Sharing the love of bees.

Articles (Click on the title to download a pdf)

American Bee Journal Beekeeping Basics Column - 2020

Other writing

Erin Hampton/ The State News

Erin Hampton/ The State News

Article on indoor overwintering of small colonies in Michigan - By Mary and Bill Weaver

Talking and Teaching

Updated 2024 - I will not be giving out of state talks this year, even through zoom. I love talking to beekeepers and bee clubs, but I really need to focus on my research and writing. I’ll be getting information out in the following ways:

  1. Answer questions online - If you have a question about bees or beekeeping, please submit it through the Ask an Expert portal through extension - https://pollinators.msu.edu/questions/ The Ask an Expert system allows me to record my effort, which is useful for my job, and it also allows people to see frequently asked questions, and link to previously answered questions - to save time on repeats. I am also working with other members of our apiculture team to address all the questions to improve the response time. If you want me to specifically answer - just put that in the question.

  2. Live monthly office hours - The MSU Apiculture team hosts a monthly webinar where we talk about what we are doing in our hives, and spend a lot of time answering questions. Old office hours are posted on our You Tube Channel, and you can sign up for new ones at www.pollinators.msu.edu at the events tab.

  3. Michigan State University Beekeeping Channel - I’ll be posting my current talks and new talks on our You Tube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@michiganstateuniversitybee4597 Subscribe to get notified when new videos come out.

Bio

Dr. Meghan Milbrath began working bees over 25 years ago, and now owns and manages The Sand Hill Apiary, a small livestock and queen rearing operation in Munith, Michigan. She studied biology at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and received degrees in public health from Tulane University and the University of Michigan, where she focused on environmental health sciences and disease transmission risk.  Meghan worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University, studying nosema disease, and at Swedish Agricultural University. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at MSU, where she does honey bee and pollinator research and extension and is the coordinator of the Michigan Pollinator Initiative. Meghan is active in multiple beekeeping organizations, writes for multiple beekeeping journals, and speaks about bees all over the country. She currently runs the Northern Bee Network, a directory and resource site dedicated to supporting queen producers, and she is passionate about keeping and promoting healthy bees.

Commonly requested talks:

  • Dealing with Deadouts - Dead outs are an unfortunate part of beekeeping. In this talk we will discuss how to clean up a deadout, and how to make decisions on what to do with used equipment. This talk is a mix of science (what we know about disease risk), and management (how do we deal with disaese risk in the real world).

  • Drawn comb is gold - Drawn comb makes all beekeeping easier! In this talk we will discuss the conditions for getting comb drawn, how to optimize drawing comb, and how to store and protect drawn comb.

  • This is going to be the year (A year in a sustainable Northern Apiary). - Many beekeepers wish they had a calendar that guided them through the season. In this talk, we go over the bee calendar - noting what events are important to the bees, and how beekeepers manage their bees in response to these events. We will cover common mistakes at each time of the season, and provide a big-picture guide to management.

  • Amazing anatomical adaptations of Apis mellifera - The alternative title for this talk is “Why honey bees are the most amazing organisms ever”. We’ll see beautiful pictures and hear interesting facts about this fascinating creature. The focus of this talk is how honey bee anatomy drives their experience and perception and can guide our care.

  • Do you know what to do about American Foulbrood? - American foulbrood is a disease with potentially devastating consequences. Even though this is a serious risk for beekeepers, most can’t confidently identify the signs of this disease, nor would they know what to do if it showed up in their hives. This talk covers the biology of AFB, how to diagnose your hive, easy field tests, how to sterilize equipment, and how to navigate antibiotic use.

  • Gentle Beekeeping - This talk covers how we can work with bees to provide them with care while causing the least distress to them and ourselves. It is designed for the less confident beekeeper, or those who want to learn more about handling their bees. This talk comes from the viewpoint of animal handling - we’ll cover how to recognize when bees are becoming defensive, and how to trigger and subdue defensive behaviors.

  • Small scale queen rearing - Many beekeepers would like to raise their own queen cells, but are intimidated by the process. They are overwhelmed by the equipment and the many options in this process. This talk is targeted towards the beekeeper that is interested in getting started raising some queen cells. We will cover the basic steps involved with raising queens, and discuss options for raising queens, including those that don’t require grafting.

  • Towards treatment free - Every beekeeper wants to be treatment free, but many beekeepers who are trying to reduce chemical inputs end up losing lots of bees. This talk discusses the philosophy of treatment free beekeeping, and the theory behind some of the common practices. We’ll discuss a plan that allows you to keep bees with minimum inputs that doesn’t put your bees at risk.

  • Varroa biology and management - Many beekeepers are overwhelmed by all of the options for varroa control. Treatments range from good useful tools, to harsh chemicals, to useless gimmicks. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each treatment option, and help guide beekeepers to make a plan to keep this pest under control. *** This talk can be 1 -3 hours, and can be combined with identifying how a colony is lost to varroa, varroa biology, and varroa monitoring.

  • Swarm biology and swarm control - It is so disheartening to lose your bees to the trees after getting them through a hard winter. Many beekeepers are intimidated by the process of swarm management, and many lose swarms because they wait too long to practice management. We’ll cover the early signs that indicate that a swarm will occur - so beekeepers can take action well before queen cells are formed, and we’ll discuss various strategies for managing colonies to prevent the loss of your bees from swarming.

  • Sustainable Northern Beekeeping using late season nucs - Never buy bees again! In this talk we cover a management strategy that can help beekeepers get off the treadmill of buying bees every year. We discuss how to make replacement colonies and expansion from within your operation, so you can be self-sufficient.

  • Successful overwintering - How do bees survive the winter cold? What can we do to make it easier on them? We’ll cover the biology of the the winter bee, with of focus on how their behavior can drive our management. We’ll also cover ways that we can improve overwinter success. *** It is really difficult to give this talk in October, because it really focuses on the work that needs to be done in August and September. Even though people request this talk in the fall, I’d much rather give it earlier in the year, so people are set up for success.

 

In the Media

Beekeeping Today - Educating Honey Bee Veterinarians (S6, E30) - https://www.beekeepingtodaypodcast.com/educating-honey-bee-veterinarians-with-meghan-milbrath-and-eva-reinicke-s6e30/

Beekeeping Today - European Foulbrood - (S6, E22) - https://www.beekeepingtodaypodcast.com/educating-honey-bee-veterinarians-with-meghan-milbrath-and-eva-reinicke-s6e30/

PBS Tastemakers - http://www.drinkblom.com/pbs / https://www.watchtastemakers.com/207-blom-meadworks/2020/1/4/t3ud9irq92dwngbdj4oapcxkr8on1d

Pollination Podcast - Episode 9 - http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2017/06/12/meghan-milbrath/

Blog Post - https://badbeekeepingblog.com/2017/06/15/return-to-pollination/

Beekeeping at Five Apple Farm podcast episode 42 - https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-cuduc-c6c2f5

Backyard Bounty Podcast - https://heritageacresmarket.com/episode-049-mite-resistant-queens/

Two bees in a podcast Episode 4 - https://anchor.fm/ufhbrel/episodes/What-It-Takes-to-Provide-Purposeful-Education-eahpva

Two bees in a podcast episode 6 - https://anchor.fm/ufhbrel/episodes/Honey-Bees-Are-Animals-and-They-Deserve-to-Be-in-Good-Health-ebfc7c