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Conference Topic: Natural Beekeeping

Keynote Speakers:

Ross Conrad: “Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture”: Mr. Conrad learned his craft from the late Charles Mraz, world renowned beekeeper. Conrad is a former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, a regular contributor to Bee Culture – The Magazine of American Beekeeping and author of Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture. Ross has given bee related presentations and led organic beekeeping workshops and classes throughout North America for many years. His beekeeping business, Dancing Bee Gardens, supplies friends, neighbors, and local stores with honey and candles among other bee related products, and provides bees for Vermont apple pollination in the spring.

Janet Clayton: “Honeybee Health”: Janet is a Master Beekeeper and served as editor of the WVBA Newsletter. Her recent work on a new honey processing facility has fueled her interest in this topic. Janet will give some valuable insights for beekeepers wishing to improve their honeybee health.

 

See www.greaterclevelandbeekeepers.com for more information.

Registration for this event is now closed!

We are planning for the 35th Annual Spring Beekeeping Workshop in Wooster, Ohio on Friday and Saturday, March 1 & 2, 2013. As in the past, it will be held in Fisher Auditorium and the Shisler Center at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). Located at 1680 Madison Ave (at State Route 302 east and State Route 83) just south of Wooster. Last year there were participants from Ohio and many neighboring states attending the workshop.

Once again there will be a block of rooms set aside at the Hilton Garden Inn, 959 Dover Road, Wooster, which is within site of OSU’s Fisher Auditorium. The room rate is $89.00 per night plus tax for 1 king or 2 queen beds. When making reservations give them: TCBA Bee Mtg as the code name. For reservations call 330-202-7701. For more information their web page is: www.wooster.stayhgi.com

There are a few changes to this year’s Workshop. With over 1,000 attendees in 2012 we have reached the full capacity rating for the building and find it necessary to limit our registrations to 1,000. For this reason there will be no walk-ins allowed at the door this year.

See http://tricountybeekeepers.org/Spring_Workshop_5LEI.html for more information.

 

On Friday evening, March 1, the OSU Pollinatarium will be open from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. for tours. The Pollinatarium is located nearby on the OSU/OARDC campus. There will be signs showing the way to the Pollinatarium. At Fisher Auditorium from 7:00 to 8:00pm, you may hear “Beyond the Hive” by Isaac and Jayne Barnes or attend a Beginners subject talk, presented by The Central Ohio Beekeepers’ Association (COBA).

On Saturday, March 2, the workshop will begin with opening comments by Mr. Randall Westfall (Workshop Committee Chairman) of TCBA in the Auditorium. Our keynote speaker, Ms. Jennifer Berry (University of Georgia) will be our keynote speaker. She will discuss Practical Natural Beekeeping. The three workshop sessions which follow will each have seven different breakout topics from which to choose. One of the breakout topics in each session will be a Basic Beekeeping Session. Also, a Kid’s Session will be offered during each workshop session. These are open to kids 6 – 12 years old and will provide fun bee activities. Each Kid’s Session is limited to a maximum of 20 children.

Other activities during the day include a Honey Recipe Contest, a Guessing Contest and Door Prizes given throughout the day. There will be a “Hands On/Learning to Do” room which will include practical activities such as assembling hive parts, extracting honey, bees and diseases (up close) and more.

Workshop registration on Friday night is from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. continuing throughout the day.

Bees and pesticides (Honeybees: Avoiding Pesticide Damage) is a topic of a class on Tuesday (9/18). There also is an introduction to beekeeping on Wednesday.

Show Schedule

See the website for more information.

Celebrate National Honey Month and Lithopolis Honeyfest Day in Ohio in a robust atmosphere of art, music, food, fun and people! The Lithopolis Honeyfest is a non-profit event with a mission to educate the public about the art and science of apiculture and to raise awareness of the importance of the honey bee. With the involvement of honey and beekeeping trade associations, we see this event as a component in preserving apiculture, not just in Ohio, but nationwide and globally.

