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| Eric Mussen will speak on "Hints for Successful Backyard Beekeeping." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS--Two bee specialists at the University of California, Davis, will address the annual conference of the Western Apicultural Society (WAS), set Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in the Red Lion Hotel, Salem, Ore.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976 and a co-founder and five-time past president of WAS, will speak on “Hints for Successful Backyard Beekeeping” at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 during the session on Urban/Backyard Beekeepers.”
Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, who heads the breeding program at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis and also is a researcher at Washington State University, will discuss “Why We Need Better Bees” at 7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 30.
Cobey also will speak on “Progress on Breeding Superior Bees” at 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31.
Mussen, who received his doctorate in entomology from the University of Minnesota, writes the bimonthly Extension newsletter, “from the UC Apiaries,” considered one of the best and most informative in the industry. His research interests include managing honey bees and wild bees for maximum field production, while minimizing pesticide damage to pollinator populations. His research also focuses on maintaining healthy bees.
The recipient of numerous state and national awards, Mussen recently won the statewide 2010 Pedro Ilic Outstanding Agricultural Educator Award for his work in educating the agricultural community, the beekeeping industry and the general public about honey bees.
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| Susan Cobey with hives at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
Cobey, who studied with noted bee geneticist Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. at UC Davis, returned to UC Davis in 2007 after 17 years as staff apiarist at Ohio State University. She received her entomology degree from the University of Delaware and developed an interest in honey bees while enrolled in an entomology student exchange program at Oregon State University.
In the early 1980s, Cobey developed the New World Carniolans stock, a dark race of honey bees by back-crossing stocks collected from throughout the United States and Canada to create a nearly pure strain. A current focus of her research includes selecting and enhancing this stock to show increasing levels of resistance to pests and diseases.
Cobey received the WAS Outstanding Service to Beekeeping Award in 2009 and the 2009 California State Beekeepers’ Association’s Distinguished Service Award.
Mussen and UC Davis professor-apiculturist Norman Gary (now retired), co-founded WAS in 1978 as a non-profit, educational organization designed specifically to meet the educational needs of beekeepers from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming; the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon; and the states of northern Mexico.
Those interested in attending the conference may obtain more information from the WAS website.
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
