Universityof Florida Bee College
When is the next Bee College?
What's the difference between the Master Beekeeper Program and the Bee College?
Click on the image below for the full flyer.
Friday and Saturday March 9th & 10th, 2012
The Whitney Laboratory
for Marine Bioscience
9505 Ocean Shore Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL 32080-8610
Press
IFAS Communications has released a news annoucement... read more here.
Help us advertise! Please download, print and display this flyer to help us spread the word!
Registration
Registration is now open. Please print out and clearly print your personal information, paying special attention to the classes that require pre-registration. Email addresses are required because we will need to confirm your registration or contact you in the case that you have pre-registered for a class that has already full. Click here for a printable pdf registration form.
Please allow 1-2 weeks for confirmation and for your checks to clear. Please print your email legibly so we can contact you.
Schedule
Our schedule has just been confirmed and is now published. Please click here for the 2012 Bee College Schedule!
For beginners: there is a beginner track, listed in orange on the schedule. It is repeated both days, so that if you come only Friday or only Saturday you can attend these crucial courses. If you attend the whole event, then it gives you the opportunity to fufill the beginner track over two days and still attend other interesting classes that may coincide withe the track.
Please note: the schedule is tenative and can change before the event date. The schedule posted here is always the MOST up to date copy.
Please note: the banquet dinner and awards ceremony are on FRIDAY Evening MARCH 9th, 2012.
Hotels
These special rates expire FEBRUARY 8th 2012. BOOK NOW!
HBREL is busy making group-rate reservations at several hotels on A-1A. This will help guests reserve a cheaper hotel rate than the infalted rate one will find when booking in spring.
So far I have made group-rate reservation at the following hotels: Please say "UF BEE COLLEGE", all rooms must be booked by Feb 8, 2012 to recieve rate.
Holiday Isle Ocean Front Resort - 904-471-2555
Comfort Inn - 904-471-1474
Hilton Garden Inn - 904-824-4641
Best Western Seaside – 904-461-9990
Palm Coast Villas - 904-819-6542
Ocean Shore Villas - 386-445-3033
St. Augustine Island Inn - 904-471-1440
Camping reservations fill up even quicker, and we are not able to make group rates there, so if this is your intention, it's best to book now.
Admission and Scholarships
Prices for admission will be announced in January, along with registration. Discounts are available for youth (<18), college students (with ID), county agents, Master Beekeeper Program Students, Fl. Master Gardeners and Fl. Master Naturalists. Discounts are also available for families (parents and dependent children) and kids under 5 are free.
UF will not be awarding any scholarships this year. However, we do encourage local bee associations to purchase a ticket to raffle off or give away at your discretion. What a great way to encourage enrollment in your club, with a chance to to win a ticket to Florida's largest beekeeping educational event!
Vendors
Despite our relatively small vending space, we have several top of the line vendors who will be selling beekeeping supplies, accessories, books and more. Click on the names below to check out their website and supplies. In some cases, you may be able to pre-order and bring your supplies to the event (please contat vendor directly).
Speakers
One of our 2012 Keynote Speakers will be Dr. Larry Connor a former extension apiculturalentomologist ath The Ohio State Univeristy. In Florida he helped establish the world's first mass production facility of instrumentally inseminatied queen honey bees. He is now the owber of Wicwas press. Dubbed the traveleing beekeeper, he now travels the county giving seminars and lectures on a variety of beekeeping topics.
Our next Keynote Speaker for 2012 will be Michael Young MBE,(Member of the Order of the British Empire) of the Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers. Michael is renowned for his unfailing support of beekeeping, his honey judging skills, and his promotion of the use of honey in his specialty as culinary arts chef.
We will also be hosting international speakers Dr. Gudrun and Niko Koeniger of the Goethe University in Germany. Their 50-year intensive cooperation in research has led them to many parts of Europe and Asia studying the honey bee. They were involved in discovering 3 species of honey bee since the 1980’s. In 1980 Niko became professor at University in Guelph in Canada and shortly after accepted the position as head of the Bee Research Institute in Oberursel, Germany. Gudrun also worked for more than 15 years in the editorial board of the scientific bee journal Apidologie. They have recently published a book “ Honey Bees of Borneo: exploring the centre of Apis diversity” describing 5 indigenous Apis species today the Koenigers study the varroa mite, in a program called “Varroa Gate”.
We are also pleased to welcome Dr. Mike Hood from Clemson Univeristy. Mike served as South Carolina State Apiarist / Extension Apiculturist at Clemson University from 1988-1995. In 1995, accepted newly created position which includes duties as Extension/Research/Teaching Apiculturist in the Department of Entomology, Clemson University. His primary research focus has been honey bee pest management to include small hive beetle, varroa mite, and the greater wax moth.
PCO Training
Every year at Bee College we offer Epi-Pen Certification (Insect Emergency Sting Treatment) and Africanized Bee Training for PCO's. This is a great way to get your pest control company its CEU's. Please see registration form (in January) for more details.
Welsh Honey Judging Information
Coupled with the UF Bee College Honey Show we host our annual Welsh Honey Judging Certification. Welsh Honey Judge Training is the most stringent training for would-be honey judges in the world. This specific course requires a separte 50$ registration fee ( please see registration form in January). This certification takes place over a minumim of one year.
New Students: Entry-level students are given the opportunity during the Bee College to complete the first two of four requirements: (1) attendance in the Friday afternoon training session, (2) documented experience as a steward (judge’s assistant), (3) documented experience as a senior honey show judge, and (4) successful completion of the oral examination. For students participating in this year’s training, requirement (3) can be fulfilled at your own pace, and the oral exam (requirement 4) will be offered at the following Bee College.
Returning Students: For anyone who completed requirements 1-2 at a previous Bee College,and requirement 3 on their own, the Welsh Honey Judge oral exam (requirement 4) will be held on Friday March 9th 2012at Bee College . If you are planning on taking the oral exam, please email Jeanette Klopchin with your hat and jacket sizes, so we can properly award you at the ceremony.
Click here for more information on what you will learn during the class!
Bee College Honey Show
Get Prepared now!!
Our honey show is the largest in the state, and winners can proudly claim the title of “Best Honey in Florida”! The Bee College Honey Show provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase all of your (and your bees!) hard work. The show will be judged using the Welsh Honey Judge methods by certified Welsh Honey Judges and Stewards, and winners will be announced during the awards ceremony Friday evening. Despite the name, the Honey Show isn’t just for honey! You can submit honey products, art/photography and observation hives too. A “Best of Show” will be chosen from all of the 1st place winners. It is important that you read all of the following rules regarding the UF Bee College Honey Show. Entries can be disqualified for failure to adhere to any of the following requirements.
Please consult our General Rules for submission guidelines.
