Queen Castles! Build a Kingdom: The queen castle is perhaps the greatest and most overlooked equipment tool we have in beekeeping. Often paying for itself in a single-use, we will discuss the benefits, drawbacks, maintenance and varied uses of this piece of resource offering equipment and why you should have and use at least one in your apiary.

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Small Hive Beetle Control: Joel Hauser has three easy steps to control the Small Hive Beetle.

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Pests and Diseases: Learn what can affect your honey bees from the State Apiarist Mike Studer.

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Grafting of Queens: Kent Williams will not just tell you about how to graft queens, but he will have you graft a queen yourself in this hands-on class. This is a weather dependable class on spring build up. If the spring is good we will have eggs on site for you to graft within this class. If you have an interest in raising queens to sell or just for yourself, you will learn a lot from Kent.

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Herbal Infusions for Health and Well-Being: Ever wonder about the many benefits in and around honey? This is the class you will want to learn from with Bella Donna giving you some great ideas. This is not a hands-on program but a discussion on the reasons, benefits and cautions of herbally-infusing honeys. 

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World Winning Honey and How to Win: Learn from Virginia Webb on what it takes to win the best honey in the world! Virginia has won several titles with her honey and will tell you how to prepare your honey for entry.

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Gentle Beekeeping: Why do some people have mean bees and other people work their bees in shorts and a t-shirt? Gentle beekeeping is the way to turn the mean bees into your friends and make beekeeping fun. If you get stung for no reason this is the class for you.

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How to do a proper trap out: Many people do cutouts of hives in people’s houses only to be called out year after year. Chris Kinser will tell you how to remove the bees and seal the entire area correctly so the bees will not return and the homeowner will spread your name as the person to call.

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Making of the Mead: Tony Mowery has been making some of the best mead around. If you don’t know what mead is, you are missing out. This is one product of the hive many people do not think about.

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Honey Bee Behavior: Why do honey bees do what they do? Learn what research has found out about our little friends and what that information can do for us to help them.

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Incorporating Native Plants into Your Backyard: Native plants are growing in popularity among homeowners and gardeners. Not only are native plants adapted to our crazy weather and soils, but they also provide valuable food and resources for pollinators and songbirds. In this class, we’ll discuss why native plants can be important additions to your garden, things to consider when purchasing and planting native plants, some native plants you might want to consider for your yard, and the pollinators or other wildlife that use those plants.

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Nectar Flows: What are they and when do they occur? Nectar production can vary greatly from one location to the next or even one year to the next within the same location. We’ll begin by discussing the many different factors that can influence nectar production. Then we’ll discuss the different types of nectar flows, when the nectar flows typically occur in this region, and how you can tell whether a nectar flow is happening in your area.

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Getting Started in Beekeeping: Have you wondered what you need and where to get it? Becky Johnson will tell you all about how to start out in the incredible hobby of beekeeping.

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Bare Bones Beekeeping: A Minimalist Viewpoint: The beekeeping supply industry is full of products that allure, spark curiosity, and cost us good earned cash. But what do we really need to run a successful operation from a minimalist strategy? Beekeeping can be expensive and the temptation of misinformation of equipment we don’t need affects our bottom line. It is efficient beekeeping!

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Small Scale Pollination: Why it is Not the Corbicula of Wealth: Every growing beekeeper is mesmerized and told about the quick early seasonal cash flows of pollination and that it is easy money. This is not always the case as preparation, contracts, hard labor, and new methods of moving bees are required as a minute’s notice. Know what you are getting into before you sign that contract or make that handshake – the reality can be daunting and have a great effect on the upcoming seasonal expectations you have for your bees.

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2nd Year Beekeeping, Now What? You made it through the first year. What do you look for now? What are your new options? Lisa Powers will be able to walk you through your second year of beekeeping.

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Tools and Gadgets of Beekeepers: Have you noticed that each beekeeper has just a little different style of keeping bees? With that little difference comes so many different tools and gadgets. Joel Hauser has been collecting and talking to beekeepers all over about what they use when working their honey bees. Joel will have a selection of some of the neat items he has found in his travels.

