KIRSTEN TRAYNOR is our expert speaker!

BIO

As supplied by Kirsten Traynor...

In 2006-2007, Kirsten received a German Chancellor Fellowship & drove over 50,000 miles throughout Western Europe to study the differences between European & American beekeeping. She reported her findings through 50+ published articles. Fascinated with the social complexity of a honey bee hive, she earned her PhD in biology from Arizona State University with Dr. Robert Page. While a grad student, she spent almost a year in Avignon, France in the lab of Dr. Yves Le Conte as a Fulbright Fellow. She investigates how pesticides impact honey bee health as a postdoc with Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp and edited American Bee Journal from November 2017 – December 2018. She is the author of Two Million Blossoms: Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey and Simple, Smart Beekeeping. She manages a small apiary producing top quality nucs and Maryland reared queens.

AUTHOR:

Simple, Smart Beekeeping

In German, there is a popular saying “Wieso einfach, wenn auch umstandig”, which means why take the simple route, when there is a complicated one. As humans, we gravitate toward complicated answers. Maybe we’re drawn to complex solutions, because if it’s difficult and we fail, it’s understandable and we don’t feel bad. But beekeeping need not be complicated, difficult or complex. Learn to keep healthy hives in an easy, carefree way so you enjoy your hives and feel confident working your bees.The club library has Kirsten’s book Simple Smart Beekeeping available to borrow.

LECTURE TOPIC

Halting the Unstoppable Swarm

Good swarm management is one of the hardest things to learn. Despite a beekeeper’s best efforts, some colonies just insist on getting ready to go. Learn how to stop the unstoppable swarm and turn all that natural energy of the bees into beautiful, new comb.