July Meeting - Varroa Mites with Dr. David Peck

We are happy to announce that Dr. David Peck will be joining us to discuss varroa control.

Varroa Mite History, Biology, and Year-round Management

In this talk, we'll begin with the history of the varroa mite, and how it came to infest our honey bees. After that we'll delve into varroa biology, to really learn to "know our enemy". Then we'll examine different miticides and other mite control tools, and talk about how to use every "weapon" in our mite-control "arsenal" to keep our bees healthy throughout the year - including some exciting new products that may be on the horizon.

Some Background on our Speaker

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.

Reminder: We will be holding our July Apiary Day on July 27th so we will discuss that as well.

Hope to see you all there!

Kyle, John, Diane, Jackie, Dan, Jim, and Stephanie