Our next club meeting is Tuesday, November 13 at 7 pm at the Manassas Church of the Brethren. We will have not two (yes, two!) speakers for the night. First, a short talk from Charles Bennett on “How can USDA-FSA help Beekeepers.” Mr. Bennett is the County Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency in Prince William, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Fairfax Counties, and has worked with FSA for 3 years helping producers in any way possible. Our main speaker for November 13 is James Wilson, the Extension Apiculturist at the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech, on the topic of “The Bee Group at Virginia Tech and Protecting Pollinators in Virginia IPM”. Mr. Wilson joined the Virginia Tech faculty in January 2017 as the new Extension Apiculturist. His duties include Extension efforts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and teaching the “Bees and Beekeeping” and “Insects in Human Society” courses. Mr. Wilson grew up in Southport, North Carolina and became engrossed with smaller wildlife, especially insects, while at NC State. His graduate work at Virginia Tech in Entomology included forensic entomology in wildlife poaching and the Integrated Pest Management of Cucurbit Production in Virginia. Mr. Wilson will talk about the activities at the Bee Group and his graduate research.
