You do not have to be a member to attend. Meetings are the 4th Monday of the month (sometimes we skip May or December). Come early because beekeepers like to buzz around in front of the hive.
SPEAKERS FOR 2019
January 28th - Jay Heselschwerdt - Jay is the East Tennessee representative of Tennessee State Apiarist Mike Studer and does an exceptional job discovering and managing bee diseases. He will share with us the latest on the Winter of 2018 versus the Winter of 2017 (which was very bad for Tennessee bees).
February 25th - Kent Williams - Kent comes to us from western Kentucky where his parents were probably born. (That was a reference to a John Prine song, who is from that area, and who Kent sounds like, and makes you laugh like.) Kent is a legendary beekeeper in our area who has vast experience, manages well over 100 hives, is Eastern Apicultural Society certified as a Master Beekeeper, and is paid for his beekeeping wisdom by some very large commercial beekeepers in and around Kentucky.
March 25th - Derick Forester - Derick is the Rising Fawn, Georgia owner and operator of Forester Farms Apiary. He will present on integrated pest management and will in particular talk about the hive heating device he has found effective.
April 22nd - Dr. Clarence Collison - While almost a "local" to us, Dr. Collison is also a nationally recognized academic authority on honeybees. Now retired, he was Professor of Entomology and Head of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Mississippi State University. Prior to his move there, in 1989, he was an Extension Entomologist at Pennsylvania State University, where he served as Beekeeping/Pollination Specialist and Livestock Entomologist. He now travels the country lecturing about bees and writes for Bee Culture magazine.
May - TBA - CANCELLED, due to Memorial Day Holiday.
June 24th - Joel White is coming down from Nashville to talk to us about his double-screen swarm stopping method that increases honey production. He will also explain how he treats for Varroa. Joel runs a landscaping business and keeps over 100 hives spread across Brentwood, TN. A former president of the Nashville Beekeepers Association, Joel is a retired teacher and has been keeping bees since 1975. See https://joelwhiteapiaries.com/
July 22nd - HOMECOMING CELEBRATION - Ice cream social and speakers who were the founders of our club. Our first meeting at Chester Frost Pavillion.
August 26th - Elise Chapman, who teaches biology at UTC, will talk to us about bee biology. Elise just completed our beekeeper mentorship program, but has a great academic background in bee life stages, genetics and physiology. You won't want to miss this.
September - No meeting, but our annual picnic instead - details to come soon.
October 28th - Howard Kerr, one of the best known, longest practicing and most influential beekeepers in the state of Tennessee, Howard will make his first visit to us as a guest speaker. Howard wrote most of the beekeeping regulations encoded in Tennessee state law.
November 25th - Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda, was recently hired by UTK to take over the duties of the retired Dr. John Skinner, as our chief bee scientist for Tennessee. She uses her own exceptionally clear bee videos and photos to illustrate many of her points.
Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda, started February of 2019 as our new Tennessee State Extension Apiculturist and Extension Coordinator. Jennifer received her PhD at the University of California at Davis, was a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University, and was Clemson University’s apiculture specialist for 5 years. Her research has included honey bee foraging behavior, behavioral resistance to mites, genomic imprinting and pesticide exposure. Jennifer recently joined the University of Tennessee’s Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and will be developing an educational pollinator program for TN. She has served as President of the American Association of Professional Apiculturists, Vice President of the Heartland Apicultural Society, and advisor to the SC Farm Bureau. Jennifer has been studying honey bees for over 15yrs.
December - CANCELLED - We do not meet this month due to the holidays.