'Honey bee health' of concern at Western Apicultural Society ...( Honey bee specialists and native pol...)

Honey bee specialists and native pollinator experts will address the 31st annual Western Apicultural Society (WAS) Conference, set Aug. 17-20 in Healdsburg, Sonoma County.

The main conference sessions will take place in the Dry Creek Inn and Krug Event Center, 198 Dry Creek Road.

"The conference provides an opportunity to learn about bee health and disease research and to interact with professionals," said president Eric Mussen of Davis, Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976.

WAS, founded in 1978, is a non-profit, educational, beekeeping organization that draws its membership from beekeepers throughout western North America, but all interested persons throughout the world may join. The last WAS conference took place in Victoria, B.C.

Besides presentations on bee health and disease research, the conference will include such topics as beekeeping with minimal chemical input, cooperative rearing of local honey bee stocks, identifying non-Apis pollinators, impacts of native bees on commercial crop production and the biology and management of honey bees. In addition, various aspects of honey and human health will be addressed.

Registration takes place from 3 to 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 17 followed by wine and honey tasting.

On Tuesday, Aug. 18, researchers from three universities will speak. Jerry Bromenshenk, University of Montana, Missoula, will discuss "Pathogens Found Associated with Honey Bees." UC Davis Haagen-Dazs Postdoctoral Fellow Michelle Flenniken, also is a researcher at UC San Francisco, will speak on "Honey Bee Resistance to Viral Infections." Steve Sheppard of Washington State University, Pullman, will cover ""Washington State Honey Bee Health Program: Breeding, Diagnostics and Insecticide Tolerance."

"Jerry's likely to describe and display his hand-held, acoustic monitoring device that 'listens' to
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