Register now to hear presentations from experts right here in our state at our world-class bee lab in Baton Rouge.  For close to 100 years, the bee lab has been providing helpful and practical information for beekeepers.  Don't miss this opportunity to gather information first-hand from these researchers during this year's Fall Field Day.

Saturday, October 7, 2023

USDA ARS Honey Bee Lab

1157 Ben Hur Road, Baton Rouge, LA. 70808

Varroa mites can cause massive colony losses; they are the single largest problem facing beekeepers since they spread to the United States from Southeast Asia in 1987.  While miticides used to control Varroa exist, resistance is developing to some of them.

“We would like to replace reliance on chemical controls with honey bees...that have high mite resistance of their own and perform well, including high honey production...” said Frank Rinkevich, Research Entomologist.

Learn the latest  from the best experts in the world, the USDA ARS researchers and LBA beekeepers in the morning, lunch included in the ticket price, and hands-on demonstrations in the hives for the afternoon with the researchers and our LBA commercial beekeepers.  

2023 Field Day information: (Bring your beekeeping gear!)

REGISTER HERE: https://www.labeekeepers.org/event-5181528

Learn all about bees at an event in October hosted by Louisiana State Beekeepers Association and the USDA Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Laboratory

The 26th annual Field Day is set for Oct. 15 at the LSU Rural Life Museum, 4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge. The entrance is near the intersection of Essen Lane (La. 3064) and Interstate 10.

Register Here

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/ascension/article_76f0094a-1375-11ed-b537-6389fb3c65f1.html

Ever thought about becoming a beekeeper? Nola Ducote tells us what the process involves!

Click to watch the video

https://www.kalb.com/2022/08/27/whats-all-buzz-about/

By Alena Noakes

Published: Aug. 26, 2022 at 7:18 PM CDT

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - At the Holiday Inn in downtown Alexandria, more than 200 beekeepers gathered for the 60th annual Louisiana Beekeeper’s Association Convention (LBA).

Every year, beekeepers from around the state meet to share their honeybees, one of Louisiana’s most valuble resources as a leader in agriculture. As important pollinators who help sustain the environment, beekeepers make it a priority to stay educated and move forward in their efforts toward continued preservation.

“So much of the flowers and everything you see depends on honeybee pollination,” said Wesley Card, president of LBA. “Not to mention beeswax and honey and the other products they provide as well. It’s for people to understand what they can do in their own yards, as far as pesticides and other things that are happening in their environment they may not think about, and how they affect the honeybees.”

One of those is The Bee Commander, a vendor at the convention, with owners who save bees by rescuing them from attics, roofs and any place you would not want to find a hive of bees, giving them a safe home and the freedom to keep doing what honeybees do.

“The backbone of The Bee Commander, the whole reason for it, is saving honeybees one hive at a time,” said Jeff Brown of Pearl River, who owns the business with his wife. “We have a bunch of beeswax left over when the honey process is over. So we turned it into candles, soap and lip balm, trying to be as natural as we can with it. Just another product to honor them.”

How many colonies are in Louisiana? Kathy Broussard with the USDA Agricultural Survey talks about the latest NASS Agricultural survey at the Louisiana Beekeepers Association 2022 convention.

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services is the Official Statistical Agency of the USDA with the mission to provide timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. Agriculture.

Click the link or photo for video

For more information on the Census of Agriculture go to:  www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus  or contact Kathy Broussard, LA State Statistician at:  Kathy.Broussard@usda.gov.

Download the full LBA Conference Program or scan the QR code.

Only weeks before the 60^th Annual Louisiana Beekeepers Association Convention will be held at the Holiday Inn Downtown in centrally-located Alexandria, Louisiana! There is still time to register for the early-bird registration price of $75 if you sign up before August 1, after which the price will go to $100. Reserve your rooms soon with Code BEE to take advantage of the special discounted rate. The reserved room block will be void after August 11.

