Thursday, the first day of the WAS conference.
Under the theme "The Path of Discovery to the Future", keynote speaker is Dr. Eric Mussen, recently retired from the University of California, Davis, who will look at the vast number of changes in beekeeping over the three decades of his work as Extension Apiarist at UC Davis. Eric is one of the best-known and most highly respected apiculture scientists in North America, a reputation drawn in part by his tremendous facility for explaining complicated science in terms anyone can understand.
Following the break, Bee Girl Sarah Red-Laird and American Honey Princess Elena Hoffman will talk about educational outreach for kids. Sarah is already something of a phenom in this area, and teamed with Elena, you can expect some great ideas for teaching kids about bees.
The University of Montana has one of the most highly accredited online beekeeping course out there. Roger McClean of the School of Extended & Lifelong Learning (SELL) will tell you about it, winding up the morning with a discussion of honey bee virology and diseases by MSU virologist Michelle Flenniken and doctoral student Laura Brutscher, who is conducting her research on a Project Apis m.-Costco Fellowship. Laura was chosen as the first recipient of the $50,000, three-year Fellowship last fall.
The post-lunch segment of the program goes international, with Provincial Apiculturist Medhat Nasr of Alberta, Canada giving an overview of honeybee health north of the border. Robert McCreery of Northern Ireland and David McMillan of New Zealand will follow suit with highlights from their home territories. McCreery's group, Dromore Beekeepers, is conducting a hive monitoring project under funding from Northern Ireland Environment, with comparative data expected to help set future directions in bee breeding and management. Betta Bee, McMillan's company, doesn't want to bring in outside queens, but are limited by the genetics of the bees on their two islands, so they have developed some advanced methods for screening breeder queens, etc.
Winding up the day are Research Manager Dick Rogers of the Bayer Bee Care Center in North Carolina and Jerry Hayes, Monsanto's Beeologics Bee Health Lead, describing the involvement of these two large companies in improving bee health and ultimately, agricultural and human health. The day's speakers, moderated by Bee Culture's Kim Flottum, then form a panel for discussion of the most critical issues in beekeeping today.
Without missing a beat, we then move from the conference theatre to the University Oval, weather permitting, for the Kyra Jean Williams Farm to College Feastival, where you get to sample the localest munchables around. The program connects local food producers and farmers with university food services and celebrates the work of local organic farmer and businesswoman Kyra Jean Williams, who died of injuries sustained in a car accident in August 2013. The dinner is listed on your registration form and it's a DEAL!!!
Following dinner, there are choices for your evening's entertainment.
For the 'younger" (up to 40-ish?) crowd, Sarah Red-Laird and Zac Browning host the "Next Generation Beekeepers Summit" at the Stensrud Building downtown. Live music starts at 8 as they hand out Big Dipper’s Lavender Honey ice cream and Bayern Brewing’s Summer Bock (made with Montana honey). After some time to unwind and kick up your heels, the hosts will open discussion on current beekeeper issues from a young generation of beekeepers who don't remember the good old days before mites invaded.
The rest of us get to join the square dancing on the UM Oval, or move over to the Payne Family Native American Center at the other end of the Oval for the annual Bee Buzz Social. Don't say there isn't lots to do!