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Understanding the Flow Hive: Almost every beekeeper has been asked about it. So, how does it work? What's involved in implementing it? Is it really that easy? Come learn and look at it first hand with Andrea Mountain-Boger. She has been extracting honey for the last four years and loving her Flow Hives.

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Common Mistakes of a Beekeeper: Ask an experienced beekeeper and they will tell you they have made their share of mistakes. Some beekeepers can tell you enough answers to write a book. Andrew brings a lot of knowledge and experience of how to avoid common mistakes with beekeeping. If you’re a new beekeeper, you won’t want to miss this talk. (Be sure to bring a notebook and pen.) 

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How to Increase Package Build up by 25 Percent: Chris Kinser is going to tell you how he got his new packages to build up 25% faster. If you are interested in how to improve the foundation for a faster colony buildup. You do not want to miss this talk.

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Hive Inspections and What You are Looking for: You opened the top of the hive and now what? Learn what to look for, how to diagnose if your hive is sick or a healthy hive. An Inspector is a wealth of information and you will walk away from this class with a better understanding of your hive.

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Honey Bee Education and Outreach: One of the biggest parts of beekeeping, besides the keeping- is educating. Find out how you can teach about your favorite hobby. Kellie Morrison-Burns has been educating the public for years. Come learn how she has been doing this and see how easy you can do it also.

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AZ Introduction and Tour: Karin Stegall will teach you about the Slovenian AZ Hive design and the way the bees are kept in a Bee House. Anton Žnideršič (1874-1947) designed the hive and it is used in many countries overseas. There is something special about the Bee Houses. Come learn about them and Karin's trip to Slovenia to learn firsthand and how people are now using them here in America.

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Five Ways to Split a Hive: Multiplication at its best. How and when is the best time to take one colony and create two or more! Beekeepers have been making splits and nucs for a long time. You will learn how to do it yourself or how to at least be able to replace your own honey bee losses.​

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Creating Your Own Pesticide-free Pollinator Habitat: Learn how to create pesticide-free pollinator forage on your land providing “natural bee food” for pollinators.

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Welsh Honey Show: Learn what the Walsh Honey Show is all about and how to become a certified judge.

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Too Feed or Not Too Feed: Why do we feed our bees, and why is it not always the best option for them. Learn how to make a better bee that will survive better in your bee yard.

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Going Small Over Wintering in Nucs: Is it possible? Learn from Chris Kinser on how he makes it work in his bee yard and how well it has worked.

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Adulterated Honey: What is adulterated honey and where does it come from? You will be amazed and what to help the many other beekeepers stop this practice in the United States.

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Wildflower Planting Benefits: Ask Joel Hauser want you can do to help the bees and he will tell you to plant wildflowers. Learn which ones and how to do it in this class.

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Understanding the Pollinator Crisis and How You Can Help: Discussion of the national pollinator crisis, and the impact upon and value of honey bees and native pollinators to one-third of our food supply will be presented.

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When, Why and How to Correctly Treat for Varroa Mites: The number one problem that most beekeepers are seeing is the Varroa Mite. Learn the when, why and hows to controlling the mite from Mike Studer.

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​​Apitherapy: Apitherapy is a branch of alternative medicine that uses products derived from bees as medicine, including bee venom, honey, pollen, and royal jelly, and propolis. You will be introduced to some ideas of using each of these hive products for health and healing. Bella Donna has decades of experience as an herbalist, beekeeping, apitherapist, and holistic health coach. 

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The Complexity of Honey: Ever wonder why honey will taste different from year to year or from season to season? Becky Johnson will tell you all about the complex nature of honey.

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Queen Banking: Do you get tired of looking for a new queen because yours or another beekeepers queen is dead or missing? Queen Banking can help with this and make it an easy choice for you.

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Keeping Clean of American Foulbrood: This nasty little spore can be anywhere and ride on the back of most anything. Learn how to decrease your chance of ever getting this in your bee yard. Jay Heselschwerdt will have some pictures and video of the hives he has inspected with AFB to help you understand and spot AFB before it is too late.