Our Conference is taking place on the beautiful campus of The University of Central Missouri (UCM) on Friday and Saturday, October 8-9, in the Sandra Elliot Student Union Building (https://www.ucmo.edu/offices/elliott-student-union/). Starting time will be approximately 8:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday and concludes at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Our main conference meeting will take place in the spacious Sandra Temple Ballroom and mid-afternoon breakout classes will take place in two classrooms off the adjoining Ballroom hallway. UCM students will be attending their fall semester during our conference; however MSBA conference attendees will only be using these meeting spaces. You may use this link to see the Campus Map and the Student Union Building, https://www.ucmo.edu/about/locations/ucm-warrensburg-campus/warrensburg-campus-map/
Our featured Keynote Speakers will be Bob Binnie and Dr Cameron Jack. There will be plenty of time for questions to our speakers. Bob Binnie, along with his wife Suzette, owns and operates Blue Ridge Honey Co. in Lakemont, Georgia and operates approximately 2000 colonies of bees along with a sizable honey packing operation. Bob began his commercial beekeeping career in Oregon in 1981 and as a result of migratory beekeeping practices has had bees in nine states. Voted 2003 Beekeeper-of-the-Year in Georgia, Bob has also been president of several beekeeping associations including the Georgia Beekeepers Association, the Northeast Georgia Mountain Beekeepers Association, and the Macon County Beekeepers in Western North Carolina.
Bob Binnie will give presentations on the following topics:
Queen Management Queens are the heart of a colony and how we manage our queens is a big part of what defines us as a beekeeper. Discussed will be reasons to requeen or not, queen introduction, acceptance, supersedure and much more.
How Processing Affects Honey Honey is a unique food and its enzymes, flavor, color and ability to spoil are all affected by how we process it. We will discuss the effects of moisture, temperature and time on honey and the modern processing practices that can profoundly change it.
Beekeeping Equipment The variations in beekeeping equipment can be truly confusing to newer beekeepers and even seasoned beekeepers can make new choices that will improve efficiency. The pros and cons of the array of beekeeping equipment available, equipment needs for different size operations, wood preservation tips, and equipment quality will be discussed.
Cameron Jack grew up in a small rural farm town called Logandale, NV, just outside of the lights and glitter of Las Vegas. His Grandpa was a high school principal but supplemented his income through beekeeping, managing about 150 hives for honey production and pollination. Cameron grew up around honey bees and beekeeping, often helping his grandfather with hive inspections and honey extraction. He obtained his B.S. degree in biology from Southern Utah University in 2012 and completed his Master’s degree at Oregon State University under the mentorship of Dr. Ramesh Sagili in 2015. There he conducted research on the honey bee gut pathogen Nosema ceranae. He then traveled across the country to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Florida under the mentorship of Dr. Jamie Ellis where he began investigating methods to control the devastating pest Varroa destructor.
In 2018, Cameron was hired on as a teaching faculty at the University of Florida’s Entomology and Nematology Department. In the past three years, he has been obsessed with creating a premier educational program that prepares students for the many challenges associated with beekeeping and to train those interested in entering the beekeeping workforce. Cameron currently teaches seven honey bee-related courses and is now creating an online beekeeping certificate program. In the summer of 2021, Cameron transitioned into an Assistant Professor position focusing on Honey Bee Toxicology.
Most recently his projects have involved studying the efficacies of different chemical treatments to Varroa in field trials. Notably, his work on oxalic acid vaporization has been of interest to beekeepers around the world. He is also involved in a large-scale collaborative project screening a wide variety of untested chemicals for their toxicity towards Varroa and their effect on honey bees.
Dr. Cameron Jack will give presentations on the following topics.
Honey bee toxicology This talk looks at different pesticides that impact bee health, assessing risk, how to reduce poisoning incidents, sub-lethal impacts, as well as his past, present and future research on the subject.
The use of oxalic acid to control Varroa This talk looks at his research with OA vaporization as well as other methods of application. H will talk about current trends and opinions with use of this product.
Nosema ceranae: Infection and disease dynamics. In this talk he shares some of his own research related to Nosema both in the lab and the field and addresses how to monitor, what it means, and possible treatment regimens.
There will be additional breakout classes taught by qualified beekeepers. Charlotte Wiggins will explore the subject of Roadside Native Planting in a class. Some presentations may qualify for the Great Plains Master Beekeeping Program. National and local vendors will display their products for sale in our Vendor Hall. There will be plenty of time for visiting with beekeeping friends and opportunities for meeting new friends.
Pretty soon you should see information regarding Conference Registration, Agenda, and Hotel and/or Camping accommodations on the MSBA website https://mostatebeekeepers.org. Why not consider making a weekend of it? You don’t want to put-off booking your Hotel and/or Camping reservations. Warrensburg is a smaller town and close to Whiteman Air Force Base. Hotel rooms fill up fast in these hotels. September 1 is the deadline for booking rooms at the hotel rooms blocked off for our MSBA Conference. After the September 1 deadline the rooms go back to the public; so rooms may not be available at your choice of hotel after this deadline.
