Bee Girl Executive Director, Scary Movies Featured at Wyoming Bee College

UW Extension Educator Catherine Wissner displays a brood box with honeybees at Laramie County Community College (LCCC) in Cheyenne. UW Extension offers the 2018 Wyoming Bee College Saturday and Sunday, March 17-18, at LCCC. (Lindi Kirkbride Photo)

University of Wyoming Extension offers the 2018 Wyoming Bee College Saturday and Sunday, March 17-18, at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne.

The $85 conference fee includes a dinner and two lunches. There is no charge for Bee Buddies, children ages 7-15, accompanied by an adult. To learn more about Wyoming Bee College and University, special hotel rates and registration, go to bit.ly/BeeCollege.

Bee College is for everyone, from new and aspiring beekeepers to advanced and master beekeepers, and those interested in gardening for pollinators, UW Extension Educator Catherine Wissner says.

“This year’s event is bigger, and we have three great keynote speakers,” Wissner says.

The preconference Wyoming Bee University, scheduled Friday, March 16, is an all-day advanced program. Participants may choose workshop tracks about apitherapy -- the hive as medicine chest; making honey wine; raising your own queen bees; or a course on becoming a master beekeeper. These tracks begin at 9 a.m. in the Leadership Room on the first floor of the Pathfinder Building, 1400 E. College Drive in Cheyenne. Cost is $125.

During the Wyoming Bee College, national and regional experts will present five concurrent tracks Saturday and four concurrent tracks Sunday, with each geared toward every level of beekeeper, “wanna-bee” gardener and pollinator advocate. For a schedule, go to www.wyomingbeecollege.org/.

Keynote speakers are:

-- Sarah Red-Laird, executive director of the Bee Girl Organization, will begin Saturday’s schedule with the latest on education, research and a university collaboration to save bees. Her discussion will take place from 8:20-9:15 a.m. in the Pathfinder Leadership Room.

-- Raymond Cloyd, professor and extension specialist in horticultural entomology and plant protection in the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University, Manhattan, presents “Hollywood and Entomology,” a history of the 1950s “big bug” science fiction movies at 6:45 p.m. in the Pathfinder main conference room. A dinner will be served from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria.

-- Sandra Hope, a professor of microbiology and molecular biology in the College of Life Sciences of Brigham Young University, will discuss American foulbrood disease from 8:30-9:30 a.m. Sunday in the Pathfinder Leadership Room.

For more information, call Wissner, the “dean” of Wyoming Bee College, at (307) 63­3-4383 or email cwissner@uwyo.edu.