The Chester County Beekeepers Association will present beekeeping seminars at Westtown School in Chester County, Pennsylvania on Saturday, February 20, 2010.

The Beginning Beekeeping Seminar will be instructed by Mark Antunes.

Mark Antunes is an experienced hobbyist beekeeper. He began keeping bees in the spring of 2000 with hive equipment that his father had used when he kept bees in Wakefield, Massachusetts from 1936 – 1939. He has maintained a variety of bees including Carniolan, New World Carniolan, Russian, Italian, Caucasian, and local feral bees. Mark currently maintains about fifty colonies in various locations in Bucks County and Philadelphia. Mark does public presentations about beekeeping and will be teaching the beginner beekeeping course in 2010 at the Montgomery County 4-H Center for the Montgomery County Beekeepers Association. He is the president of the Montgomery County Beekeepers Association and is the beekeeper liaison for the PSBA hive sterilization program established with Brian Marcy.

The Advanced Seminar will have as its presenters, Thomas D. Seeley and Landi Simone, both beekeeping experts.

Thomas D. Seeley is Professor and Chairman in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University. He is a world authority on animal behavior, especially the social behavior of honey bees. At home more in the field than the laboratory, his scientific work features observational and experimental investigations of the inner workings of honey bee colonies living under natural conditions. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is the recipient of numerous honors for his scientific work including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Distinguished U.S. Scientist Award, and a Gold Medal from Apimondia for his book The Wisdom of the Hive. Currently, he is working on a new book, Honeybee Democracy.

Landi Simone, is an EAS Master Beekeeper and owner of Gooserock Farm (www.gooserockfarm.com), a sideliner beekeeping enterprise which retails beeswax candles, creams, soaps, and lip balms along with honey.  Landi started life as an engineer, with degrees from Columbia University and Rutgers.  After running her own consulting firm in northern NJ, she retired to raise a family and discovered beekeeping. She currently serves as president of the Essex County NJ Beekeepers Society. She lives in Montville, NJ, with husband Paul, teenage children Kira and Adrian, a dog, three cats, a dozen chickens, and about 2 million honey bees.

The morning and early afternoon programs will consist of individual presentations on the various topics detailed below. The day will include morning and afternoon snacks, a sumptuous lunch served in the Westtown School dining room, door prizes, and lots of fellowship. Directions to Westtown School can be found at the bottom of this page.  

The fee for the seminar is $40 per person and PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. The registration deadline is February 13, 2010 and attendance is limited.  Due to the popularity of CCBA seminars and physical space limitations at the seminar location, WALK-INS CANNOT BE ACCOMMODATED.  Please register early!  For more Information, email Charles Karat at ckarat54@gmail.com or telephone him at (610) 998-1407.

Hope to see you on February 20^th!

[For winter storm cancellation information call 610-993-7511 after 8pm on Friday, 2/19/2010] 

Advanced Beekeepers Seminar

  7:30 – 8:30       Registration and Refreshments

  8:30 – 8:45      Welcome & Organizational Remarks – CCBA Officers

  8:45 – 9:45      Forest Bees and Varroa Mites   – Thomas D. Seeley

 9:45 – 10:40     Integrated Pest Management (IPM)  – Landi Simone

10:40 – 11:00     Break

11:00 – 11:55      House Hunting by Honey Bees – Thomas D. Seeley

11:55 – 12:40      Making Bees a Paying Enterprise – Landi Simone

12:40 – 1:30       Lunch – Westtown Dining Room

1:30 – 2:20         Bee Hive as Honey Factory – Thomas D. Seeley

2:20 – 3:10         Value–Added Products—Creams, Soaps, Balms, etc. – Landi Simone

3:10 – 3:30         Break

3:30 – 4:30         Panel Discussion & Questions – Thomas Seeley, Landi Simone, &

                                                                                            Senior Beekeepers

4:30-4:50            Door Prizes and complete Evaluation Form

4:50-5:00            Closing Comments

New Beekeepers Seminar

    7:30-8:30        Registration and Refreshments

     8:30-8:45       Welcome & Organizational Remarks – CCBA Officers

  8:45 - 10:30      Beekeeping is Fun

                              Cost and Time Commitment

                              Equipment Needed

                              Ordering Equipment

                              Assembling Equipment

10:30 - 11:00       Break

11:00 - 12:15       Where can you have hives?

                              Preparing for Packages

                              Installing Bees

                              Stimulating Wax and Brood Production

                              Moving Hives

 12:15 - 1:15         Lunch – Westtown Dining Room

  1:15 - 3:00         How To Find The Queen

                              Will You Get Stung?

                              How To Work Your Bees and Examine Your Hive

                              Keeping Your Smoker Lit

  3:00 - 3:30        Break

  3:30 - 4:30        Honey Production

                              Nectar Sources

                              Extracting Honey
                              Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

                              What about the Winter?

                              Registering Your Hives

                              Sources of Information

                              Q & A

4:35 - 4:50          Door Prizes and complete Evaluation Form

4:50 - 5:00          Closing Comments

DIRECTIONS        top

GPS & Mapquest.com address for East Entrance of Westtown School (www.westtown.edu):

Westtown School, 960 Shady Grove Way
West Chester, PA 19382

PLEASE COME TO THE EAST ENTRANCE OF THE SCHOOL:

From Rte 3 (West Chester Pike) and Rte 352:
Go south on Rte 352 (at a traffic light) 0.4 mi. to Johnny's Way.
Johnny's Way is the second road to the right on Rte 352 South (where Rte 352 starts uphill.)
Go west on Johnny's Way 1.0 mile to the first stop sign. Go straight across the intersection through the stone pillars onto the Westtown School campus. Parking is on the right in two adjacent parking lots.
The seminar will be held in the red brick school building at the far end of the school lane.

From Rte 202: (from North or South Of West Chester on Rte 202)
Off Rte 202 at the Rte 3 exit heading Eastward. Go south on Rte 352 (at a traffic light) 0.4 miles to Johnny's Way.
Johnny's Way is the second road to the right on Rte 352 South (where Rte 352 starts uphill.)
Go west on Johnny's Way 1.0 mi. to the first stop sign. Go straight across the intersection through the stone pillars onto the Westtown School campus. Parking is immediately on the right in two adjacent parking lots.
The seminar will be held in the red brick school building at the far end of the school lane.

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DETAILED DIRECTIONS FROM ALL POINTS AT http://www.westtown.edu/directions/directions.aspx