MSBA would like to congratulate the awesome team of volunteers led by David Morris who made the 2024 Eastern Apicultural Society Conference at the Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City a resounding success!
EAS attendees, speakers, and vendors maxed out the site, including more than 600 participants in the conference, which took place August 5-9. In addition to the keynote conference speakers, organizers had tracks with as many as seven simultaneous different options! Like every EAS conference, EAS 2024 included both a short course and a main program, but for the first time special "Deep Dive" half day sessions were on offer. These longer sessions gave attendees a chance to explore, in depth, topics such as Honey Bee Biology, Honey Judging, Making Nucs and Splits, and Varroa Biology. Turf Valley allowed MSBA to install a teaching apiary with a "Petting Zoo" of many hive types. There was a super fun Bee Olympics, and great conversation and education all around.
Three Marylanders Take Silver (and one Best in Show!)
The honey show was also wildly successful, with many entries (especially from Maryland!) and several awards of note! Silver Award Winners included Alice Parks for Honey (a hugely competitive category), Marian Iannuzzi for Honey Cookery (for her challah bread, which beat every other entry in cooking and baking), and Elaine Storm for Arts & Crafts. Elaine won Best in Show for her amazing quilt.
Among notable Blue Ribbons, Phil Frank won two, one for Photo Essay and another for close up photography. Phil will be giving a talk on how to better use your cellphone for bee photography at the November 16, 2024 MSBA Fall Meeting. (See photos in gallery, below).
Five New Master Beekeepers (and one from Maryland)
Please congratulate CiCi Sweeney, Dr. Joshua Jakum, Phil Uptmor, Scott Withers, and Anna Wysocki for becoming the newest EAS Certified Master Beekeepers. Anna is based here, in Eastern Maryland.
In consultation with MSBA VP (and Master Beekeeper Study Group ringleader) David Schultz, it appears that there are 208 current EAS Master beekeepers, 30 from Maryland. For those of you keeping score, that means 14.4% of master beekeepers are Marylanders, with even more across the country who have benefited from the local study group
The Cornell Master Beekeepers also took advantage of the 2024 Turf Valley conference to get together as well!
Honey Show
Painted Boxes
Susan Warner led the effort to paint and present hive bodies as an EAS fundraiser! In this case, several 4H groups and a summer camp put their brushes to work in a beautiful way!
Floral Arrangements
The EAS team worked far in advance to produce and acquire Maryland wildflowers to use on the banquet tables, as well as producing cool crab shell decorations, vases in the shape of Lang hives, and more!
Bee Olympics Champs!
Need someone to ferry nectar, find a queen, or throw a hive tool deep into the dirt? Who you gonna call?
The Food was Good, too!
The 2025 Eastern Apicultural Society Conference will take place July 27-August 1 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey! Check out EAS' site for more details as they become available!
[Return to November 2024 BeeLine newsletter]