Speakers will present via zoom, so everyone will also have the option of attending via zoom if you do not wish to attend in person. Door prize drawn each meeting - must be in person to be eligible.

Doors will open at 6:45pm; feel free to bring a snack for yourself or even to share!

Mini Presentation:

 Ty Kelius will discuss performing cut outs

Main Topic:

Title:"Something doesn't smell right: Virus infections suppress pheromone production in queens and inhibit egg laying"

Abstract: Much of the damage caused by varroa mites is a consequence of the virus infections they potentiate, but what happens if the queen becomes infected? We surveyed over a hundred queens and found that those reported as "poor quality" by beekeepers had higher levels of some viruses and smaller ovaries than their "healthy" counterparts. Join me on our research rabbit hole, where a series of experiments revealed that queen virus infections disrupt egg laying and pheromone production, which can lead to premature supersedure.

Bio: Alison (Ali) McAfee grew up homeschooled on a remote island on British Columbia's midcoast. She has now been researching honey bees for twelve years, studying everything from hygienic behavior to queen quality to whether western red cedar hive boxes are bad for bees (they aren't). She obtained her PhD in genome science and technology from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and graduated at the top of her faculty. Alison is now a research associate at UBC and studies queen overwintering strategies, pheromone biology, and drone heat tolerance. As an author, she has published magazine articles in The Conversation and Scientific American and writes regularly for American Bee Journal when she isn't fishing, hunting, hiking, or training horses.