The Haldimand-Norfolk Beekeepers Association welcomed Daniel Kneblewski for our September meeting, with an evening focused on practical steps beekeepers can take to prepare healthy colonies for winter.
Meeting Details
Date: Monday, September 14, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM
Doors Open: 7:15 PM
Location: Junior Farmers Building, Norfolk County Fairgrounds
Address: 172 South Drive, Simcoe, ON N3Y 3C3
Refreshments were provided.
Featured Speaker: Daniel Kneblewski
Daniel Kneblewski is a Professional Civil Engineer and hobby farmer from Waterdown who enjoys sharing and teaching about bees. His enthusiasm for beekeeping is easily caught, and his practical approach focuses on building healthy colonies that are better prepared to survive winter.
Daniel trained with Master Beekeeper Peter Dickey and local queen breeders. His experience includes building up bee yards, recovering from major colony losses, catching swarms, breeding bees, and preparing colonies for winter.
This past winter, Daniel achieved 100% colony survival.
Topic for the Evening: Setting You Up for Winter Success
The presentation focused on the important decisions beekeepers make in late summer and fall as colonies transition from honey production toward winter preparation.
- Site selection
- Brood targets
- Monitoring Varroa mites
- Fall treatment timings
- Post-treatment checks and rechecks
- Fall feeding
- Season cleanup
- Winter wrapping
The goal of the session was to give both new and experienced beekeepers practical information they can apply in their own apiaries to improve winter readiness and colony survival.
Daniel’s Beekeeping Products and Services
Daniel also shared information about several beekeeping products, services, and educational resources he offers, including:
- Hive Hugger
- Class Field Trips
- Hive Top Dashboard
- Bee Classes
- Daniel in the News newsletter
Norfolk County Fair
Members were also reminded to sign up for volunteer shifts at the HNBA Bee Booth for the Norfolk County Fair, running from October 6 to October 12.
Members were encouraged to volunteer for one or more shifts and were also reminded that honey and beeswax can be entered in the fair competition.
Learning Together
Seasonal preparation is one of the most important parts of successful beekeeping. Meetings like this give members an opportunity to hear practical experience, compare methods, ask questions, and prepare their own colonies for the months ahead.
Thank you to Daniel for sharing his experience and to everyone who joined us for the September meeting.