Bringing beekeepers together in Middle Tennessee since 1952

Nashville Area Beekeepers Association

Mentor Opportunities

Nashville Area Beekeepers Association Mentor Program

The goal of the program is to provide new beekeepers with access to mentors in their neighborhood who can give them hands-on training.  If you are interested, please contact one of the mentors listed below.   Their location is provided in order for you to locate someone near you.

Operation of the Program

  • We will have experienced beekeepers, geographically spread around greater Nashville, who are willing to help beginners. 
  • These mentors would welcome beginners, who live near them, to join them on inspections of the mentor’s own hives.
  • Beginners would pick a mentor near them and then coordinate directly with the mentors in their neighborhood to schedule the visit(s).
  • The frequency, dates, and times would be determined by each mentor.  Often the mentors do their hive inspection every week at a fixed day of the week and time (unless the weather was bad or they were not available).   However, this is totally at the discretion of the mentor.
  • Typically, the hive visits start in late March and continue until about the first of July.
  • Mentors could do more for the students than just have them join in an inspection of their own hives if they choose.  They could, for example, help beginners get started with their student’s hives.  Again, this is totally up to the mentors.
  • Students should bring their own protective clothing, but not other equipment like hive tools or smokers.

Names, Locations and Contact Information for Mentors

South of Nashville, Brentwood

Joel White
4856 Manassas Dr.
Brentwood, TN  37027-1727
615-308-3776 (c)
whitejht@comcast.net            joelwhiteapiaries@yahoo.com

West of Nashville, Burns

Rick Armstrong
1195 Bakers Work Rd
Burns, TN 37029
615-337-2831
beefireman1953@gmail.com  

North-East of Nashville, Hendersonville

John Ratcliff
150 Hedgelawn Dr.
Hendersonville, TN 37064
615-891-8011
beemanhendersonville@gmail.com

North-West of Nashville, Joelton

Ed Age
3801 Bear Hollow Rd.
Joelton, TN 37080
615-484-5466
eage0u812@gmail.com

South of downtown, Greenhills

Buzz Evans
131 Brighton Close 
Nashville, TN  37205
615-383-8235
615-347-2673 (cell)
buzz131@live.com

South of downtown

“Quick” Foy
4124 Crestridge Dr.
Nashville, TN  37204
615-460-7882
qmfoy@aol.com

South of downtown, Green Hills

Dr. Seth Cooper
2311 Valley Brook Rd.
Nashville, TN  37215
615-298-5300,   615-347-2679 (Cell)
sethcooper@comcast.net

South of downtown, Forrest Hills

Mike Brent
1901 Tyne Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37215
615-330-1414
mbrent@bradley.com

East of Nashville, Mt. Juliet

Sterling Earhart
649 Chandler Rd. 
Mt. Juliet, TN  37122
615-477-1688
sterlingeabee@yahoo.com

South-East of Nashville, Murfreesboro

Mark Goodrich
260 Meadow Lane
Murfreesboro, TN  37218
615-995-0481
markgoodrich@bellsouth.net

Southwest of downtown, West Meade

Tim Quigley
117 Groome Drive
Nashville, TN 37205
615-800-0189
q99usa@yahoo.com

Southeast of Nashville, Smryna

Al Taylor
834 Balleycastle Drive
Smyrna, TN 37167
hontaylorbees@gmail.com
altaylor9fl@yahoo.com

South of Nashville, Brentwood

Richard Van Zyl
6220 Murray Ln
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-517-5118
richsanmsk@gmail.com

East Nashville

Ian F. Dawe
308 Neill Ave
Nashville, TN 37206
423-470-7091
ianfdawe@gmail.com

North Nashville

Nathan Schofield
3928 Stilton Dr
Nashville, TN 37207
615-972-2597
N.schofield@live.com

Portland, TN

Wayne Drown
Portland, TN
803-646-0972
wetdrown@bellsouth.net

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