Zoom Presentation

Our speaker will be Andony Melathopoulos on the topic of "Does beekeeping impact native bees?" There’s a growing antagonism between beekeepers and native bee enthusiasts over whether beekeeping has a negative impact on native bee populations. In this talk, he reviews what is known in this emerging area of study.

Our speaker will be Dr. Declan Schroeder on the topic of What is killing our bees?

In 2025, 60% of honeybee colonies died in the United States. Dr. Schroeder's research team was the first to confirm that Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) load, and its association with Varroa destructor (Varroa), are responsible for the death of millions of honey bee colonies.

Dr. Schroeder is a professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota, and has published papers on varroa mites, deformed wing virus, and more.

Our speaker will be Dr. Ramesh Sagili on the topic of "How do Honey Bees Select Larvae for Rearing Queens During Emergency: Insights from Research". If you've ever considered rearing or grafting queens, this will help you understand how bees do it — and what we can learn from that.

Dr. Sagili is a Professor of Apiculture in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University.

Our speaker will be Michael Bush, talking about Francis (François) Huber. Huber was the 1814 author of the seminal book Huber’s New Observations on Bees, which laid the groundwork for all the practical knowledge we have of bees today. His discoveries were so revolutionary that beekeeping can be divided in two eras: pre-Huber and post-Huber.

Michael Bush is the author of the books The Practical Beekeeper, The Practical Queen Breeder, and more. He shares his extensive knowledge on his website The Practical Beekeeper.

Our speaker will be Mirza Tihić, speaking about Beekeeping in the Age of AI.

What keeps beekeepers going when the economics don't always make sense? Drawing from interviews and survey data from beekeepers across the country, this talk explores why people stick with beekeeping despite challenges, how beekeepers make decisions about treatment, local adaptation, and hive management, and how AI and tchnology can play a role in beekeepeing practices, access, and sustanability

Our speaker will be Dr. Fernando A. Fleites-Ayil of the University of California, Riverside Department of Entomology. The subject of the talk will be “Pathogen spillover is a threat for native stingless bees”.

Our speaker will be Michael Bush, talking about A Few Good Queens: Simple Queen Rearing for a Hobbyist. Want to raise new queens so you don't need to buy them? He'll explain how to do that as simply as possible while maximizing the quality of the queens.

Michael Bush is the author of the books The Practical Beekeeper, The Practical Queen Breeder, and more. He shares his extensive knowledge on his website The Practical Beekeeper.

Our speaker will be Dr. Genesis Chong on the topic of varroa-resistant local bees. Some populations appear to persist with lower mite levels and reduced treatment needs, highlighing the potential for naturally occurring resistance traits and what they may mean for beekeeping practices.

Our speaker will be Dr. Dewey Caron, Emeritus Professor of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, Univ of Delaware. The topic will be Varroa Mites and the Summer Solstice. Varroa mites are the major pest issue we face as beekeepers. Flattening the mite growth curve is proactive management. Now that we are at the summer solstice there are significant changes in our colonies, and our varroa management emphasis needs to shift from drones to workers. What management choices following super removal may reduce varroa stress and support improved colony winter survival?

Note earlier than usual start time of 6:30 PM.

Our speaker will be Dr. David Tarpy, Professor and Apiculture Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University. The topic will be Making good queens and avoiding bad ones.

Our speaker will be Benjamin Powell of Clemson University. The topic will be Murder, She Wrote — but what she got is way worse!, discussing invasive new pests like the Asian Giant Hornet and Yellow-legged Hornet.

Our speaker will be Dr. Boris Baer of UC Riverside. The topic will be The Crazy Sex Life of Social Insects!

Boris says “We have studied social insect reproduction for several decades, and every time we look more closely, we uncover something new— from sperm competition and the remarkable long-term sperm storage of queens to the ways males physiologically influence queens. Our latest work on how honey bee societies ear their future queens provides just another example of that story.”