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The North Carolina State Beekeepers Association

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2025 Spring Meeting

Union County Agricultural Center*, 3230-D Presson Rd, Monroe, NC 28112 • March 6-8

Hosted by Union County Cooperative Extension and the Union County Beekeepers

The NC State Cooperative Extension will host the NCSBA and the SCBA for a joint spring meeting at the Union County Center. Make plans now to be there with 500+ beekeepers for three days of all about beekeeping and the honey bee.

Onsite Registration Rates:

Current NCSBA Members:
Individual: $95
Family: $135

Non-Members:
Individual: $110*
Family: $150*

*Includes NCSBA 2025 annual membership for primary registrant.
Advance registration has ended. Onsite registration begins Thursday at 10:00am and Friday/Saturday at 8:00am. 
Walk-in registration for Saturday will be $30 less than the full conference rate.

Speakers

Dr. Derek Mitchell

Derek MItchellDr Derek Mitchell is a research fellow at the University of Leeds Institute of Thermofluids within the School of Mechanical Engineering . He researches into the heat transfer of man-made and natural honeybee nests. His PhD thesis was entitled “The Thermofluid engineering of the honeybee nest (Apis Mellifera). He has had articles published in Beecraft, Bee Culture, American Bee Journal and Natural Honey bee husbandry in addition to his published academic work in the Royal Society Journal, Journal of Thermal Biology and International Journal of Biometeorology.

Derek’s curiosity about this area of honey bees and heat started when Elaine, his wife, bought their first hive in 2010 and his physics and engineering training, told him what they had been told about honey bees and the hives wasn’t the complete story. This curiosity has resulted in his ground breaking and often controversial research into honey bees.

Some of which has been cited by Prof. Thomas D. Seeley, the foremost authority on honey bee ecology, as the “Best source of information on about the differences in insulation value between tree cavities and standard wooden hives and about the effects of these differences on the energetics of colony thermoregulation”. Seeley has included Derek’s research in his latest book “The Lives of Bees: the Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild”.

Professor Adam Hart, an entomologist from the University of Gloucestershire who co-presented BBC2’s Series Hive Alive about honeybees said “This research is fascinating – winter losses have become a feature of beekeeping and hive design could be a simple way to help honeybees. It is amazing to think that a practice adopted in the War to save wood might be contributing to the losses that beekeepers experience”.

The research apart from publications has also led to speaking to not only academic conferences but to Beekeeping groups including: Apimondia 2019, National Honey show, BBKA Spring conventions and over 80 local beekeeping associations in the UK, Germany, USA and Serbia. In addition Derek has featured his work on numerous podcasts.

Dr. Brad Metz

Brad Metz is a Research Scholar with NC State Apiculture Program under David Tarpy. He is the lead scientist in charge of the Honey Bee Queen & Disease Clinic, an extension effort bringing lab-quality disease and reproductive assessments to industry and government partners. He additionally runs a small research program concerning the impact of abiotic stressors on honey bee and wild bee physiology & reproduction, impacts of environmental stress on pollinator communities and, honey bee microbiome & behavior. Brad is married with two children, both of whom think working with stinging insects is crazy -perhaps his greatest failure.

Dr. Tammy Horn Potter

Dr. Tammy Horn PotterTammy Horn Potter has been the Kentucky State Apiarist but just recently started a new position as Beginner Beekeeper grant coordinator for Kentucky State University. In addition to the varia of grants and newsletters, she has also written Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation (2005); Beeconomy: What Women and Bees teach us about Local Trade and Global Markets (2012); Flower Power: Establishing Pollinator Habitat (2019); and Work I Knew I Must: Forty-One Years of Factory Life, a compilation of A.I. Root’s and his employee Jane Cole’s writings (2021).

David Burns

David BurnsDavid started beekeeping in the early 1990s and started a beekeeping business several years later. In 2006 David began blogging and uploading beekeeping videos to YouTube. His YouTube channel has grown to around 152,000 subscribers. He also produces a weekly beekeeping podcast.

