Certainly one of our keynote audio system on the fall assembly is Dr. Robyn Underwood. Right here’s Linda Tillman’s interview with Robyn:
Dr. Robyn Underwood is the one beekeeper in her circle of relatives and fell in love with bees thirty years in the past on the College of Delaware. She shall be talking on the fall convention. Her keynote talks are: The EPIQ Program: A Distinctive Method To Queen Rearing Training and Evaluating Honey Bee Colony Control Programs. Listed here are her attention-grabbing solutions to the questions I requested her.
1. How did you get began in beekeeping? How lengthy have you ever stored bees and what number of hives do you set up?
I attended the College of Delaware for my bachelor of science level the place I studied entomology and carried out ecology. I used to be fortunate to have Dr. Dewey Caron as my educational guide. He taught an apidologie direction, which I took and completely liked! The lab portion used to be 1-4 pm on Friday afternoons within the apiary. I appeared ahead to it each week. Thus, my love of honey bees started in 1995 (in order that is sort of 30 years of beekeeping). Speedy ahead to nowadays and I stay about 120 colonies for honey manufacturing and analysis functions.
2. Your paintings appears to be fascinated about serving to develop beekeeping talents by means of having a look at problems that may observe smartly to beekeeping. What piece of study that you simply’ve achieved do you suppose is of maximum get advantages to the yard beekeeper?
The analysis that I feel is maximum impactful for yard beekeepers is what we name the COMB challenge (Typical and Natural Control of Bees). It ended in two clinical papers (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30626023/ and https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32824-w), a reality sheet (https://extension.psu.edu/an-organic-management-system-for-honey-bees) and a web based direction (https://extension.psu.edu/beekeeping-102). We documented the advantages of an biological leadership method, which gave me the arrogance to advertise.
3. I’m very fascinated about your communicate on evaluating leadership programs. I’ve stored bees since 2006 and feature been chemical loose the entire time so I’m specifically concerned about listening to this communicate. What led you to make a choice this actual matter for a bee communicate?
I feel this analysis challenge is my maximum advisable, so I selected it as a chat. I feel it’s essential to teach beekeepers at the distinction between chemical loose and biological beekeeping and the effects might exchange some beekeepers’ practices.
4. Your task comes to numerous extension paintings. What do you favor maximum and least about extension paintings? And the place do you set maximum of your extension power – in giving talks to organizations, in faculties, in business apiaries?
Extension is such a lot amusing. I find it irresistible as a result of I am getting to engage at once with beekeepers. Lots of my analysis tasks are the results of conversations with beekeepers the place they ask questions that I will not solution or describe issues that want consideration. Some other beauty of extension is that the “scholars” are there to be informed, now not as a result of they’re required to, however as a result of they wish to. Beekeepers are wonderful lifelong beginners. I spend my power instructing the usage of webinars, giving talks, writing reality sheets, and developing lessons. I do attend occasions for most people, however that’s not my hobby. I’m much less concerned about getting extra folks into beekeeping and extra concerned about serving to present beekeepers to give a boost to their results.
5. What’s the most enjoyable a part of beekeeping for you?
I like pulling as much as an apiary and seeing the entire flight process, with bees coming and going, bringing in pollen of more than a few colours.
6. Do you return from a beekeeping circle of relatives or are you the primary to your circle of relatives to get stung by means of the beekeeping worm? If the latter is correct, how has that been for you?
I’m the primary in my circle of relatives. If truth be told, my mom is frightened of the entirety with yellow and black stripes and my dad used to be moderately allergic! Closing yr, I used to be a part of a find out about of competitive conduct. I liked calling my mother to inform her I used to be within the automobile headed towards the meanest bees round. Ha ha.
I’ve to mention that bees are universally attention-grabbing. I will be able to pass to a circle of relatives collecting (or any collecting, truly) and discuss bees ceaselessly – now not as a result of I insist on speaking, however for the reason that target market asks query after query.
2024 GBA Fall Convention and UGA Beekeeper Certification Checking out
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