About Us
We are a friendly beekeeping group located in Oldham County, Kentucky. We educate and support local beekeepers through in-person and online education, community involvement, and sales opportunities. Our members are not exclusive to Oldham County. Many of our members join us from surrounding counties like Henry, Jefferson, Bullitt, Trimble and Spencer. We welcome anyone interested in bees and encourage you to come join the fun..
Local Honey
Made By Local Bees
OCBA strives to promote responsible and sustainable beekeeping practices by serving as a resource for the local Kentucky beekeeper. That starts with engaging new and aspiring beekeepers by introducing them to a network of seasoned beekeepers. We strive to provide resources and education to the community about the captivating honey bee and the importance of pollinators in the environment. “Local honey made by local bees” is one of our mottos that we continue to foster.
Community Outreach & Education
The club also partners with other agricultural and bee associations to implement beginner beekeeping schools and educational community events. We participate at schools, camps, non-profit events and county events. Our observation hive is always a popular hit. Young and old alike have a great time trying to find the queen; they might even get lucky and catch her laying eggs! Whether you are a seasoned professional looking for a new club, a new beekeeper looking for connections, or someone just trying to find information about honeybees, we hope you check us out and we look forward to meeting you!
OCBA Officers
Don Chesak
PRESIDENT
Don and his wife Barb run a small farm in Oldham County. They’ve worked hard for over a decade creating a wildlife sanctuary for their bees and the local flora and fauna. They’ve built several miles of wood-chipped and grass trails on which they enjoy walking with their beloved dog, Scout. They currently have around 45 bee hives but have had as many as 100! They also raise chickens and have a beautiful greenhouse.
Don works full time at GE where he is in his 37th year with the company and plans on retiring soon! Don’s apiary is a favorite for bee clubs to hold field days and he is always happy to talk about his custom gear and how it helps make hive management efficient and in some cases easier.
Chuck Aquadro
Vice President
Chuck and his wife, Carrie, operate Brittany Lane Apiary. They inherited a single hive that was on their property when they moved to Oldham County in 2016. They joined OCBA that same year and currently run 12 hives. Chuck is the public relations behind the Oldham County Beekeepers Association. He is always manning the table at a variety of events around the county from farmer’s markets to school presentations. He loves to provide education about beekeeping and increase awareness about the importance of local bees.
Chuck is now a proud grandpa and loves spending time with his grandson. Chuck and Carrie are also avid gardeners and enjoy making mead.
Michelle Carter
Secretary
Michelle has been beekeeping since she bought her first NUC in May of 2022 from Chesak Farms. The beekeeping supplies and bees were a Christmas gift from her husband and boy did they quickly learn the meaning of the phrase “in for a penny…” as the love for beekeeping took off! So she doesn’t loose her mind she tries to keep her apiary small and currently tends five hives. She has been a member of OCBA since the beginning of her beekeeping journey and loves learning about all the different ways to manage bees. The OCBA mentors and members have been instrumental in her success as a beekeeper. She (and her husband Paul) recently helped revamp the OCBA website and she currently works to maintain and update it. She is an ultra people person and loves connecting with other passionate beekeepers. When not talking about bees she homeschools her teenagers and enjoys spending time with her family.
Melissa Wassing
Treasurer
Melissa was born and raised in Oldham County, Ky. As a child, you could find her on her bike, in the pool or creek, or riding a horse. She has always had a love for nature and the woods, but her biggest love in life is animals.
She previously worked as an account executive with a foodservice company. She now lives on 260 acres with her husband and daughter. Their farm has earned the Master Conservationist award through the Oldham County Conservation District. It has always been a goal to be a good steward of the land and protect farms in this growing county that she has always called home.
Beekeeping seemed to be a natural fit in pursuit of her conservation goals. She started out with her first hive in 2021. Without having the OCBA club and a wonderful mentor, raising bees would be a much tougher task than imagined!