Program: Dewey Caron and Larry Connor are conducting a class designed for the Master Beekeeper Program. You will earn 3 Credit Hours towards the required 40 when you attend this seminar titled “Colony Management.” Content will be based on Dewey Caron’s book, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping.

Fee: 40.00 for walk-in registration on the night of the seminar.

OSBA membership pre-registration $25.00. Non-Member pre-registration $35.00.

Master Beekeeping Program Enrollment fee is a one-time payment of $5.00. Enrollment in the MBP is required if the hours are to be applied to the Master’s Program. However, the seminar is open to all. Materials covered in this seminar will be used for the Master Beekeeper Test.

Bee Culture Magazine and The Medina County Beekeepers will pre-sent a half-day Advanced Beekeeping Seminar on Sunday, March 18, 2012 from 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM at the A. I. Root Meeting Room at 623 W. Liberty Street, Medina, OH 44256. This meeting room is on the South side of Liberty Street. Look for the Medina Beekeepers Sign. Refreshments will be provided.

Instructors

Kim Flottum, Editor of Bee Culture Magazine, and author of Backyard Beekeeping, The Honey Handbook and Better Beekeeping. Kim is Emer-itus Chairman Of the Board and President of EAS, and Past President of The Ohio State Beekeepers and the Medina County Beekeepers.

Dr. Dewey Caron, Emeritus Professor in Apiculture from Delaware, and author of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, The African Honey Bee in the Americas, and Observation Hives. Dr. Caron is Emeritus Chairman Of The Board and President Of EAS, and Past President of WAS.

Dr. Larry Connor is President of WicWas Press, author of Bee Sex Es-sentials, Increase Essentials and Queen Rearing Essentials. He has pub-lished a host of other beekeeping books, organizes the Serious Sideliner Course at the ABF meetings annually, and is a nationally known speaker on a variety of topics.

Topics include:

• Winter and spring management for maximum population for Midwest honey flows
• Using uncapped queen cells, capped queen cells, virgins and whole queens, looking hard at summer splits for expansion and swarm control
• Controlling Varroa…what works, what doesn’t and why, efficiency in time and cost
• Managing diseases and other pests efficiently
• Producing and marketing Varietal and artisan honey
• Fall and winter management for optimal overwintering success in the Midwest

 

Queen production is not a part of this class. Due to timing, live colony work is not part of the class. All instruction will be inside. Instructors will be using, primarily, PowerPoint material, but some hands on may be available. This will be a full four hours of instruction. Please arrive early and be prepared to ask questions after the class is over. There is no limit to the number of students for this class.

Fee is $60.00/person. A family of 2 $85.00. Some instructional material will be provided, and the book Better Beekeeping is included. Advance notice or attendance is required, but payment will be made at the door the day of the meeting. For more information and to preregister, contact Kim Flottum at Kim@BeeCulture.com, or 330.722.2021. Registration closes Friday, March 9, 2012.

Note: This class will count towards 5 credit hours in the Master Beekeeper Program

The Tri-County Beekeeper’s Association is proud to host what is believed to be the largest, one day, beekeeping workshop in the United States. We had 989 attendees at the 2011 workshop and plans are well underway for making 2012′s the largest and best ever…

The following is a brief preview of a few changes in the workshop this year, which will occur on March 2 & 3, 2012.  For more details as they are available see: http://www.tricountybeekeepers.org/Spring_Workshop_5LEI.html

 

* One change is in the hosting of the workshop itself. Dr. James E. Tew and Sherry Ferrell, of the OSU Extension Service, have both retired from OSU Extension this summer and from the co-hosting of the workshop. We wish them both great enjoyment as they open new chapters in their lives. With their departure from the planning committee, TCBA has stepped-up involvement to ensure that the 2012 workshop will be another great event.

 * Another change will be an increase in your choices of breakout sessions. We are listening to past year’s reviews and trying something different this year. Instead of having a keynote address in the morning, we are adding an additional morning round of breakout sessions. This will allow you to tailor your workshop experience to better fit your needs by giving you a larger selection of topics to choose from.

