MOUNT CHESTNUT — How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour?

Mount Chestnut resident Bob Thomas has the answer.

“If you don't do it right, you lose a lot of bees,” said Thomas, one of the founders of the Mount Chestnut Bee Club. “We teach better quality beekeeping, so you don't have many that die out in winter.”

The club will start its second annual beginners bee class at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mount Chestnut Presbyterian Church, 727 W. Old Route 422.

Thomas, one of the club's founders, has a mission to bring together novice and experienced beekeepers to learn about beekeeping and to learn from one another.

During the first three months, the club's classroom instruction is similar to learning the ABCs, he said.

The goal of the course is to understand beekeeping in Western Pennsylvania is different, he said. The classes will explore diseases, frames and foundations and bee-raising techniques that work best for the area.

Hands-on lessons will continue throughout the summer at club members' bee yards as participants review and expand on the information learned in class, he said.

“If you're afraid of insects and spiders, it's tough to like honey bees,” he said.

Two summers ago, the club had two members, whose bees produced honey, Thomas said. During the winter, some bees absconded, which is when a colony leaves what seems to be a perfectly good home, but it was corrected.

After a successful beekeeping venture, Thomas said he decided to start the club to teach others.

Last year, the club had 15 members who attended regular meetings and had a total of 18 hives, Thomas said.

Thomas has been beekeeping for nearly 23 years. He had his first hive in high school when he was part of 4-H for five years until he entered the Navy. He recommends people not buy bees right away, but take a class first.

The two major types of bees are Russian honeybees and Italian honeybees, he said. Compared to Russian honeybees, Italian bees need more food and stored honey over winter.

Thomas recommends people try a box of each type of bee to see which works best with their management style.

The role of a honey bee is to swarm and reproduce, he said, adding that honey is a means to survive the winter.

A standard hive can have 30,000 bees.

Honey bees can smell 40 times better than a dog and 100 times better than a human, he said.

“Bees can smell fear yards away,” Thomas said. “They can smell that fear like crazy.”

When you first get bees, feed them and then stop, he said.

“When you do that, they learn you are not an enemy, and they know you're there to help them,” he said.

Thomas does not use a veil when he interacts with his bees and uses little smoke, he said. “The bees know me,” he said.

At the club's second meeting, Thomas will demonstrate a box with a hive and the materials to put it together. He will cover how to assemble the bee box, put the bees in it and how to get started feeding them.

New this year, Thomas plans to match up the newest members with a mentor to help them have a successful first year of beekeeping.

Thomas said it takes a full year to understand the full beekeeping picture.

Mount Chestnut Bee Club member Lorri Sheakley of Harrisville got her first two bee colonies on May 5, 2018, after she attended her first beekeeping meetings.

“They are fascinating,” Sheakley said. “It shows part of God's creation — how they just work so well and have the instincts He gave them to do everything.”

Sheakley got involved with the club after Thomas reached out to her on social media because of their mutual interest in bee keeping, she said.

She said beekeeping can be overwhelming at the start and brings its fair share of stressful times, but group members are willing to help each other.

“It's a great little bunch of beekeepers,” she said about the club. “It's so fun.”

Sheakley said she has no prior experience on a farm or agriculture, but that did not stop her.

Do not expect honey in your first year of bee keeping, she said.

“When you're just getting started, leave them the honey,” she said.

She plans to return to the club for her second year to learn more and help others, she said.

Beekeeping is a stress reliever for Sheakley, she said. “When you're working with your bees, you have to concentrate,” she said. “You escape from all your other stresses.”

People who are interested in bees should attend the meeting, she said.

“Every one is there to learn about bees and help each other out,” she said. “Every time you go you're going to learn something.”

- WHAT: Beekeeping class with the Mount Chestnut Bee Club- WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday- WHERE: Mount Chestnut Presbyterian Church, 727 W. Old Route 422- NOTE: Park and use the entrance at the back of the church. There are no dues or fees. A collection will be taken up for a donation to the church. The club will reference the book “Beekeeping for Dummies” 4th edition. It is not a requirement to purchase a book.