Our speaker will be Dr. Geoff Williams, Associate Professor in the Entomology department at Auburn University. The topic will be Tropilaelaps mites: a looming threat on the horizon?

Akin to Varroa destructor, Tropilaelaps mercedesae is parasitic mite of honey bees in Asia. Recent detections of tropilaelaps in eastern Europe has shone a very big spotlight this mite. But, should beekeepers in western Europe and the Americas fear it? During this talk, Dr. Williams will introduce tropilaelaps biology and management, and then focus on his team’s current efforts to evaluate monitoring and management strategies, and to educate front-line apiary inspectors about this mite.

Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor at Auburn University, where he directs the Bee Center. Geoff received his undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta (Canada), and then studied Nosema ceranae biology and management for his Ph.D. at Dalhousie University (Canada). He then jumped across the Atlantic to work on honey bee pesticide-parasite interactions and tropilaelaps mites at the University of Bern (Switzerland) and Chiang Mai University (Thailand) for six years as a research scientist. Geoff joined Auburn in late 2016; he is currently Vice President of the global honey bee association COLOSS, and an apiculture subject editor for the Journal of Economic Entomology.