Melissa currently serves on the OCBA board as treasurer and maintains 11 hives. She is learning everyday. When not attending to her bees, you will find her boating, fishing or riding around in the woods on her four-wheeler. On certain days, you may still find her in the creek!
Alexa Garratt
Education Program Coordinator
Alexa Garrett and her husband Drew operate a 15-hive apiary in Campbellsburg, KY, Olde Burg Apiary. Alexa began her journey 3 years ago with just 3 hives after years of talking about getting her own hives. As her husband likes to laugh, “We were just going to have enough for our family”, but it’s turned into our new passion. After attending the “Beginner Beekeeping Survival classes” through the 4 local associations: Spencer, Bullitt, Jefferson, and Oldham; the excitement was on and Alexa jumped right in. There’s still so much to learn and every year we find new things that we need to watch for and address. The Garrett’s are excited to see what 2026 will look like for their family farm!
Club Contributors
Reuben Sizemore
Reuben has been keeping bees for approximately 10 years. His first encounter with bees was when he was 10 years old. A colony of bees live in a locust tree in the yard. Not knowing anything about bees, he built a fire smoking the bees out. He then took an axe to expose the honey and gathered a bucket of honey without getting a single sting. He currently runs about 10 colonies. He is a proud Air Force veteran and retired from UPS after 25 years as an aircraft mechanic. Reuben enjoys hunting, fishing and hiking. He also plays the guitar and banjo. Reuben truly enjoys mentoring new beekeepers to help them achieve success their first year.
Jake Beeman
Jake is a Cornell & EAS Master Beekeeper and runs around 100 hives annually in the greater Louisville area. He is a nationally sought speaker and writer, focusing on queens, genetics, and integrated management. He served on the OCBA board as the Educational Coordinator and is passionate about education for beekeepers. He has spent many many hours helping to build the OCBA into the club it is today and is responsible for all the work to make us into an official 501 (c)(3)!
When not tending to bees, helping local beekeepers, writing, presenting, and working with nonprofits he trains for the physical aspect of beekeeping with National Treasure; Chuck Norris. He also is focused on proving that humans can indeed survive on no sleep with the help of caffeine and a proprietary propolis tincture.
Claude Nutt
Claude has been keeping bees for about 40 years both in urban and rural areas. He currently has 15 hives at Yew Dell Botanical Garden in Crestwood and 16 hives at Mason Homes in Louisville. Claude contributes to the OCBA newsletter with his informative and thought-provoking column “Claude’s Corner”.
Dave Handsbury
Dave and his wife own Handsbury Honey Bees. They have been keeping bees for about eight years and run an average of 140 colonies. Most of Dave’s time is spent building honey houses, making sugar bricks, syrup, buying and setting out pollen , and generally feeding his 8 million bees. He never stops moving! He also enjoys hunting, hiking, tent camping and is loving life.
Troy Simpson
Troy Simpson is a 24-year beekeeper and is the owner and operator of Honey Ridge Farm. He is the go-to man for information about swarm trapping and has been a presenter for our club meetings several times. He currently maintains 50 colonies on 12 acres and intends to increase to 100 and go full time with his bees in retirement from Ford. He is an avid woodworker and serves as treasurer in his local beekeeping club.
Melissa Ledford
Melissa’s love for honeybees began in 2019 when she and her husband purchased 37 acres in La Grange. The property had an active beehive on it. Knowing absolutely nothing about bees and being quite fearful of them, she decided to find a mentor and immersed herself in self-educational material to successfully care for the bees. Melissa is the definition of a “go-getter” and true to her nature she quickly got over her fear and now runs many colonies. Melissa is dedicated to conservation, invasive plant identification, and promoting pollinator habitats. Melissa has spent many many hours building up the OCBA and served as the Secretary. She now is “just a regular beekeeper”.
She prides herself on her bee genetics and is working to foster hardy, local stock which benefits us all! When not beekeeping or gardening, Melissa takes care of her chickens, horses, dogs and cats. She enjoys fishing, hiking, canning veggies from her garden, and watching NHL hockey and college football.