WAS kicks-off their 2024 Mini-conference series with a tribute to the remarkable life of Kim Flottum and his profound impact on the world of bees and the people who care for them.
First Presentation: "Comments on Wintering and Supering", by Dr. James E. Tew
Bio: Jim Tew is an Emeritus Faculty member at The Ohio State University and is also retired from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Having kept bees for more than fifty years, Jim has taught beekeeping, researched beekeeping, written books about beekeeping and produced bee videos. Currently, he hosts a weekly beekeeping podcast, Honey Bee Obscura, and tinkers with a YouTube channel. Jim enjoys all things that relate to bees.
Second Presentation: "Working With What We’ve Got to Help our Bees and our Communities", by Julia Common
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Bio: Julia Common is a BCHPA certified beekeeping instructor and member of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists. Julia has been involved in beekeeping since university. What started as a summer job became first a hobby, and later a career. From 2012 through to 2019 she acted as Chief Beekeeper for the Vancouver-based society Hives for Humanity, which she co-founded with her daughter Sarah Common. Urban beekeeping has led her to a number of epiphanies concerning the health and welfare of both bees and humans. Pollination work has led her to focus on how to better the conditions under which we expect our bees to live and work. Julia is passionate about bees and teaching and she has participated in a number of research projects over the past decade. Since her retirement from Hives for Humanity in 2019, Julia has built the company, Bees Actually, to include nuc and honey sales, greenhouse and field pollination, consulting, presenting and teaching.
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Julia is a member of the Richmond and Langley bee clubs in the Fraser Valley, and of the BCHPA. She is also a member of the Native Bee Society of British Columbia, and recently become a member of the Western Apicultural Society. Julia fosters collaborative thinking across many divides as we face the ongoing and future challenges for our bees and this wonderful art and practice of beekeeping.
