AUBURN — The Androscoggin Beekeepers Club (ABC) will meet Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Room 116 of Edward Little High School. Club business will be conducted from 6:30 to 7 p.m., followed by a public presentation, “Re-queening a Honey Bee Colony” from 7 to 8 p.m.

Karen Thurlow-Kimball started beekeeping on her farm in the 1970s. She is the owner of New Moon Apiary and manages 60 hives of her own in Cumberland County, along with helping/teaching other beekeepers.

She sells package bees, nucleus hives and queen bees during the beekeeping season. She also sells raw honey and products she makes from her hives, such as lotions, salves and lip balms.

Thurlow-Kimball has worked with “Increase Essentials” author Larry Connor, learning and assisting queen grafting. She also has been a student of University of Montana Professor Jerry Bromenshank with whom she studied honey bee anatomy and the effects of pesticides on pollinators.

Thurlow-Kimball will speak about re-queening a honey bee colony. Re-queening is an important part of maintaining a colony of bees. A good quality queen means a strong and productive hive. Without a queen a colony cannot survive.

Thurlow-Kimball will cover techniques used to find and replace the queen in the hive as well as methods of queen introduction that result in the greatest acceptance. Her talk will also cover topics such as: When should you let the bees re-queen themselves, use a queen cell or a bred queen? When is the ideal time to re-queen? How do you know you need a new queen?

Karen’s ABC-sponsored presentation is open to the public.