In 2020 David & Sheri were approached by Rockridge press to write the book “Backyard Beekeeping: Everything You Need to Know to Start Your First Hive.”

He has produced a suite of online beekeeping courses that have become very popular among new beekeepers.

David produces queens, nucs and packages. In order to make sure beekeepers had the best and latest scientific information on bees and beekeeping, David became a Certified Master Beekeeper through the Eastern Apicultural Society (2010). He also writes a weekly column for Bee Culture Magazine.

David teaches beekeeping workshops all year at their Training Center in Fairmount, IL. He also has a mentorship program known as Beeteam6, talks throughout the country at beekeeping conferences and is heard frequently on radio shows and podcasts.

Schedule

The schedule may change as needed during the event. An effort will be made to announce any changes during the Call to Order each day.

Spring Meeting Schedule

Highlights to note are:

  • Master Beekeeper Program testing for all levels Saturday morning Saturday, March 8. You must be registered for the conference to attend.
  • An artisan show for creative beekeeping related artwork, woodcrafts, needle crafts, photography, gift baskets and much more to include a black jar honey competition.
  • Silent auction hosted by the Chatham County Beekeepers. The net proceeds to be donated to the fund for the endowed professorship in apiculture at NCSU. Please contact Pat Weisbrodt if you are interested in donating an item for the auction.
  • The Midnight Bee Supply Carolinas Championship Bee Bowl competition between NC and SC beekeepers for the Carolinas Championship; the winning team receives $500.

Artisan Show

The NCSBA Artisan Show features youth and adult level competition in 36 classes.

Download the official rules and guidelines including the categories and classes

Pre-registration of show entries is strongly encouraged.

Pre-register Show Entries

Food

Concessions: Snacks and Coffee offered for purchase by Union County Beekeepers.
Friday Lunch: The following food trucks are currently scheduled to be on site:

  • Little Taste of Chicago
  • Tex-A-Lina BBQ
  • International Truck of Tacos
  • Hog-n-Dog Too

Saturday Lunch: Sponsored by Hives for Heroes. Catered by The Smoke Pit. Tickets must be purchased in advance with registration. BBQ or Vegetarian (pasta and vegetables) option available.

Hotel/Lodging

Hampton Inn Charlotte/Monroe*
704-220-2200
2368 Roland Dr.
Monroe, NC 28110
Reservation link, use code BEE
$119 (K) / $129 (Q) + tax
Deadline to book: Saturday, February 1, 2025
Fairfield Inn & Suites*
980-290-2190
1825 Williams Rd
Monroe, NC 28110
Reservation link, no code needed
$119 (K, Q) + tax
Deadline to book: Saturday, February 1, 2025
Best Western Inn & Suites
704-283-4746
2316 Hanover Dr
Monroe, NC 28110
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
704-774-1779
2505 W Roosevelt Blvd
Monroe, NC 28110

Red Roof Inn
937-328-1670
608 W Roosevelt Blvd
Monroe, NC 28110

Relax Inn
704-289-4581
611 W Roosevelt Blvd
Monroe, NC 28110

Quality Inn & Suites
704-283-9600
2351 West Roosevelt Blvd.
Monroe, NC 28110
 

*Offering a discounted rate to conference attendees for a limited time. The availability may be limited at this rate and the room must be booked before the cutoff date to be eligible for the special rate.

 Platinum Sponsor

Gold Sponsors

 

ApiMaye
Blue Ridge Honey 	Dadant
Hive Tracks
Man Lake
Springhill Farm logo
Triad Bee Supply logo
*N.C. Cooperative Extension prohibits discrimination and harassment regardless of age, color, disability, family and marital status, gender identity, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation and veteran status. NC State University, N.C. A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture and local governments cooperating
Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by February 7, 2025 to Aaron Moore, 704-283-3743 or aaron_moore@ncsu.edu

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