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Worcester County Beekeepers All Day Meeting
March 7, 2015 @ 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Note WCBA members get free admission, but there is a fee of $10 for non-members.
Agenda:
8 A.M.-9 A.M.-Free Coffee and Danish and Bee Talk (Free to all WCBA Members-Others $10 registration fee)
9 A.M. Opening-Norm Mercier, President WCBAIntroduction of Speakers-Ken Warchol
9AM-10:15 A.M.- Dr. Marla Spivak(see bio below)Topic: Ratchet,Hatchet,Pivot: The Bees Perspective: A historical perspective about the decline in bee populations and what is being done and can be done to reverse the trend
10:15-10:30- Break
10:30-12 Noon-Dr Mike Simone Finstrom(see bio below)Topic: Propolis and Honey Bees: What is the use of resin in the hive(see enhancent of talk below)
12Noon-1 P.M.-Lunch (Must be pre-ordered by March 1 on form below)
1P.M.-2:15 P.M.-Dr. Marla SpivakTopic: Good News and Research from Minnesota: A potpourri of very cool current research findings in my lab with graduate students and of legislative efforts to support pollinators
2:15P.M.-3:30 P.M.-Dr. Mike Simone FinstromTopic: Bees Defending the Hive: Interaction Between Individual and Social Community(See further description below)
3:30 P.M.-4:P.M. Raffle and Wrap up
You do not have to pre-register to attend this event unless you would like to buy a lunch.
If you do not wish to pay for lunch, you may bring your own or go to nearby restaurants.
Lunch Form (Must be emailed to Ken Warchol at kenwarchol2[at]msn.com by March 1, 2015)
Name:____________________________
Number of lunches Ordered___@$15 each=Total remitted to WCBA $___________”
USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Entomology
NC State University
Campus Box 7613Raleigh, NC 27695
Research Website
BIO:Originally from Southern Maryland, Mike has found himself North Carolina for a large part of his academic career. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with degrees in Marine Biology and English. Then he went to the University of Minnesota to earn his PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, where he fell in love with the wonders of honey bees. He pioneered a line of research with Dr. Marla Spivak regarding how and why bees collect plant resins and use them as propolis in the hive. Since 2011, Mike has been working back in North Carolina with David Tarpy (NC State University). Mike has worked on a number of different projects including a collaboration with NC State and Olav Rueppell (UNC-Greensbroro) to understand stress resistance in honey bees. He also completed a USDA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct research on the interactions between individual immunity and social, behavioral immunity in honey bees. As part of this large-scale project, he has examined the integrative effects of propolis, grooming, hygienic behavior, genetic diversity and honey bee physiology on colony health. More recently, Mike has further expanded his research program and began a collaborative project with NC State and Tim Linksvayer (University of Pennsylvania) to understand the sociogenomics of queen quality. The overarching goal of all of his projects tends to relate to how honey bees can be made stronger, healthier and more productive using their own natural defenses and traits.
Talk 1
Propolis and honey bees: What’s the use of resin in the hive?
Honey bees defend themselves and their colonies against parasites using various tactics. One exciting and poorly understood behavior that has potential benefits to colony health is the incorporation of plant resins into the hive architecture as propolis. He will share information on the natural history of resin use by honey bees and explain some recent research relevant to beekeepers concerning the health benefits that honey bees may gain from using resin.
2nd Talk option 1
Defending the Hive: Interactions between individual and social immunity
An in-depth study looking at the interactions between individual immunity and social, behavioral immunity in honey bees. As part of this large-scale project, I examined the integrative effects of propolis, grooming, hygienic behavior, genetic diversity and honey bee physiology on colony health. Really the goals of this project were to understand if there are any trade-offs between the different types of defenses that bees use and how bees invest in these different defenses. Once we have a better idea of this, we can use this for more informative breeding programs, etc. This talk would be an extension of Talk 1, in that it then expands upon the other defenses honey bees use.
2nd Talk option 2
Breeding for quality: Assessing morphological and genetic variation of queens across strains of honey bees
This talk would be on research that I’m currently working on as we speak. We’re trying to characterize what the natural variation is among queens from different commercial stocks (Russian, Carniolan, MN Hygienic, VSH and Italian) from both hive reared queens and queens that we rear completely in the lab. We’re also trying to determine the genetic component of larvae that become queens, both hive reared and those reared in the lab.
Marla Spivak is a MacArthur Fellow and McKnight Distinguished Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota. Her research efforts focus on protecting the health of all bees, breeding bees for their natural defenses against diseases and parasites, and propagating floral rich and pesticide-free landscapes to support the nutrition, health and diversity of bee pollinators.
Marla’s Talks:
1. “Ratchet, Hatchet, Pivot: The Bees’ Perspective” : A historical perspective about the decline in bee populations and what is being done, and can be done, to reverse the trend.
2. “Good news and new research from Minnesota” : A potpourri of very cool current research findings by graduate students in my lab, and of legislative efforts to support pollinators in Minnesota