Must be a club member

Queen Rearing Course (31 May 2026)

Sun, 31 May 2026 20:00:00 GMT

4-5 years of beekeeping experience
Able to attend both hands on sessions on May 17th and May 31st from 1-3pm
Able to pick up queen cells on June 10th
Able to bring your own 1 day old larvae to practice and to graft.
Cost is $50 payable at the first hands on session if selected.
Must be a club member