Help select the best honey in Mitchell, Avery and Yancey Counties
Information for new and experienced beekeepers
Information about the TCBA Educational Apiary at Mayland
Join the association and access the members-only section
News
Articles and news for beekeepers and friends of bees, plus, updates on our upcoming activities and events.
How Can We Help You?
These are just some of the services we offer to community
Capture a Swarm
If you’ve spotted a swarm of bees outside their nest, we can help re-home them.
Got BEES IN YOUR BUILDING?
If bees are living in your house, outbuilding or anywhere else they don’t belong, we may be able to help.
REQUEST A SPEAKER
Ask our experienced beekeeping experts to talk to your group, class, or gathering.
BUY BEES OR QUEENS
Some of our members sell packages, nucs, and queens. Many are bred for our higher altitudes.
Find Bee Supplies
We maintain a relationship with multiple vendors in the area. From hives to tools and protective clothing, they have you covered!
Buy Honey
Buy local honey, including our famous sourwood honey, as well as beeswax and products made from beeswax
Did You Know?
When honey bees collect nectar and pollen from blossoms and flowers, they help pollinate some of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts we eat, increasing harvests and helping farmers feed the world. The bees consume some nectar but turn much of it into honey and store it for later use. At the peak of the season a beehive might contain 100,000 bees and more than 100 pounds of honey.
TCBA members provide local bees with a safe, secure place to live and help protect them from predators, invasive mites, and deadly viruses. In return, we collect honey the bees have made from a wide variety of sources, including tulip poplars, wild flowers, clover, basswood and sourwood trees.
About us
Promoting the art and science of beekeeping
The TCBA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping bees and beekeepers flourish in our neighboring communities. We achieve our goals via education, outreach, cooperation and mentoring.
Association Officers
Here are the dedicated beekeepers that keep our association humming.
My husband, Jim, came up with the idea of beekeeping in our retirement in 2021, inspired by our neighbors on Bee Branch, who noticed the lack of bees in the neighborhood after there used to be many. We committed to learning the art and science of keeping honey bees and joined the club as part of that commitment. TCBA membership has been an essential part of our successful journey and continues to support our goal of raising healthy bees.
Ann Concannon Coomber
President
My desire to become a beekeeper started many years ago as an adolescent. My background in biology and conservation has driven my urge to learn and grow in this sense. After converting a school bus and nomadically traveling the country with my husband and children for several years, we decided to settle in Burnsville. I became involved with members of the Toe Cane Beekeeper’s Association and officially got my first hives in April of 2024.
Camille Collins
Vice President
My introduction to beekeeping came fifteen years ago when I bought my daughter a beehive for a high school science project. I “inherited” it when she went off to college, but I didn’t become a serious beekeeper until I retired to Mitchell County in 2020. Since then, I’ve built my apiary and my circle of bee friends every year.
David Reeder
Secretary
I discovered beekeeping through my family, whose passion for pollinators and sustainable practices quickly became contagious. Now entering my third year of beekeeping and membership with TCBA, I’ve found endless inspiration in the club—from hive care and honey extraction to learning about the vital role bees play in our ecosystem. I’m excited for another year of growth, connection, and buzzing activity ahead!
Emily Beckwith
Treasurer
My husband and I have moved frequently through the years and lived in many states. My love for protecting and focusing on the restoration of those properties to a more natural state where life thrived was a priority. Beekeeping fell naturally into my desire to see a healthy ecosystem where rewilding could succeed. What I didn’t expect was the abundant joy the bees would also bring me.
Susan Sigmon
Member-at-Large