Pharr Seminar: Why bees are disappearing by Dr. Spivak

This year the Mason Pharr Seminar committee is proud to announce that Dr. Marla Spivak from the University of Minnesota will be our speaker, Thursday, March 17, 2016. Dr. Spivak is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Apiculture and Social Insects. She received her B.A from Hombolt State University in Biology and her PhD from the University of Kansas in entomology. She was a 2010 MacArthur Fellow and teaches several courses in bee management, pollinator protection and insect societies.

Dr. Spivak focuses her research on the honeybee (Apis mellifera).  Much of her current research focuses on the benefits of propolis in bee health, the biological activity of propolis as well as research into novel methods of control of Varroa mites, and colony disease resistance. She will share some of her personal experiences with bees as well as some of her research. The Mason Pharr seminar will take place March 17, 2016. Location is TBD. There are several videos that can be accessed on the web if you would like to know more about Dr. Spivak.