This program, presented by local beekeepers Cindy Sheets and Mike Clark, will introduce beginning apiarists to the process of starting a hive at their own home.
 
Sheets will share this same advice with participants, discussing the benefits of keeping bees, the basic procedure for setting up a hive including required equipment, acquiring bees, as well as the general costs. Sheets will also explain how to maintain hives, work safely around the bees and harvest from the hive.
 
Finally, Sheets will address what type of problems beekeepers encounter, how to solve the problems and how to keep the hives and bees healthy.
 
Sheets understands firsthand the difficulties of starting this hobby.

During the program, Sheets will demonstrate pieces of equipment she uses. Following the program, participants may examine the equipment and get information about their own particular beekeeping questions.
 
“Backyard Beekeeping” begins at 6:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public, but participants are asked to register. Registration is available online at http://library.stillwater.org, by contacting the library at 405.372.3633 x8106 or askalibrarian@stillwater.org or by stopping by the Help Desk.
 
Books on beekeeping are available at the library’s front display. Those who cannot attend the program are encouraged to checkout one or more library books on the subject.
 
The library will hold another “Backyard” class on Tuesday, July 21, when OSU Extension State Assistant Lynn Malley shows community members how to easily and neatly compost at their homes.