Reviews of U.S. Beekeeping Association Conventions 

American Beekeeping Federation Meeting in Reno, NV (January 2005)

Jointly held meetings of professionals appear to be a thing of the future as organizational budgets, especially for travel, are increasingly being reduced. Thus, two other associations also held their annual meeting in conjunction with that of the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) in Reno, Nevada. They are represented by three acronyms for associations that have had, and in the future will have, importance in a continuing dialogue with the beekeepers of North America.

EAS meeting in Kent Ohio (September 2005)

The Eastern Apicultural Society's 50th meeting has concluded. It convened on the campus of Kent State University, and presents another turning point in the history of this institution, albeit one far more pleasant than the event that occurred on that Ohio campus May 4, 1970. Four students were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard while protesting against the war in Vietnam. This reporter did not expect the meeting to be as "emotional" as it turned out. But the remarks by Dr. Mark Winston when he said goodbye to his career in writing about apiculture brought a tear to many eyes, including his own. As he writes in his final column in the August 2005 Bee Culture, his life has moved away from bees.

EAS Meeting in Young Harris, Georgia (September 2006)

Young Harris College in the town of the same name, and nestled in the Northeast Georgia mountains, hosted the 51st meeting of the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS), the first ever in the Peach State. The organizers were surprised that it was oversubscribed (361 people showed up), but it was no shocker that President Jennifer Berry and the busy worker bees of the Georgia Beekeepers Association put on a great show. Although somewhat focused on a rather small part of the region's colorful history, making illegal spirits (participants at the hog roast received a shot glass engraved with "Let the Georgia Moon Shine on You"), there was plenty of evidence that the global economy has reached this part of the world. One only has to look at the number of Tex-Mex restaurants in the region, and listen to the strains of Mariachi norteños on the local radio stations to realize that "times they are a changing."

Several themes provided a more worldly emphasis as well. The presence of the infamous Africanized honey bee in Florida (AHB) was one focus of the meeting, and so was current situation with reference to queen breeding (the Russians have arrived), Varroa mite taxonomy and resistance possibilities via news from Australia. Finally, there as emphasis on international standards for the honey show with two certified judges in attendance, one each from Ireland and Wales. The bottom line is that the depth and quality of information provided at this conference gets better each year.

ABF Meets in Fort Worth: Bill Wilson says Goodbye (January 2000)

Dr. William (Bill) T. Wilson said a formal goodbye to the beekeeping industry at the 57th meeting of the American Beekeeping Federation in Forth Worth, Texas, January 12, 2000. Bill's long and distinguished career began in 1951. He received his M.S. degree from Colorado State University and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Over the years, he was leader of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) honey bee research facilities in both Laramie, WY and Beltsville, MD. In 1985, he supervised movement of the Laramie facility to Weslaco, TX. He is now the currently designated lead scientist of the honey bee research group at the recently re-named Kika de la Garza USDA-ARS Subtropical Agricultural Research Center at that location. Bill will retire from that facility sometime this year, relocating to Seattle.

EAS at Cornell (September 2002)

Dr. Roger Morse, who some consider Dean Emeritus of U.S. beekeeping, and long-time supporter of the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) would have been proud. Sitting at the same banquet table were seven of his students, along with his widow Mary Lou. One, Dr. Michael Burgett of Oregon State University, was about to formally receive the third Roger A. Morse Award for outstanding achievements in the field of apicultural extension, teaching and regulatory activities given by the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) at his alma mater, Cornell University, where Dr. Morse was professor of entomology and apiculture for over three decades. Beyond the considerable contributions of the man the students called "Doc," it would be difficult to overestimate what Cornell University has meant to modern beekeeping. Not only is it home to the Dyce® creamed honey process and laboratory where many workshops are scheduled, but it also boasts one of the largest collections of apicultural literature in the world, currently housed at the Mann library on campus. It is more than fitting, therefore, that this institution in the Finger Lakes region of New York served as host for EAS 2002.

