Dr. Jon Zawislak
Dr. Jon Zawislak is an assistant professor of apiculture and urban entomology for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. He has worked and played with honey bees since 1998, and is equally at home in the bee yard, the laboratory or the classroom. Each year he presents lectures, workshops and short courses for new and experienced beekeepers throughout Arkansas and beyond. His teaching emphasizes the biology and behavior of honey bees as the cornerstones of keep them productive and healthy. He also spreads the word about the importance of pollinators to the non‐ beekeeping public. Jon has a background in botany and entomology, and is a certified Master Beekeeper through the Eastern Apiculture Society. He and his family operate Walnut Valley Honey Farm in Little Rock, Arkansas, producing good products from the hive and supplying pollinators for area community gardens.
Cameron Jack
Cameron has been interested in beekeeping since his youth and now teaches several courses related to honey bees and apiculture at the University of Florida. His goal is to create an educational program that prepares students for the many challenges associated with beekeeping and to train those interested in entering the beekeeping workforce.
Garett Slater
Garett Slater, Ph.D., leads the statewide Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Apiary Program and supervises the activities of three honey bee program specialists in Dallas, Angleton, and San Antonio. As the Honey Bee Extension Specialist at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, his primary role is to deliver extension services and applied research tailored to the needs of beekeepers, promoting sustainable practices and economic development of beekeepers. This includes communication and involvement with beekeepers via webinars and presentations, specialized courses, and articles. The topics of these communications range broadly, including fundamental scientific concepts and practical areas of interest. Additionally, he manages the Texas Master Beekeeper Program, which offers training modules for beekeepers across Texas. His one interest in extension and applied research focuses on honey bee breeding and genetics, which are key components of sustainable integrated pest management and honey bee population health. Presently, he is leading a study to develop modern breeding tools with the aim of helping breeders enhance the health and survival of honey bee colonies.
Dr. Slater obtained his PhD from Purdue University in 2022, with a thesis focused on applying modern genetic tools to honey bee breeding. He is currently Previously, he completed a MS in Nutrition and Queen Quality at North Dakota State University. Garett’s research at USDA focused on developing genomic tools for beekeeping, including selecting for natural defenses towards Varroa, pathogens, and other diseases. He has worked as a scientist and technician with the Bee Informed Partnership at the University of Minnesota for two years, directly supporting 30 commercial beekeepers in North Dakota. Garett has 12 years of beekeeping experience, including 8 years working for a large commercial beekeeper in North Dakota.
Krispn Given
Krispn Given is the Apiculture Specialist in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. He is recognized as a world authority in the fields of instrumental insemination and honey bee breeding. Given started breeding bees 26 years ago conducting research with 150-300 colonies looking for solutions to improve honey bee health using selective breeding. Today he continues to run the honey bee breeding program at Purdue University, teaching annual queen-rearing short courses in addition to managing the honey bee laboratory, along with extension and student research activities.
Given is in high demand for his expertise and teaches instrumental insemination classes each year attracting researchers and bee breeders worldwide. Given’s research focuses on identifying, selecting, and enhancing honey bee stock that expresses increased behavioral resistance to Varroa. He was instrumental in developing the “Indiana Mite-biter” (in collaboration with honey bee geneticist Greg Hunt) honey bee strain, where they demonstrated bees that groom themselves free of mites also bite more mites when groomed off the adult bees. It is a heritable trait that is beneficial to beekeepers, resulting in less winter mortality. The primary mechanism of defense is the ability to groom themselves free of varroa mites and bite them.
Krispn was also involved in several research projects in the last nineteen years at Purdue, he is an author and co-author of numerous publications, and books, including scientific and trade journal articles. Given was instrumental in designing innovative instrumental insemination devices made in America with Dale McMahan who holds a degree in mechanical engineering at Purdue University. Krispn is also a past president of the Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Cooperative.
Diane Cox-Foster
Dr. Cox-Foster's focus is on understanding the mechanisms underlying host/pathogen interactions in honey bees and other pollinators. Her research utilizes a systems biology approach, examining the interactions at multiple levels including the molecular processes in the pollinator, the genomics of the pathogens, impacts on cellular physiology and immunity, and overall impacts on ecological interactions. Her work focuses primarily on honey bees and with extensions of the findings into other pollinator species. Her expertise includes the viral pathogens that infect bees and other pollinators and the impacts of varroa mites. She is also collaborating in projects to transition her research into application to remediate problems in honey bees and other pollinators, with emphasis on controlling viral disease via the mites and development of disease resistant bee strains.
Frank Mortimer
Frank Mortimer is an adjunct instructor at the Cornell University Master Beekeeping Program, former Vice President of the New Jersey State Beekeepers Association, and a Certified Master Beekeeper. Frank is the author of Bee People and the Bugs They Love, has written multiple articles featured in Bee Culture Magazine, American Bee Journal, and has appeared on BBC 2 Radio.
As the former president of the Northeast NJ Beekeepers Association—a position he held for over a decade—he significantly grew his club’s membership and founded the “Honey Cup,” an annual honey tasting competition.
Frank has promoted beekeeping by speaking to everyone from school children to gardening clubs and civic organizations. He has led beekeeping seminars at The New York Botanical Garden, and he successfully campaigned for his hometown of Ridgewood to become New Jersey’s first “Bee City USA.” Frank is married, has three children, and beekeeping is something the whole family enjoys doing together.
The Cornell University Master Beekeeper Program is an advanced training program for beekeepers who have at least 3 years of beekeeping experience. The program is 15 months in duration and consists of four online classes and three in-person final exams at Cornell’s Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Studies.
Steve Jimenez founded Hives for Heroes in 2018.
Hives for Heroes is a national military veteran non-profit organization focusing on honey bee conservation and a healthy transition from service. Through the national network of beekeepers and veterans they provide connection, purpose, and healthy relationships fostering a lifelong hobby in beekeeping.
Hives for Heroes started in late 2018 in Houston, Texas with a small team of dedicated volunteers who have become family. They have quickly grown into a nationwide organization, in all 50 states, seeking to serve the next veteran in their local community. https://www.hivesforheroes.com/
In 2019, Steve also founded rūtd - An enterprise software and mobile application solution connecting veterans and resources, in a single click, to end veteran suicide.