Beekeeper, Owner
Natural Settings Farm

Shawn's presentation will introduce the process of rearing Queens. In addition to swarm prevention and increasing colony strength, Queen rearing is important to learn for all beekeepers to ensure colony continuity and to introduce desirable traits.

Shawn is an active member in various local clubs, and judges honey shows as well.

He was a backyard beekeeper in Plano for 12-15 years, when Varroa mites were introduced to the USA and wiped out his bees along with most everyone else's bees as well. Once he moved out by Lake Lavon, he wanted to get back into beekeeping and bought new equipment and three nucs of "Factory" bees- all that promptly died.

He realized feral bees were making a comeback, so the next Spring he started catching swarms and doing cut-out bee removals to acquire bees that could thrive and survive without a beekeeper putting poison in the hive to control mites.

He has been treatment-free for the last 15 years and is up to around 150 hives.