Special guest speakers include Dr. Juliana Rangel from Texas A&M University Honey Bee Lab, YouTube star, Bob Binnie from Georgia, Earl Hoffman from Strong Microbials, and Michelle Tubre from Louisiana, as well as updates from the USDA ARS Honey Bee Lab, NASS, LBA scholarship recipients, and our new State Apiarist, Mark Earl. A special slide presentation to commemorate LBA’s 60 years will be given by Jimmy Dunkley during Friday night’s banquet and will be followed by a live auction. Visit this link for a list of speakers, topics and times.

This year a meal option is being provided for Friday lunch ($12) in addition to the Friday night banquet ($25). Meals are separate from the registration charge. Details on how to select lunch and banquet options are provided on the website under the convention registration.

Last year’s Black Jar Honey Contest was so popular, we are going to host another similar contest. Entry rules may also be found on the website. Please consider bringing a jar of your honey and a $5.00 entry fee to drop off Friday morning at the registration table. Judging will occur on Friday from 9:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We will also be conducting both live and silent auctions at the convention, so please consider bringing and donating items to be auctioned this year.

Do you have a business or know of a business that would like to advertise in our program, or be a vendor, or even a sponsor? Please visit the website to become a sponsor, vendor, or advertiser for this year’s convention.

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Stacy Blomquist, at fsbuglady@gmail.com or (318)446-5054.

Register now for the Louisiana Beekeepers Association 60th Annual Convention at the Holiday Inn Alexandria - Downtown. The doors will open at 8 a.m. on Friday, August 26, with kick-off at 9 a.m. and conclude on Saturday, August 27, at 3:00 p.m.

• Dr. Juliana Rangel from Texas A&M University and Bob Binnie  with Blue Ridge Honey in Georgia will be our guest speakers for the Convention along with other exciting presenters. 
• Vendors with the latest technology and equipment will be present.
• Black jar honey contest - bring a small jar of your honey and see how it compares in taste with others around the state!

REGISTER HERE

The Louisiana Beekeepers Association Spring Field Day on Saturday, April 30th at Evergreen Honey Co. at (1103 C M Davis Road, Jennings, LA. 70546).  Click Here to Register 

Fifteen overall training sessions will be offered over five time blocks that day. Three concurrent sessions will be occurring at any one time, from which attendees can choose. The training sessions, running about 50 minutes long, are focused on providing information and live demonstrations for new, less-experienced, and intermediate-level beekeepers.

Doors will open for the event at 8 am that Saturday, with initial remarks at 8:45 am and the first sessions at 9:00 am.

Anticipated training sessions at this event include:

Level 1: Beekeeping: Where to Start, Equipment Needs and Apiary Set Up; Honey Bee Basics: Hive and Frame Types; Beekeeping Throughout the Year; Pests and Diseases; Extracting and Bottling Honey

Level 2: Honey Bee Biology: Behavior, Morphology, and Anatomy; Live Hive Inspection Basics: How to Read a Frame and Find the Queen; Basic Varroa Management and Monitoring; Splits for Beginners; Catching and Keeping Swarms

Level 3: Proper Timing for Feeding Bees; Structural Bee Removals; Wax Rendering and Demonstration; Queens Overview: Raising and Re-queening Techniques; Advanced Hive Inspection: Varroa Management and Monitoring

Preregistration March 16 – April 22 with a fee of $30 for enrollment and a lunch that day.   Preregistration will be limited to the first 100 applicants due to classroom size limitations. There will be no on-site registration on April 30, and slots for the training sessions might be filled in advance of April 20.  

A number of school groups and children in the area will also be visiting that day and participating in special youth sessions.  If you have questions about these sessions for children, please contact Jennifer Brown, (601) 493-3447.

Bring your basic protective gear that day for the demonstrations and get ready to learn a lot more about honey bees and beekeeping!

In order to best improve our future events, we ask that you complete this brief survey about your experience.  We are looking for all kinds of feedback as we look forward to seeing you at future events.

You may be asked to sign into our new LBA website in order to fill out the survey.  Thank you for your patience as we build a better member experience.

LBA Conference Survey Link