Three Decades of Honey Bee Research and Extension in Georgia (October 2001)

In an era where reports of funding reductions and shrinking programs related to honey bees are common, it's nice to see an exception. This is true in Georgia, where what some have described as a "miracle" has occurred. Under the guidance of Dr. Keith Delaplane, the University has just completed a brand new facility for beekeeping research and extension. Several things had to happen to make this a reality. First, the program was awarded a full-time technician. At the same time, funding became available from several sources, including the legislature, the Department of Entomology and the University's physical plant services. In addition, an existing honey bee facility was being used to capacity at the University's Horticultural Unit and there was more room on the site for expansion. So much was provided serendipitously as needed, Dr. Delaplane said, that it is impossible to arrive at a cost for the facility ($150,000 is a low estimate).

Reviews of International Meetings 

Apimondia in Africa (2001)

“The African Apimondia World Apiculture Congress would be my fifth. Others I'd attended were in Acapulco, Mexico (1981), Budapest, Hungary (1983), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1989) and Vancouver, Canada (1999). Although I had been the recipient of a lot of information from each and they enriched my knowledge of the craft in many ways, I wasn't sure what specifically I had brought back that would make me, or anyone asking me questions, a better beekeeper. This concern is not new; it has been one I've had to wrestle with throughout my career. This time it followed me all the way to the Republic of South Africa and will be continuously with me as I write this series of columns.

Mexican Beekeeping Seminar Convenes in Tabasco (2004)

“The 18th Mexican Beekeeping Seminar (Seminario Americano de Apicultura) and associated 8th Apiexpo (Expo Apícola) convened in Villahermosa, capital of the Mexican state of Tabasco September 8 through 10, 2004. Besides beekeeping, this area is known for, among other things, its petroleum and aboriginal Mayan ruins (Palenque).1 In addition, the region is famous for huge stone heads carved by the Olmec society, which had as one of its centers a town near Villahermosa, the site of famous ruins at La Venta.2

Hard by the Gulf of Campeche, Tabasco is the namesake of the famous hot sauce, which is manufactured and trademarked in Louisiana, but derived from the hot peppers native to this tropical land. Tabasco state in Mexico is populated almost exclusively by the tropically-adapted infamous Africanized honey bee. It is part of the gulf coastal plain, which also encompasses the states of Campeche, Yucatán and the territory of Quintana Roo. Taken together, these political entities make up Mexico's most important beekeeping region. Mexico (specifically the Yucatán region) lost its number-one world ranking in honey exportation to Argentina and China over the last three decades, but continues to export some of the most sought-after honey in the world. Given historically high prices for honey and the exclusion of China from the trade due to contamination issues, it was no surprise to see that a main theme of this year's seminar in Villahermosa was the international honey trade.

Canadian Honey Council and CAPA (1998)

This is the second year that I have been privileged to meet in Canada with the Honey Council (CHC) and the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA). The 1997 meeting was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in association with the beekeepers of that prairie province. This one was held in Montreal and included an interesting field trip.

Fifth Ibero-Latin American Apicultural Congress meets in Mercedes, Uruguay (June 1996)

Fall approaches winter in the southern hemisphere country of Uruguay at the end of May. We stood around a crackling blaze telling honey bee stories, just as might happen in Florida in late November. Though not cold by temperate terms, the fire took the chill off the air in the unheated Club Remero (rowing club), a stone edifice steeped in history on the bank of the Río Negro, tributary to the mighty Río de la Plata.

Within a radius of 60 miles, half the country's yearly honey production, or some 7 million pounds, is produced, according to the local regional magazine, Perfil (Vol. 1. No.1), May 1996, p. 13 A beekeeping meeting of this importance could easily have been held in Uruguay's most prestigous venue, Punta Del Este, the magazine concluded, but it was most fitting that it occur in the country's honey capital and near its southern neighbor, one of the world's largest exporting countries. Thus, Mercedes, in Soriano Province, some 20 miles from the Argentine border, was the obvious place to hold the Fifth Ibero-Latin American Apicultural Congress.

