North American Honey Bee Expo 2024 (NAHBE) — Conference Notes
Over the last two years I had read about previous Hive Life conferences and how they were focused on hobbyist and sideliner beekeepers and encouraged a lot of social interaction. My experience at the California State Beekeepers Association meeting a year ago had soured me, as most of the conference was for commercial beekeepers and topics were focused on them.
When I heard about the NAHBE conference and the list of presenters, I decided to go, even though it was a plane trip away in Louisville, Kentucky.
I’m so happy I decided to go. The conference is well run and we were amazed at how quick everyone marched into the Expo, got badges, and were inside out of the cold.
Compared to all the other cons/conferences I’ve been to, this one was amazingly glitch free with no problems and a great setup. Kudos to the NAHBE team on fantastic organization.
The trade show was impressive. There was not a big brand missing and many other companies I had never heard of had great stuff.
If you are a beekeeper, I seriously recommend you consider attending.
Here are my notes from the sessions I attended:
Day One at the North American Honey Bee Expo in Louisville, Kentucky.
The exhibitor floor is huge and we just scratched the surface of it. So many familiar names & brands there to look at and the ability to see how a lot of things actually work. There are demos of everything.
Went to the opening and first talk by Randy McCaffrey aka 628DirtRooster. Was mainly pictures and stories about cut-outs and all the notes and details he takes that don’t make it into his YouTube videos. I’ll have to do better with my cut-outs.
Greg Rogers talked about the Oxalic Acid Extended Release Field Trial he did last year in North Carolina.
In summary, the oxalic acid with glycerin on cellulose pads appears to work very well when you start with a low mite levels and will prevent significant rises in mite levels.
He stressed the key is starting with a low mite level. If you start with a high mite level, it will not reduce it.
The conference is perfect for hobbyists and sideliners. Everyone is excited and happy to chat with strangers. The vendors talk with everyone and there is tons to see and learn.
Dinner in downtown Louisville was great with cocktails and amazing chicken, cornbread, hush puppies, etc.
Day Two at the North American Honey Bee Expo (NAHBE) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Dr. Marla Spivak talked about “Why care about propolis?”
In short, a good propolis envelope significantly helps colony health and doesn’t affect honey production in strong hives.
Use of rough box interiors was best for propolis envelope. Rough meaning seriously rough, with deep grooves, not simply scratched.
There are boxes coming on the market with varying levels of interior roughness.
As far as human use of propolis, making tinctures from propolis is best when using 70%+ ethanol.
Dr. Cameron Jack spoke about “The Ins and Outs of using Oxalic Acid as a varroa control”
Started with reminders about safety and using respirators & eye protection.
The legal versions are 1g per brood chamber, but testing with 1g didn’t show effectiveness. Many anectodal reports said higher doses are needed.
Experiments showed the 4g dose was optimal. No statistically significant impact on bees, brood, honey, or pollen.
Tested dribble vs. vapor vs. fogger and vaporization was most effective (using 4g dose).
4 applications of 4g of OA vaporization in 5–7 day cycle is optimal. 10 minute hive seal up time is recommended.
OA extended use pads appears to hold mite levels steady, but not reduce high mite levels.
No impacts on queens observed with OA use.
Work continues with the FDA for formal approval of vaporization use in higher doses and extended use pads, but progress is slow.
The new EZ-OZ oxalic acid pellets & powder are FDA approved for use at the 2g level, which is an example of the slow move forward.
Richard Noel spoke about “The Yellow Legged Hornet aka Asian Hornet”
Hornets stress the colonies to the point they cant fight varroa and then collapse. Hornets only directly attack deadouts or very weak hives.
Hornets depress entire local ecosystem by killing all insects they can find, not just bees. We saw scary videos of hornets “hawking” outside hives, hoving in front of entrances waiting to kill foragers.
There are several trapping tactics used. Spring traps capture founding queens which is optimal. Autumn traps also capture queens before winter.
When ground level nests are found, they are removed, but are huge. Nests high in trees are shot with pesticide paintballs.
Addressing the issue means involving the entire local community, just beekeepers isn’t enough.
Day Three at the North American Honey Bee Expo (NAHBE) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Natalee Summers spoke about Resource Hives
Basically putting in supplemental hives in the apiary to help have resources for production hives.
Michael Palmer calls them Brood Factories.
Typical setup is a double nuc box, 10 frame box with divider in the middle. HillCo makes them and calls them “Queen Castles”. Saw a few other box designs that could be used.
Typically start a resource hive by using a split. Swarms can also be used.
Showed a technique of feeding syrup from a quart sized Ziploc bag.
Being able to support production hives with frames of comb, brood, or even a queen is the goal.
Dr. Marla Spivak spoke on Social Immunity in Honey Bees
The talk was about the overall health of the colony and how it is helped.
Propolis envelope lowers the overall disease load, prevents bacterial growth in food, and acts like an external immune system.
Beneficial bee bacteria appears to have some resistance to propolis.
Bees collect more propolis when colony is sick.
Experiments continue on hygienic behavior (removing sick larva from brood) and how determining how it is triggered.
The VSH/POL bee lines are shown to actively remove varroa infected brood. Evidently, bees detect mite infected cells AFTER egg laying has begun.
They open the cells to inspect and determine if the pupae needs to be removed.
Overall, the NAHBE was a great experience.
Everyone was positive and engaged and wanted to talk beekeeping. No negative energy or politics.
Talking with vendors was informative and helpful. Saw a huge range of products and spent too much. Had to pack an extra duffle bag to carry everything home on my flight.
Kudos to Kamon & Laurel Reynolds and the entire team on a flawless event.
