Hi everybody,
My name is Liana Teigen and I recently joined BIP to be a part of the FL/GA tech team. I am based out of the Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab (HBREL) at the University of Florida in Gainesville where I’ve had the pleasure to work with Jamie Ellis for the past several years on everything bees from Varroa research to native bee conservation. For the most part I’ve worked on sustaining native bee populations for crop pollination and while I run my own bees on the side, I am thrilled to get back to honey bees full time! HBREL is primarily an extension lab and thanks to lab manager and extension technician extraordinaire Jeanette Klopchin, hosts several large honey bee education events every year as well as the Florida Master Beekeeper Program.
The most recent of which was the first annual South Florida Bee College, which was my first event representing BIP. Although the classes are geared towards hobbyists and sideliners there is something for everybody whether it is hands on Nosema dissections, honey bee genetics, or lip balm and lotion making. There was also a live bee removal workshop taught by Keith Councell which was very informative and exciting as new beekeepers were able to try their hand at cutting out colonies from trash cans, water meters and concrete planters. Special Guest Ernesto Guzman lectured on honey bee genetics and bee breeding while HBREL staff and students ran constant outdoor open hive demos.
The event was a success and now it’s time to start planning for the big Bee College in Saint Augustine in March!
