Our December meeting date is approaching rapidly. This should be a great meeting for those just beginning with beekeeping or thinking about becoming a beekeeper. Look for the agenda and meeting information to be posted here next week.
All members: We have cut down our membership list to those who have paid dues the past couple of years. We tried to make this cut as accurate as possible, but if we've made a mistake regarding your membership status, please don't hesitate to let us know and we apologize. You can email me, Jim Davis, and let me know if you have been removed from the list by accident. If you do not get an email agenda this coming week of November 27- December third, your contact information has been removed from our database.
If you can't attend the December meeting but would like to pay your dues, you can mail cash or check ($20) to:
Jean Stallman
11247 Scotch Grove Lane
Fairfax, Iowa 52228
December Meeting
If you have been thinking about joining the beekeeping community, our December meeting could help answer a lot of the questions you undoubtedly have about keeping bees. Join us as we discuss what it takes to get started in beekeeping, from equipment, hive configuration, protective clothing, location, and any other questions you might have. Helping with the conversation will be Dr. David Peck, director of research and education at Betterbee Honey Farm, one of the premier beekeeping supply companies (see David's bio below). David will join us via zoom and will share his perspective as a researcher, beekeeper and member of a supply company.
Stay tuned to this page for the agenda for the December 12th meeting and be sure to add this to your calendar.
Speaker Bio:
David T. Peck, Ph.D.
Dr. Peck is the Director of Research and Education at Betterbee in Greenwich, NY, where he assists in product development and research, and also teaches classes and develops scientifically-sound educational materials. His doctoral work in Cornell University's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior was supervised by Professor Tom Seeley. His dissertation research focused on the transmission of mites between bee colonies, as well as the mite-resistance traits of the untreated honey bees living in Cornell's Arnot Forest.
After earning his degree, he has continued to research varroa/bee interactions, including fieldwork in Newfoundland, Canada (where varroa still have not arrived) and Anosy Madagascar (where varroa arrived only in 2010 or 2011). He has served as a teaching postdoctoral fellow in Cornell's Department of Entomology, and is still affiliated with Cornell through the Honey Bee Health program in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Peck has kept bees for more than a decade, though his home apiary is often full of mite-riddled research colonies so he doesn't usually produce much honey.
