27th Annual Field Day
Commercial Queen Rearing Family Style
From Then Until Now
Welcome to the greatest Field Day anywhere! An event of this size is always an adventure, to learn all you can and have fun while your doing it! The LCBA/QRC Field Day is really an event for everyone because it has something for everybody. Held here at Queen Right Colonies, a 17-acre century farm, in conjunction with the Great Lorain County Beekeepers Association. Get ready for more door prizes, more games, more to see and do than any beekeeping event anywhere. In addition, there are non-beekeeping events and things to see and do, such as Alpaca Shearing Demo, Tours of the Farm, meet our menagerie of livestock that include Prevost Squirrels, Mouflon Sheep, Muntjac Deer, Fallow Deer, Zebu Cattle, White Peacocks, Pygmy Goats, Red Fox, Aoudad Sheep, various species of birds, more White Homing Pigeons than you will see anywhere in one place, plus it is all FREE. Tour an authentic Amish starter home, which has been converted into an Antique & Gift Shop. As you can see, this is not just an event for beekeepers, but for friends and family as well. The emphasis will always be on beekeeping and everyone is welcome here.
The art and expertise of starting and successfully running a queen rearing business on a commercial scale is not for the faint of heart or part of a one-hour online course. Boots on the ground to steal a phrase, 8 pair to be exact. What the team of Greg and Tammy Zitlaw have accomplished in the past 20 years is truly remarkable. A labor of love and commitment for sure.
Why queen rearing? How do they do that? Why do I need to know about this? Is it beneficial to what I am doing in Ohio? A story brought to you all the way from sunny Orland, California (Pop.7,622), the Queen rearing capitol of the world, Greg Zitlaw of Z’s Bees and his righthand man/firstborn Tucker. You want to know how something works ask the experts. How do I succeed you say, start asking questions. This is your opportunity to listen during the morning session and then following lunch in the big tent be a part of a great Q&A session. Z’s Bees come straight to you, it doesn’t get any better than that and all you have to do is show up!
A Free event of this kind doesn’t come along every day so mark your calendar, bring your family and your notebook, your going to need it!
We are also fortunate to have Peggy Garnes, OSBA president. Peggy is a beekeeper with 20 years experience keeping 140 colonies, queen breeder, nuc producer, and traveling speaker for OSBA and past Western Reserve Representative. Peggy will do a two part open hive class on, “Assessing (Part 1) and Maintaining (Part 2) Colony Health.”
Another highlight to this year’s event will be the addition of Tim Arheit. Tim is a past president of OSBA and a part of the OSBA traveling speaker program as well as the current webmaster of OSBA. Tim will do a one hour, open hive demonstration on the topic of, “How and When to Requeen.”
We always address the current new beekeeper or the beekeeper wishing for a refresher class, which is why we will be offering the topics of My First Year of Beekeeping Part 1 and Part 2. These classes will be taught by John Rose and Phil Bartosh; both of these gentlemen have eight to ten years of experience working with and teaching new beekeepers. Phil is the current Cuyahoga County Bee Inspector.
Click here to download 27th Annual Field Day flyer & Agenda for the day!
