NEOBA will hold the Big Bee Buzz in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 23-24, 2018. The Buzz is an annual event, and one of the largest beekeeping conferences in Oklahoma and the region. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS YEAR THE BUZZ HAS MOVED TO LATE FEBRUARY INSTEAD OF LATE MARCH AS IN RECENT YEARS.
This year?s speakers include Dr. Keith Delaplane, Dr. Clarence Collison, Adrian Quiney, Grant Gillard, Nancy Gillard, and Ed Levi. This is an outstanding set of speakers.
Registration for the event is $40 in advance or $50 at the door on the day of the event. Online registration is available at NEOBA.org. Go the NEOBA.org website and click on Big Bee Buzz under the events listing on the right side of the home page.
We will, once again, have two lectures going at the same time most of the time, with one lecture geared towards beginners and one lecture that is more advanced. There will be plenty of information for people of all levels of experience, whether you have kept bees for 30 years or are just thinking about giving it a try.
Dr. Delaplane has been a beekeeper for most of his life, is a leading researcher who oversees the bee lab at the University of Georgia, and is known to be an excellent speaker. He also writes a monthly column for American Bee Journal.
Dr. Collison was a bee researcher at Mississippi State University and writes a monthly column for Bee Culture. He is returning to the Buzz. He was an excellent speaker when he visited several years ago.
Ed Levi is an old friend of NEOBA. He has kept bees since the 1970s, has been a bee inspector for Arkansas, regularly travels overseas to do beekeeping extension work, and he continues to run a sideline beekeeping operation since retiring from working for Arkansas.
Adrian Quiney is a very experience sideline beekeeper who lives in Wisconsin. He has taught beekeeping, speaks at conferences, and comes highly recommended.
Grant Gillard is a sideline beekeeper from Missouri. He has been a speaker at the Buzz before. Also, his wife, Nancy Gillard, will give a presentation about selling honey and hive products at farmers markets.
A schedule will be on the NEOBA.org page soon, if it is not already there. We will have a wide variety of talks covering honey bee biology, swarm prevention, queen rearing, treatment-free strategies (with practical advice from beekeepers who are actually employing successful strategies), marketing, hive inspections, and dealing with pests.
This is going to be an event that you can't miss. So please go to NEOBA.org and get registered.