Schedule:

Auditorium/Main Room:

[ The morning talks in the Main Room provide our ABCs for Beginners: ]

9-9:50, [ A ] Chris Barnes, Main Room, Getting Started in Bees

10-10:50, [ B ] Ryan Giesecke, Main Room, Honey Bee Biology

11-11:50, [ C ] Michelle Boerst, Main Room, Resource Planning for Your Apiary

Classroom A

Dr. Leo, 9-9:50, Classroom A, Natural Beekeeping

Charlie Agar, 10-10:50, Classroom A, Working with Mean Bees

Joe Lewis, 11-11:50, Classroom A, Sustainable Bees w/ Nucs

Ed Veiseh, 1-1:50, Classroom A, Getting Honey Bees to Do What You Want

Kevin Inglin, 2-2:50, Classroom A, Dealing with Deadouts

Nathalie B., 3-3:50, Classroom A, Simpler, Lighter, More Affordable Beekeeping with Horizontal Top-Bar hives and FLEX Hives

Dr. Leo, 4-4:50, Classroom A, Horizontal Hives and their Advantages

Classroom B

Rex Smith, 9-9:50, Classroom B, Bees for Tax Purposes

Laura Winters, 10-10:50, Classroom B, Planting for Bees

Ginger Cole, 11-11:50, Classroom B, A Full Circle w/ Topbar Hives

Dr Ozturk, 1-1:50, Classroom B, Medicinal Value of Texas Honey

Charlie Agar, 2-2:50, Classroom B, Fat & Happy Bees for Winter

Crissy Ward, 3-3:50, Classroom B, Splits

Kirby Carmichael, 4-4:50, Classroom B, Moving Hives

Classroom C

Kevin Inglin, 9-9:50, Classroom C, Avoiding Wonky Comb: Understanding Comb

Dr Ozturk, 10-10:50, Classroom C, Apitherapy Beyond Bee Venom: Other Medicinal Products of the Hive

Ryan Giesecke, 11-11:50, Classroom C, Beekeeper Ethics

Omar Martinez, 1-1:50, Classroom C, Building Better Queens for Texas

Donald Traister, 2-2:50, Classroom C, Bee Venom in Apitherapy

Shannon Gluba, 3-3:50, Classroom C, Drones & Varroa Sampling

Tim Branam, 4-4:50, Classroom C, Hive Inspection Habits

Presentation Summaries:

Natural Beekeeping — Keeping colonies with minimal intervention by working with honey-bee biology rather than routinely manipulating the colony.

Horizontal Hives and Their Advantages — Comparing horizontal hive designs with conventional equipment and explaining their management advantages.

Getting Started in Bees — An introduction to the basic equipment, terminology, hive management, and seasonal responsibilities needed to begin keeping honey bees.

Sustainable Bees w/ Nucs — How nucleus colonies can be used to start, expand, replace, and maintain healthy colonies while building a more sustainable apiary.

Working with Mean Bees — Practical techniques for safely managing unusually defensive colonies and identifying possible causes of aggressive behavior.

Dealing with Deadouts — How did you get there, and how to clean up the mess. This talk outlines reasons hives die, how to do a necropsy, and how to recover for next season.

Simpler, Lighter, More Affordable Beekeeping -- Working with horizontal top-bar hives and FLEX Hives

Planting for Bees — How to select and establish plants that provide bees with useful nectar and pollen throughout the growing season.

Bees for Tax Purposes — An overview of how beekeeping may relate to Texas agricultural land valuation and the management requirements involved.

Medicinal Value of Texas Honey — A look at research into honey’s antimicrobial and wound-care properties and what is—and is not—known about potential health benefits.

A Full Circle w/ Topbar Hives — A experiences, lessons, successes, and challenges using horizontal top-bar hives.

Splits — How to divide a strong colony to increase hive numbers, control swarming, replace queens, or create backup colonies.

Getting Honey Bees to Do What You Want - Colonizing and decolonizing swarms in order to serve your particular need, while thinking like a honey bee.

Beekeeper Ethics — A discussion of responsible beekeeping practices involving bee welfare, neighbors, other beekeepers, property owners, and the surrounding environment.

Moving Hives — Methods for safely preparing, securing, transporting, and relocating honey-bee colonies while minimizing stress and bee loss.

Avoiding Wonky Comb — How hive setup, spacing, leveling, and beekeeper management can encourage bees to build straight, manageable comb.

Apitherapy Beyond Bee Venom: Other Medicinal Products of the Hive— Using medicinal products of the hive including honey, pollen, propolis and royal jelly for a variety of treatments.

Drones & Varroa Sampling — An examination of drone biology and practical methods for monitoring Varroa mite levels to guide colony-management decisions.

Treatment-Free Beekeeping — An examination of philosophies and management strategies that avoid chemical Varroa treatments, along with the challenges and risks involved.

Building Better Queens for Texas — How queen selection, breeding, mating, and local adaptation can be used to develop productive colonies suited to Texas conditions.

Fat & Happy Bees for Winter -- Everything you need to know to raise healthy honey bees that are ready for winter.

Bee Venom in Apitherapy — An overview of the use of honey-bee venom in apitherapy, including proposed applications, current evidence, and significant allergy and safety concerns.

Hive Inspection Habits -- Learn how to conduct thorough, efficient hive inspections that save time while helping you better understand what's happening inside your colonies.