Jean Miller | Bees & Beekeeping in Thailand – “Giants, Dwarfs and Some Like Ours: Honey Bee Diversity”

 The world’s distribution of honey bee species is discussed highlighting Thailand as a hotspot of diversity  where four native and one non-native species live. (Apis dorsata, A. florea, A. andreniformis, A. cerana, A.mellifera)
 The three branches of honey bees is defined – Cavity Nesters, Giants, and Dwarfs
 Size comparisons, behavior characteristics, and honey production of the various species is presented.
 “Shimmering” video by the Giants, Apis dosata. Looks like honey bees doing “The Wave”. Very cool!
 How honey hunters obtain honey from feral hives.
 How two species are managed (A. cerana and A. mellifera).
 “Bee trees” – Where several open nesters (A. dorsata) create their colonies on one tree.
 A brief introduction to stingless honey bees (Trigona species)
 A little about Tropilaelaps clareae – Potential threat on the horizon?
 Mites and viruses that affect Thai honey bee species.
 General information about Thai beekeepers and how they manage (or hunt) honey bees, as well as sell hive products.
 Land Leeches! (Not a honey bee but a surprising encounter in Thailand!)

Jean Miller
Beekeeper since 2014.
Cornell University Master Beekeeper since 2021.
Member of following beekeeper organizations:
Northwest New Jersey Beekeepers Association
New Jersey Beekeepers Association
Eastern Apiculture Society
Have traveled twice to Kenya to study beekeeping there with Maryann Frazier of Penn
State. In May/June of 2022, went to Thailand with Dr. Jamie Ellis and Dr. Cameron Jack
(U. of FL) to study beekeeping and the diversity of honey bees in Southeast Asia.
Rutgers University Master Gardener since 2012. Have logged over 1600 volunteer
hours. Well versed in deer resistant plants that provide nectar and pollen for bees.
Was a substitute teacher in the Flemington area for 20 years. Have taught all grade
levels and all core subjects but prefered teaching Math and Science in grades 6 th -12 th
Process Control Manager for Nestle’s Freehold manufacturing facility (in my former life,
that is before motherhood.)
Graduated with high honors from Lehigh University with a BS in Industrial Engineering
(1985)
I’m also an avid life-long naturalist and have visited and hiked in over 50 National Parks.
Also enjoy traveling internationally (Ecuador {Galapagos Islands}, Peru, Iceland, Kenya,
Tanzania, Egypt, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand…).

To register please email president@bostonbeekeepers.org. This presentation is free to BABA members and $5 to non-members. The zoom link will be sent the evening prior to the presentation. See you there!

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