In this presentation, Ken Warchol (Worcester County Beekeepers Association President) will discuss the dynamics and signs in the beehive that beekeepers should recognize in order to prevent swarming and then prescribe options that beekeepers can take to prevent an emerging swarm, particularly in congested neighborhoods. After decades of swarm prevention, Ken has recognized that there are clear-cut signs from early in the process right up to the point of swarm emergence that he will present in a visual power point presentation. This talk is a must particularly for the urban beekeeper. Ken will also present some pretty amazing swarm stories from his 60+ years of beekeeping and inspecting.
Meeting location: Geological Museum Building, 24 Oxford Street, Haller Hall/Room 102 (nextdoor to the Harvard Natural History Museum)
Ken is a 6th generation beekeeper going back to Poland. He was introduced to beekeeping early on in life. After college and a stint in the army, Ken started teaching and coaching at Northbridge High School and remained there for 37 years until he retired in 2009. He started as a seasonal apiary inspector in Massachusetts in 1976 and has been in the position ever since inspecting beehives all over Massachusetts in addition to managing his own 120 colonies. In 2009, Ken was called upon by the USDA to help Dr. Jeff Pettis of the Beltsville Bee Lab run a 40 colony study in the Asian Longhorn Beetle Quarantine area to see the effects of tree injection on honeybees and he worked on that study until 2013. Dr. Lu of Harvard called upon Ken in 2009 as well to help direct a study on the effects of neonics on honeybees for 5 years which he still is at. In a recent symposium at the Ratcliffe Institute at Harvard, Ken was asked to do a presentation to a worldwide group of beekeepers,scientists and regulators on what he has seen in his inspections over the last 5 years. Ken has been actively involved in the Worcester County Beekeepers Association since 1950 as Vice President,President, Program Director and Bee School Director. He has been a Massachusetts Beekeeper of the Year and has received a number of other awards. Needless to say that Ken is involved in bees up to his ears.