The Grand Teton Pollinator and Bee Summit

Hosted by: High Mountain Pollinators and Bees

Are you a beekeeper? Do you appreciate seeing the native pollinators in your gardens? Have you seen the marketing for the big beekeeping conferences and wished that they were a little bit closer so you could go? Well! Have we got news for you!! High Mountain Pollinators and Bees is bringing a professional level, one day seminar, to Jackson Hole WY.

You are invited to the FIRST live conference right here in your backyard. Come and spend a day filled with educational presentations, theme specific vendors, product representatives, alongside beekeepers and gardeners such as yourself. Join Dr Sue Cobey and Dr Scott Debnam. We will be exploring topics that are relevant to our climatic challenges including: Queen breeding for management and success, Bee biology with a focus on nutrition in short season climates, Pests and disease management and how that effects the colony, hive thermodynamics — exactly how do we get our bees through our long winters, and native pollinator planting for success.

Join us at the Virginian Lodge in historic Jackson for a day filled with educational activities. Don’t want to drive in the dark or are you coming from a distance? We’ve got you covered with specially priced hotel rooms at the Virginian in Jackson or the Cottonwood Inn in nearby Alpine Wy.

Member’s Only Meet and Greet on Friday evening, Feb 26th in the Virginian Saloon from 6 - 8pm. Come and visit with the High Mountain Pollinators and Bees Board of Directors along with our featured guest speakers. Enjoy your favorite winter drink and a snack or two as we build anticipation for the next day in an intimate and relaxed setting. Saturday starts sharp at 8:45a with introductions and presentations begin at 9a. Bring a notebook and settle in for a full day of education. Reserve a breakfast box as part of your event reservation, charcuterie board and drinks, Vendors with items that align with the theme of the day! Be prepared with questions for the Q&A panel discussion. Close out the day with a Catered Dinner from 6-8p with our featured guest speakers. Our Menu is still under development but we promise, it’ll be a nice relaxing time with more opportunity to learn.

Tickets for this event: Saturday, Feb 27th, conference pricing — non-members reserve your spot for the full day at $70. Children 12 and over, $20 for the day. (We do ask no children under 12.) There are benefits to supporting the organization through membership — you can reserve your spot for $55 and attend the Friday evening Meet & Greet. Reserve a spot at dinner for an additional $45. Help us exceed our goal of 100 attendees at this ground-breaking event in Jackson Hole, WY.

Biographies:

Susan Cobey’s focus is enhancement of honey bee stocks and improvement of colony health through selective breeding.  She runs Honey Bee Insemination Service, L.L.C., founded and maintained the New World Carniolan Closed Population Breeding Program for 40 generations.  To diversity the U.S. gene pool, she worked at Washington State University , with a focus on collection of  honey bee germplasm sourced from their native European range and incorporated this into U.S commercial breeding populations. She managed Honey Bee Research Laboratories at the Ohio University State and the University of California, Davis, and worked with the USDA Honey Bee Lab., Baton Rouge. Her background includes working in commercial queen production in FL. and CA., and founding and operating a queen production business, Vaca Valley Apiaries, in northern California. Currently she runs HBIS, LLC providing training, instructional material and information in presentations, workshops and publications worldwide to promote honey bee stock improvement.

For more information about Sue’s work, visit https://honeybeeinsemination.com/ and view an introductory video here: https://vimeo.com/380776410‍ ‍https://youtu.be/R8-9DgXcrfI 

Dr Scott Debnam graduated from the University of Montana’s Wildlife Biology program and has 25 years of experience managing the university’s research colonies. He earned his master’s in Pollination Ecology in 2016 and completed his Ph.D. in Insect Physiology in 2022. His research focuses on the economics of nest thermoregulation, using honeybees as his model species. Scott has established himself as a leading educator in beekeeping through his significant contributions to the University of Montana’s Online Master Beekeeping program, which he has both developed and taught for a decade. His influence extends globally, having educated over two thousand students from 22 countries. This exceptional program was recognized with the UPCEA award for outstanding online education in 2019. He also shares his expertise with UMass Amherst, teaching the Practical Beekeeping online course and contributing to the Sustainable Food and Farming degree program.

Learn more about Scott here: https://www.thebeekeepersacademy.com/about-us