WHPA Summer Meeting

WHPA Summer Meeting June 12, 2021

Hotel Mead 451 E. Grand Ave. Wisconsin Rapids

Room blocked under Wisconsin Honey Producers Association. Please book your room early to take advantage of reduced rate. Call (800) 843-6323 to make your reservation.

Registration Fee: WHPA members $25, non-members $35 (includes lunch)

Please pre-register online, here. If you have any issues registering online please call Karri Burzynski 715-644-5681.

SUMMER MEETING AGENDA

Friday June 11^th 2021

6:30-9:00pm: Social
We will be ordering pizza and appetizers and asking those that attend who will be eating to chip in $15 for food. Drinks are on your own.

Saturday June 12^th 2021

7:30 a.m. – Registration opens
8:30 a.m. – Welcome WHPA President
8:45 a.m. – Wisconsin Honey Queen Anna Evenson
9:00 a.m. – Dr. Katie Lee: Varroa mite biology and management
10:00 a.m. – ABF Update – Kent Pegorsch
10.00 a.m. – Break
10:15 a.m. – Youth scholarship beekeeping program overview
11:00 a.m. – ABF Honey Queen Jennifer Hinkel
11:15 a.m. – State Update, state inspector
11:45 a.m. – WI State Fair update
12:00 p.m. – Lunch
1:00 p.m. – Dr. Katie Lee: Working for commercial beekeepers with Bee Informed Partnership’s Tech-Transfer Teams
2:00 p.m. –Expert Panel Q & A: “What the Heck Did I Get Myself Into?”
2:30 p.m. – Adjourn
3:30 p.m – L.B. Werks James & Jon Hillemeyer tour begins

Summer Keynote Speaker, Dr. Katie Lee: Katie Lee is a post-doctoral researcher on the Minnesota Agriculture for Pollinators Project (MAPP) led by Dr. Dan Cariveau at the Univ. of Minnesota. The project assesses the benefits of pollinator plantings on both honey bees, wild bees, and natural enemies in southwest Minnesota. Lee leads the honey bee team that looks at how the surrounding percent natural area and pollination plot size affect honey bee health. Her previous research focused on metrics that indicate honey bee colony and queen health. She developed a parasitic V. destructor sampling protocol that is now a nationwide standard. In collaboration with the non-profit organization the Bee Informed Partnership, she founded the Northern California and Upper Midwest honey bee Tech-Transfer Teams that provide services for commercial beekeepers by assessing colony health, sampling for pathogens and parasites, and testing breeding stock for disease resistance behaviors. Lee serves on the board of the American Beekeeping Federation and her long-term goal is to conduct research that generates practical information for beekeepers.

Dr. Katie Lee, Univ. of Minnesota