Puget Sound Beekeepers Association

Category: Local clubs Also called: PSBA; Puget Sound Beekeepers Last checked: 2026-09-22

What it is

Puget Sound Beekeepers Association (PSBA) is a 501(c)(3) beekeeping association whose About page says it was founded in 1948 to promote beekeeping, protect honey bees, educate keepers, and encourage good relations between beekeepers and the public in the greater Seattle and King County areas. The same page lists monthly meetings with speakers (free and open to the public), community education, honey sales at local events, classes, and hands-on learning at apiary work parties. It is not a commercial hive-equipment manufacturer and not a university certificate pathway.

Who it’s for

Beekeepers and people learning bees in greater Seattle and King County who want a local association meeting, a $20 annual membership, extractor rental for qualifying members, or time at the PSBA apiary at the Graham Visitor Center in the Washington Park Arboretum. Visitors are described as welcome at meetings without joining. Not a drop-in equipment warehouse and not Texas A&M’s Master Beekeeper Program.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party Local club with a printed founding year, a 4th-Tuesday meeting pattern, a named arboretum meeting place for the November business meeting and the apiary, and an annual dues dollar amount on the official membership page — not a Facebook-only group and not a scraped directory card.

• Meeting schedule and place (About + Meetings — checked 2026-09-22): About page: meetings in Seattle on the fourth Tuesday of most months. Meetings page: all meetings are free and open to the public. Regular monthly meetings are typically on the 4th Tuesday, with no regular monthly meeting in July, November, and December. July is the annual picnic; November is the annual potluck and business meeting at the Graham Visitors Center at the Washington Park Arboretum (also written Graham Visitor Center). The apiary is described as behind the greenhouses at the Arboretum. Printed typical format for regular meetings: 6:30 pre-meeting lesson, 7:00 announcements, 7:30 main presentation. Meetings page also still prints: regular monthly meetings are currently held online (check the calendar for links); “Hybrid meetings will begin in April of 2023.” Recordings are pointed at the PSBA YouTube channel. No street number for the Visitor Center was printed on these pages.
• Membership dues (Membership + About — checked today): Annual membership is $20.00. PSBA is a 501(c)(3); the page says dues are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Term is 1 year, January 1–December 31. Dues paid after October 1 apply to the upcoming year’s membership. Pay-by-check is mentioned as an option on the membership page. Printed member benefits include honey extractor rentals (signed extractor indemnification form via Dropbox Sign / DocuSign), access to a Master Beekeeper program, research-study participation, and voting for officers and trustees. About also lists honey bee disease testing (sampling) and discounts on beekeeping publications.
• Widget caveat (Membership + Event Calendar — checked 2026-09-22): under “Join or Renew Online!” the membership page printed the $20 sentence and then only “Loading…” where the MembershipWorks join form should appear. The Event Calendar page title loaded, then the calendar body was only “Loading…” and did not print dated 2026 meetings in the page HTML. Home-page posts on check day ran through March–April 2025 (“in the Apiary” notes) and earlier 2024–2025 items; no 2026 meeting write-up was on the home page. Footer copyright line printed © 2026.
• Extractor rentals (Extractor Rentals — checked today), members only, hobby use, not commercial: three four-frame hand-crank tangential extractors — $20/week plus a refundable $50.00 deposit (approximate replacement cost $450.00); one motorized twelve-frame radial extractor — $50/week plus a refundable $50.00 deposit (approximate replacement cost $1,400.00). The 12-frame unit needs a pickup or tall van, tie-downs, and at least two people to lift; it may not be set on its side. Rental includes bottling bucket, electric uncapping knife, capping scratcher, and uncapping tank. Late return $5 a day up to $25. Deposit refunds are described as electronic and may take 5–7 days.

Meeting pattern, the still-printed April 2023 hybrid sentence, dues, the Loading… widgets, and rental fees above are what the official pages showed on the check date. They can change. Confirm on the live Meetings, Membership, Events, and Extractor Rentals pages before treating any figure, form, or venue as fixed.

Official URL

https://pugetsoundbees.org/

About: https://pugetsoundbees.org/about/

Meetings: https://pugetsoundbees.org/about/meetings/

Membership (dues): https://pugetsoundbees.org/membership/

Event calendar: https://pugetsoundbees.org/events/

Extractor rentals: https://pugetsoundbees.org/extractor-rentals/

Location

Service area printed on About: greater Seattle and King County. Meetings page: Seattle-area 4th-Tuesday pattern, currently described as online, with the November business meeting and the apiary at the Graham Visitor Center, Washington Park Arboretum. No street address or ZIP was printed on the About or Meetings pages checked 2026-09-22.

This is a club meeting / apiary place. Do not treat it as a hive-equipment factory or a university registrar.

Notes

• Category is Local clubs. First-party association with a membership page, a meeting pattern, and an arboretum apiary. Not an Equipment catalog and not the Texas Master Beekeeper pathway.
• The $20 annual dues, Jan 1–Dec 31 term, October 1 rollover, 4th-Tuesday / no July–November–December regular meeting lines, Graham Visitor Center place name, extractor fees ($20 or $50 per week plus $50 deposit), and the MembershipWorks / calendar “Loading…” state are transcribed from official pugetsoundbees.org pages checked on 2026-09-22 and may change. The join form did not finish loading, so a separate checkout URL was not printed.
• First-party logo saved beside this listing as puget-sound-beekeepers.png (PSBA seal from pugetsoundbees.org).
• Not affiliated with Beekeeping Plaza.
• No Beekeeping Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What are the dues, and did the join form load?
A: Membership and About pages (checked 2026-09-22) print annual dues of $20.00, January 1–December 31, with dues paid after October 1 applied to the next year. The same membership page then showed only “Loading…” for the online join/renew widget, so the form itself was not readable. Confirm the live membership page before paying.

Q: When and where does PSBA meet?
A: Meetings page (checked 2026-09-22): typically the 4th Tuesday, free and open to the public; no regular meeting in July (picnic), November (potluck and business meeting), or December. Printed format 6:30 / 7:00 / 7:30. The page still says meetings are currently online and that hybrid meetings will begin in April of 2023. November business meeting and the apiary are at the Graham Visitor Center, Washington Park Arboretum. The event calendar widget also stayed on “Loading…” and did not list 2026 dates in the HTML.

Q: What do extractor rentals cost?
A: Extractor Rentals page (checked 2026-09-22): four-frame hand-crank $20/week and twelve-frame motorized $50/week, each with a refundable $50 deposit; late fee $5/day up to $25. Members only, hobby use. Confirm the live page before reserving.