October Speaker Conference
We have brought in two of the nation’s top apiary researchers to each present three talks on issues that are affecting honeybees and beekeepers alike. Professor Jen Berry and Dr. Adam Dolezal will address issues that are vitally important to helping beekeepers keep their bees alive. We encourage beekeepers of all levels to attend this meeting. You can register for and attend one or both days of the conference.
We have set aside a block of rooms at the Sturbridge Host Hotel for $109 per room for beekeepers who want to stay over after Friday’s presentations. You must book these rooms directly with the hotel. Please call them at (508) 347-7393 to make reservations. The block of rooms is limited, so be sure to book early! Meal buffets are included with conference registration.
I hope to see you all there.
Ken Warchol, Program Chairman
BUFFET MENUS
Friday Menu
Butternut bisque soup
Caesar salad: Romaine lettuce tossed with Parmesan cheese, seasoned croutons, and Caesar dressing
Chicken breast stuffed with apples and cranberries in a cider sauce
London broil with a cabernet mushroom demi sauce
Herb crusted baked haddock with lemon butter
Accompanied by fresh seasonal vegetables, chef’s choice of starch, warm rolls, and dessert selection
Saturday Menu
Minestrone soup
Sturbridge salad with mesclun greens, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, and candied walnuts with a raspberry vinaigrette
Sandwiches:
Tuna salad with celery, red onion, tomato, and lettuce
Marinated grilled chicken with smoked Gouda cheese, and sun-dried tomato pesto
Roast beef with caramelized onions and bleu cheese
Plus chips, cookies, and brownies
*Please contact the Sturbridge Host Hotel directly with questions on accommodations for dietary restrictions*
We strongly prefer electronic registrations, but if that poses a hardship and you prefer mail-in registration, please CLICK HERE.
Speakers
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Dr. Adam DolezalAdam is the Assistant Professor and Centennial Bee Research Professional Scholar in the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Entomology. His laboratory researches how pollinators (mostly bees) respond to the different stressors they encounter in their environment. These studies have centered heavily around the impacts of virus infection and nutritional and chemical stresses associated with midwestern row-crop agricultural systems, and he is interested in research that bridges basic biology and practical
beekeeping. -
Professor Jennifer BerryFor over 23 years, Jennifer Berry has been the Agricultural Research Professional and Lab Manager for the University of Georgia Bee Program. Her research objectives have focused on queen breeding, improving honeybee health, IPM techniques for Varroa and small hive beetle control, sub-lethal effects of pesticides on beneficial insects, weeding for bees, and what best to plant in non-traditional horticultural landscapes to enhance pollinator populations and diversity. Jennifer’s extension duties include teaching beekeeping to folks all over the world, including those incarcerated in Georgia’s medium and maximum-security prisons. Recently she has become a PhD student and is teaching the “Bees, Beekeeping and Pollinator Conservation” course at UGA.
Hourly Schedule
Friday Night
- 6 PM - 7 PM
- Dinner
- Friday night dinner buffet in Grand Ballroom
- 7 PM - 8 PM
- 25+ years in beekeeping including the latest research on the honeybee vaccine
- This is a lighthearted presentation that will cover how bees have influenced my life and the lives of others. It will also include the latest on research at the UGA Bee Lab with Dalan Animal Health Company, which has created the first honeybee vaccine.
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Speakers:
Professor Jennifer Berry
- 8 PM - 9 PM
- Queen quality and the environment
- This is a presentation on how food availability in the landscape and different types of diet affects queen egg-laying and highlights how little we know about queen biology. Most work on queens focuses on breeding genetics, but in my research lab we are studying how queens respond to the environment to figure out ways to better support their health.
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Speakers:
Dr. Adam Dolezal
Saturday
- 8 AM - 9 AM
- Breakfast
- Registration, socialization, and coffee
- 9 AM - 9:15 AM
- Opening Remarks
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Speakers:
Doug Partridge, Mark Lantzakis
- 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM
- How Do Bees Deal with Disease? -- Dealing with life in a VERY close family in a VERY crowded neighborhood.
- In this presentation, I talk about research in my lab showing how virus infections affect behavior in different ways, which can result in bees performing “hygienic” behaviors to reduce disease transmission as well as changes, driven by the virus, that increase transmission. This is mostly an interesting story about bee biology with clear connections to practical beekeeping as we understand diseases of honeybees. If time permits, I will cover the difficulties in monitoring for Varroa mites, discussing opinions about best practices for doing mite monitoring and treatment. Also if time permits, I’ll discuss the concept of “Darwinian Beekeeping” and its implementation from my point of view.
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Speakers:
Dr. Adam Dolezal
- 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
- Oxalic acid research: What works, what doesn’t!
- Parasitism by Varroa destructor is the number one reason our bees die. To be successful, we must manage these pests, or our bees are doomed. But how, when there are so many options, choices, opinions? For several years the UGA Bee Lab has studied various application methods using oxalic acid. Results will be discussed along with a best course of action for controlling Varroa.
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Speakers:
Professor Jennifer Berry
- 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
- Lunch
- 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
- Level of Susceptibility to Diseases Throughout the Year, or Winter – they can be as tough as heck
- This talk is about “winter bees” and how bees change through the season. It shows work in my lab about how bees’ responses to diseases change over the year, with some ideas about supporting bee health in the winter. It also shows a study we did carefully tracking colony health when using hive covers/ wraps in Illinois winter (and discusses the history of hive wrapping). It is a mixture of information on bee diseases, but the wrapping material is very practical. This talk has been well received by people in areas where wrapping makes sense.
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Speakers:
Dr. Adam Dolezal
- 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
- Keeping honeybees and Pollinators Alive
- There are a number of things we need to do to improve the health of our honeybees, but also our native bees and pollinators as well. First, we will cover what we need to do inside of the hive to keep our honeybees thriving. Next, we will discuss how to keep all of our bees and pollinators healthy in urban and suburban areas.
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Speakers:
Professor Jennifer Berry
- 3:30 PM
- Raffle and Closing