ESHPA 2017 Summer Picnic and
General Membership Meeting
July 22, 2017

Theme: Determining Hive Health

Come join us at the 2017 ESHPA Summer Picnic at the famous Cornell Dyce Labs!  We’re going to do some hands-in-the-hive learning, play some beekeeping games, win door prizes, enjoy a good lunch and listen to the latest from Cornell bee researchers.

Picnic Date: July 22, 2017

Location: Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Research, 209 Freese Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850

Cost: $25 – Does NOT include lunch (sorry, we're past the lunch reservation deadline).   Cost at door is also $25.

Register online at ESHPA.org or use the coupon on page 2 of newsletter.

Our special program includes a chance to learn from expert beekeepers (veils are required for everyone approaching live hives.) Planned breakout sessions include:

• “Varroa detection in the hive” taught by Emma Mullen, CCE Extension specialist

• "Hive inspection basics" by Earl Villecco, commercial beekeeper

• “Supplemental feeding strategies using sugars and pollen” by Jim Doan, commercial beekeeper

• “Making splits and nucs” taught by Dan Winters, commercial beekeeper

• “Preparing for the Fall Meeting honey show in Ontario” by Jon Ryan, commercial beekeeper

• “Nosema detection” by Christina Wahl

Agenda:

10:00am   Welcome by President Mark Berninghausen

10:15am   Speakers: Dr. Scott McArt, Department of Entomology Cornell University with an update on Cornell’s NY research programs,  and Emma Mullen, Cornell Honey Bee Extension Associate, on Varroa Mite Updates.

11:15am   General membership meeting

                    Lots of door prizes from Mann-Lake, Dadant and Brushy Mountain

12:00pm   Catered lunch and some fun beekeeper themed contests by Michelle Fuller

1:00pm – 3:00 pm   Breakout Sessions (rotating 20 minute sessions)

SPEAKER BIOs

Scott McArt is an assistant professor of pollinator health at the Cornell Department of Entomology. Before starting at Cornell in 2014, he completed his Masters at the University of Alaska, PhD at Cornell and a postdoc at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Major current research projects include: 1) Assessing pesticide risk to bees across different landscape and agricultural contexts, 2) Evaluating the relative importance of pesticides, pathogens and other factors on colony performance, and 3) Understanding pathogen transmission in complex plant-pollinator networks. Current extension efforts include the NYS beekeeper tech team, training veterinarians on honey bee diseases as part of the new Veterinary Feed Directive and advising growers on pest control practices that minimize risk to bees.

Emma comes to us from Ontario, Canada, where she completed her Master’s degree in honey bee behavioral genetics at Western University and served as the campus beekeeper. She then worked at the University of Guelph, reporting to the Ministry of Agriculture on the status and trends of bee health in Ontario. ekm75@cornell.edu 

The ESHPA summer board meeting will be held at Dyce Labs the night before (July 21, 2017) at 4 pm followed by networking at a local micro-brewery.   All members are welcome to come to the board meeting and join the board for dinner afterward.