Northeast Treatment Free Beekeeping Conference

THIS IS ARCHIVED INFO FOR THE 2009 CONFERENCE. GO HERE TO SEE THE INFO FOR THE 2010 CONFERENCE

Northeast Treatment Free Beekeeping Conference
Friday, July 31 through Sunday, August 2, 2009
Doyle Conservation Center
Leominster, Massachusetts
"Birthplace of Johnny Appleseed”

Forum for Attendees Here! (This is where all updates and current information will be found).

Tentative Schedule!

Confirmed Speakers:

Dee Lusby (Arizona) is a commercial treatment free beekeeper and producer of Arizona Rangeland Honey (the treatment free honey we pack and sell). Dee (and her late husband, Ed) did the original research on what happened to the cell sizes in modern foundation, and is the most visible treatment free beekeeper in the industry.
Erik Osterlund (Sweden) keeps bees without treatments commercially, and is the editor of the Swedish Beekeeping Journal. Erik is best known for his breeding program (the Elgon bee), and his association with Brother Adam.
Michael Bush (Nebraska) is a treatment free beekeeper and author of one of the best sources of beekeeping information today, www.bushfarms.com. His site is both free, and better/more up to date than any current book available.
Michael Palmer (Vermont) keeps bees commercially and is expert in queen rearing and in overwintering bees in New England. Michael is one of the most popular national speakers (for good reason), and is full of information.

Sam Comfort (New York/Florida) is one of the few “commercial top bar hive beekeepers” around. He shares a birthday with Johnny Appleseed (and a few other traits as well). He sings songs about bugs while playing a ukulele, talks deeply of what commercial, migratory beekeeping is like, and of his continued success after switching to top bar equipment.

Pete Holtzen (California) does cutouts and catches swarms. He photographs the cutouts underway, emails the pictures to the homeowner at work (from his i-phone), puts a picture of the house on the label, and sells the honey back to the homeowner…and that’s just the beginning. Pete makes his living doing removals, and will share the joy and success he has in doing so.

Dean Stiglitz and Laurie (Ramona) Herboldsheimer (Massachusetts), are treatment free beekeepers, treatment free honey marketers/packers (Golden Rule Honey, LLC) and are the conference organizers.

Topics include all aspects of managing bees without the use of any treatments (synthetic, “natural”, or “organic”). There will be programs for both beginning beekeepers (including those that have never been around bees before) and for those with more experience:

Small Cell Beekeeping
Foundationless Frames
Overwintering Nucs
Queen Rearing
Commercial Beekeeping
Top Bar Hives
Marketing
Microbial Environment in the Hive
Beginning Beekeeping
Working with Landowners
Beekeeping on a shoestring
Cutouts
History of Foundation and Cell Size
Economics of Migratory Beekeeping
Bee Photography
Panel Discussions

Healthy, tasty meals will be provided on site as part of the conference cost (no HFCS!).
Treatment free hives will be onsite for hands on fieldwork with our speakers!
Plenty of opportunity for spontaneous interactions with speakers and attendees.

The venue, Doyle Conservation Center, is an ideal location for our conference. State of the art audio and video facilities combined with solar power, composting toilets, geothermal heat/cooling pumps, sustainable and recycled building materials…”Gold Certification” from the U.S. Green Building Council. All of this on 50 acres of conservation land!

The Property:
http://www.thetrustees.org/pages/300_doyle_reservation.cfm

Technical details of the green construction:
http://www.masstech.org/Project%20Deliverables/LORI/Trusteesofreservation_Final%20Report.pdf

Cost: $150 [THIS IS THE 2009 CONFERENCE. GO HERE FOR THE 2010 CONFERENCE.]

We have a lot of interest both locally and registrations from as far away as Alberta..so register early to ensure there is space for you!

Conference will begin with lunch on Friday and end around 1 pm on Sunday.

Registration includes 6 meals (Friday lunch and dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, Sunday breakfast). As we are arranging and preparing the food ourselves, these will be high quality meals.

There is a Super 8 motel 1.5 miles from the venue…a healthy walk. Currently, the best rates seem to be from:
http://kayak.com …$50/night...this is generally less expensive than booking with the hotel directly.

There are other hotel options, some nearby campgrounds, etc...will update as we know more.

Leominster is on the Fitchburg commuter train line, and can be reached from Boston or Cambridge without a car. Train schedules can be seen at www.mbta.com. Leominster Classic Cab can be reached at 978-840-8199.

Please email us if you have any questions. This page will be updated as we go along.