Sixth Ibero-Latin American Congress and Twelfth Mexican Beekeeping Seminar Meets in Mérida, Yucatán, México (June 1998)

Twenty six years later, I found myself again on the way to Yucatán. This time, the journey was a short hour and a half flight from Miami across the Gulf of México. I had been invited by the organizing committees of both the Sixth Ibero-Latin American Apicultural Congress and Twelfth Mexican Beekeeping Seminar to give presentations during their joint week-long meeting in Mérida. The White City surprised. It bustled with over a million people. Where it had been difficult to find accommodations in 1972 for the itinerant tourist, large hotels including Holiday Inn, Hyatt, and Fiesta Americana now dominated the Paseo del Montejo. The famous Mayan ruins that decades earlier had been rustic stopping places with few visitor facilities boasted lazer light shows. Instead of simply sending post cards home, one could also mail video tapes complete with portraits of the history of these exotic places. Mérida even has several Internet cafes, where visitors can check their electronic mail and surf the World Wide Web.

Eleventh Brazilian Beekeeping Congress, Teresina, Brazil (November 1996)

Brazil's northeast, like its Amazon rainforest, is one of the last frontiers in this huge country. During World War II, it became the stopover for many flights in an effort to find the shortest overwater route to supply troops in North Africa and elsewhere. Thus, Natal, Recife, and other Northeastern Brazilian coastal cities became well known in the early days of aviation and continue to be tourist destinations today. This is the poorest region of Brazil, principally due to the environmental conditions of the interior, a vast region called the sertao. Because of its extreme aridity and general inaccessibility, it was considered useless for agriculture for many years. Those owning land in the sertao abandoned/sold it whenever possible. The region is undergoing a renaissance of sorts, however, and there is increasing economic activity of all kinds, including beekeeping.

Beekeeping in Brazil, Natal (2004)

“My next invitation was to the heart of Brazil's northern interior, Teresina, the capital of the State of Piauí to attend the 11th Congress. Over 2000 beekeepers were in attendance; one of the largest bee meetings I had ever attended. The energy was palpable. It was in this part of the country that a new sort of beekeeping was taking place, based on the Africanized honey bee's adaptability to the vast interior region called the sertão. The vegetational complex of the sertão, called caatinga, it turns out has much in common with the African savannah, where the African honey bee is so successful. It was obvious Brazilians were more than optimistic about the future of beekeeping in their country.

6th Brazilian Encontro and 8th Intl. Conf. on Tropical Bees (2004)

In my series on the current status of Brazilian beekeeping I mentioned that the Africanized honey bee's introduction into that country produced a huge outpouring of scientific study. The result of this continues to be the legacy of one of the world's most dynamic faculties involved with tropical bees at the Ribeirão Preto campus of the University of São Paulo. In 1994, a group of students and faculty at that institution organized the first Encontro (Encounter) to share their tropical bee research results and provide a forum for discussion. Thus began a series of these meetings taking place every two years.

IUSSI Meets in St. Petersburg, Russia (September 2005)

“It seems appropriate, therefore, that the first meeting of the European Section of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) in Russia (the 3rd European Congress) should meet at the University of St. Petersburg (22-27 August 2005), which was established in 1724. To give the meeting further significance it met in the university's historic Twelve Collegiums (Ministries) on Vasilyevski Island, characterized by a series of twelve identical buildings, connected by a common corridor over 300 yards long. At one end is a library and at the other a painting showing Peter the Great signing the university into existence. The building's long hallway is adorned with paintings and sculptures of notable Russian scientists like Mikhail Lomonosov (first Russian student of the natural sciences), Andrei Sakharov (father of the soviet H-bomb), and perhaps most celebrated, Ivan Pavlov, who developed the theory of learning through conditioned response.

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