 * This year we will give attendees the option of pre-registering on-line, via a secure website. This will make it more convenient, safe and accurate to pre-register. You won’t have to mail the form, check or credit card information to us. This will also greatly reduce the labor involved in keeping track of all the registrations. We will still give you the old way of mailing in the form, but we really hope everyone will consider the on-line option. If you have not received the pre-registration information in previous years and would like to, please send me an . On the subject line, please type “Add me to the Workshop mailing“. In the body of the email, include your name, address, phone # and the email address you want us to use for the invitation, and I’ll get you on the list. The email invitations for the on-line, pre-registration are currently scheduled to be sent on January 14th, 2012, followed on the 21st by a regular mailing. The web based option will also be available, starting on the 14th, via a link on this website.

 * A new attraction this year is the new OSU Pollintorium which will be available for tours. This new facility exhibits information about the various pollinators in nature; of course, this includes our favorite pollinator. It is near by on the campus and can be found by following the provided signage.

 * This is not a change to the workshop, but don’t miss the opportunity to meet with all the local and many national equipment vendors at the workshop. If you place an order over the phone, a few weeks before the workshop, many vendors will bring the order to the meeting for free, saving you on shipping costs.

The date has been set for our 9th Annual Honeybee EXPO. On January 28, 2012, this great event will be held.

Registration is $17.00 for adults, if paid by January 16th; otherwise, $22.00 at the door and $8.00 for children under 12 years of age. Many vendors will exhibit their products.

See http://www.angelfire.com/nb/movba/expo2012.html for more information or contact Teresa Wagoner at 304-375-4919

Join beekeepers from around the state on Thurs., May 12th in Circleville, OH for a spaghetti dinner with guest speaker Dr. Jim Tew, OSU Extension Specialist, Beekeeping. All proceeds go to the Honeybee lab tornado relief fund. Dinner served from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the K of C Hall, conveniently located off U.S.Route 23. Tickets are $15 and available by calling 740-474-7086. Seating is limited and by reservation only. No tickets sold at the door. Sponsored by the Scioto Valley Beekeepers.

Registration: Spring 2011

The meeting will be on the evening of March 4 and all day March 5, 2011. The registration costs are the same as last year. Pre-Registration forms are available at: http://www.gcbeekeepers.com/Documents/11_PRegistration_Packet.pdf

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The Ohio State University & Tri-County Beekeeping Workshop (OTW) is the largest single-day beekeeping workshop in the United States. OTW is held annually on the first Saturday of March at OSU‘s OARDC campus in Wooster, Ohio. The workshop started out as a small meeting in 1978 and has grown to accomodate approximately 950 participants. The newest addition is a Friday night program and museum tour, this gives long distance participants an opportunity to listen to a talk(s) and socialize, which has proven very successful. The goals of the workshop are primarily educational and collaborative. The workshop allows expert speakers to introduce participants of all experience levels to new techniques, equipment, and research. It also provides a forum to hone traditional practices. Along with the main program, there are many vendors from across the country that sell beekeeping equipment and related material. Each year the workshop hosts a guessing contest, baked goods contest, scholarship raffle, door prizes, many vendors, and museum tours. The program has something for everyone—children (ages 5–12), beekeepers of all experience levels, and anyone with an interest in apiculture. In the morning participants can enjoy Troyer’s Amish Bakery’s famous cinnamon rolls, donuts, and fresh-made coffee. Lunch is catered by Des Dutch Essenhaus, a well-known Amish restaurant located in nearby Shreve, Ohio. The dinners consist of roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, a vegetable, homemade pie and a dinner roll. Boxed lunches are available for those wanting a lighter lunch. Future plans for the OTW include a hands-on room where beekeepers can learn to put frames together and try new equipment. OTW will be on Friday & Saturday, March 4 & 5, 2011.