Dr. Sagili is an entymology professor at Oregon State University. He'll speak about the pesky little Sap Beetle that eats our pollen frames.

Dr. Rinkevich is a Research Entomologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Baton Rouge. He'll give a talk on Sustainable Miticide Use and Varroa Control. He will discuss use of resistant stock and other new research developments that show promise to reduce the impacts of Varroa on honey bees.

Third-Time Guest Speaker Wally Shaw will speak to the club in a Zoom presentation titled Both Sides Now: Proactive, and Reactive Swarm Prevention Everyone Should Know. You'll hear observations on swarm-trigger criteria,  time tested approaches to swarm prevention, and recipes for success. The swarm-organizer bees in the hive want to facilitate reproduction; the beekeeper's agenda is to prevent swarming out into the neighborhood.

Dr. Thomas D. Seeley is the Horace White Professor in Biology at Cornell University. He is based in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, where he teaches courses on animal behavior and does research on the behavior and social life of honey bees. His work is summarized in three books: Honeybee Ecology (1985), The Wisdom of the Hive (1995), and Honeybee Democracy (2010). The presentation will be on the topic of Nature Based Beekeeping.

Jennifer Radtke is a co-founder of BioFuel Oasis with over 18 years of beekeeping experience. She’s been teaching beekeeping classes for 13 years, and has published several articles in the American Bee Journal. She’s also a former Vice President of the ACBA and the author of a book on Bay Area beekeeping. In this live presentation via Zoom, she will offer practical tips on how to prevent hive robbing as the summer dearth approaches. You’ll learn about robbing screens, entrance reducers, and why you shouldn’t “open feed” honey cappings to your bees! She’ll also answer any questions you have. (Note that there is no additional in-person meeting in July.)

Amy represents Dalan, who recently announced the Vaccine for American Foul Brood. She is a field technician and leads beekeeper relations at Dalan. Previously, Amy spent 7 years with the USDA studying honeybee nutrition, microbiome, pathogens and toxin exposure. She holds a BS in Wildlife Conservation and Management and a MS in Entomology, both from the University of Arizona. Amy enjoys traveling the US in her self-converted camper van with her dog Miles and tending to her personal honeybee hives.

In this presentation, she will discuss how the world’s first vaccine for bees works, how to administer it and what conditional licensing means.