Our Beekeeping Program

Hallockville Museum Farm is a leader on the East End in educating new and seasoned beekeepers, as well as raising awareness of the critical issue of colony collapse. Hallockville’s beekeeping program supports and reinforces the museum farm’s mission of exploring the history and relevance of different agricultural practices on Long Island. We are delighted to continue our partnership with Master Beekeeper Chris Kelly of Promise Land Apiaries. Chris brings 50 years of experience tending hives across Long Island and is passionate about nurturing learners in the art and science of beekeeping.

SPONSOR A BEEHIVE – (fully subscribed for 2024, check back next year!)

  • Reserve your hive today to join this very special community!
  • You may not want to keep bees, but do want to support efforts to keep honey bees healthy; and to keep them as a local resource for education on the farm.
  • To take part in this initiative, sponsor a hive for $500 or split the cost with friends and family.
  • You will explore beekeeping at your own pace with activities in our educational bee lab throughout the year (included with your sponsorship). Learn how to feed bees, participate in hands on inspections or observe. All hive sponsors are also invited to take part in the honey harvest and bring home honey (up to 10 lbs. based on bee production).
  • The level of participation and learning is up to you!
Participants are responsible for purchasing their own, personal protective gear for the hands-on work in the yard.

BEE LAB

  • Hallockville’s educational bee yard is an open-air lab designed to take students’ beekeeping practice to the next level.
  • Our lab teaches hands-on skills as well as the ability to analyze inspection data, while applying in the field what you have learned in previous beekeeping lecture classes.
  • Participants will help maintain hives in Hallockville’s apiary throughout the year under Chris’ guidance and direction.
  • New beekeepers will be matched with a volunteer mentor.
  • We are committed to continued education. Advanced beekeepers will trial different practices as beekeeping challenges and opportunities continue to evolve.
  • Members meet on Saturday mornings approximately twice a month from April-October.
  • Sign-ups for 2024 are now open! Membership is $250 for the year for Museum members/ $285 for non-members (includes $35 membership fee-Museum membership is required to access to the lab).
  • We would also like to be able to offer scholarships and equipment to educate interested individuals for whom the costs associated with beekeeping have otherwise made it impossible to participate. Please indicate if you would like your bee lab contribution to be used for scholarships.
Click here to join the Lab
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Our Journey…

  • 2019: Hallockville Museum Farm hosted just a few stand-alone beehives tended by individuals.
  • 2020: We began our hive sponsorship program in partnership with Master Beekeeper Chris Kelly of Promise Land Apiaries.
  • 2021: Hallockville began offering beekeeping classes for those individuals interested in learning more about honeybees and/or considering starting hives of their own. Hive sponsors and students have built and painted hives and installed NUCs. They have prepared feeding for the hives, learned how to do proper inspections and have been educated on various diseases and treatments. July honey harvests have become a special tradition that all in the HMF beekeeping community look forward to. Excess honey is sold at Hallockville’s Annual Country Fair and in the Museum Gift Shop.
  • 2022: Hallockville was awarded a $15,000 grant by the North Fork Side By Side Foundation. This generous grant has allowed us to grow, diversify and revolutionize our hive sponsorship and beekeeping education programs by utilizing three different types of beehives to more efficiently monitor hive conditions, combat pests, and optimize honey flow. In addition to traditional Langstroth hives, Hallockville now also owns Thermosolar and Flow Hives.
  • Thermosolar hives are from the Czech Republic and Hallockville is currently the only apiary in the Northeast US using them. Thermosolar Hives have rooftop solar panels used to heat the interior of the hive to a level that bees can tolerate, but Varroa mites cannot.
  • Made in Australia, Flow Hives work by simply turning a lever to start honey flow. No more opening the hive to extract each frame and disturbing the bees. These hives are a wonderful tool for demonstrations for visiting school groups, summer campers and individuals with disabilities visiting Hallockville Museum Farm.
  • We are imparting cutting edge and sustainable techniques to hive sponsors and students, resulting in reduced environmental risks in agriculture, improved productivity, healthier hives and increased honey harvests.