Missouri Bee Day

Speakers

• 

  Kamon Reynolds
  

  Kamon Reynolds

  Kamon Reynolds has been keeping bees in North Central Tennessee for 19 years and keeps over 300 Hives with his wife Laurel. Kamon and Laurel also have filmed hundreds of educational videos and run one of North America’s largest beekeeping conferences, The North American Honey Bee Expo. Though Kamon does 99.9% of the talking, Laurel has been Beekeeping for 14 years, was a Beekeeper prior to their marriage, and is an invaluable part of their Business Tennessee’s Bees LLC. Tennessee’s Bees specializes in quality Bee Genetics, Pure Tennessee Honey, and Honeybee Education.

• 

  Cory Stevens Stevens Bee Company
  

  Cory Stevens

  Stevens Bee Company

  Cory Stevens comes to us from his 27 acre farm in Bloomfield, MO, which he manages for wildlife and pollinator habitat. Cory and his wife Jaime own Stevens Bee Company where they select for mite resistant VSH stock. Cory is a Past President of Missouri State Beekeepers Association, and earned a MS in entomology from University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He was certified as a Master Beekeeper by EAS in 2013, and trained by Sue Cobey in 2014 to instrumentally inseminate queen bees. He slips bees into random conversation with strangers, and annoys his wife by constantly talking about bees.

• 

  Natalee Summers Hitch Hive Honey
  

  Natalee Summers

  Hitch Hive Honey

  Natalee Summers is a 16 year old beekeeper from NW Missouri. Her journey began in 2017, when her family started their apiary and business, known as Hitch Hive Honey. As the business grew, so did Natalee’s fascination with the intricate world of bees. She started a YouTube channel with the help of her parents, in 2020, called “Beekeeping with Natalee.” Natalee really enjoys grafting queens, which has led to nearly 1000 grafts in the last few years. Undeterred by her age, Natalee has set ambitious milestones for herself, including almond pollination in CA and completing the Master Beekeeping program from the University of Florida. She is excited to see where her passion for bees takes her!

• 

  Dave Loftin
  

  Dave Loftin

  As a boy, Dave watched his grandfather tending beehives. Dave’s first opportunity with bees of his own came after college when he found a swarm in a whiskey barrel at a garden supply store in Rochester, NY. He found local beekeepers to ask advice from and soon joined the Rochester Beekeepers Club. Back then, Dr. Richard Taylor was a local professor and frequent speaker at the club. Dave learned how to produce comb honey as well as many other things from him.These days, Dave lives on 10 acres outside Nixa, Missouri with his wife Paula. The property has several varieties of trees beneficial to honeybees. Dave is actively planting more varieties of trees and other plants for pollinators. He is a member of the Bees Alive Club in Nixa, the Beekeeping Association of the Ozarks, and the Missouri Beekeepers.

• 

  Chris Summers
  

  Chris Summers

  Chris is a beekeeper from the Excelsior Springs MO area. Keeping bees for 8 years with his family, they now have over 100 colonies and continue to grow. His passion has led him to leave the corporate workplace and now works full time for HillCo LLC with product development, sales and customer service.

• 

  Charles "Kyle" Day
  

  Charles "Kyle" Day

  Kyle Day started beekeeping in 2014 when he received a scholarship from the Midwestern Beekeepers Association. His passion for beekeeping soon turned into a passion of helping fellow beekeepers. Kyle soon started assisting Midwestern beekeepers by mentoring other scholarship students, writing monthly articles, and presenting in beginner beekeeping courses. In 2017 Kyle was Missouri State Beekeepers Association first Honey Ambassador, helping represent MSBA, and taught beekeeping across the state of Missouri for a year. In 2018 Kyle opened Sunny Day Beekeeping, helping local beekeepers to quick access of equipment and supplies. Since 2018 Kyle has held various MSBA Board positions and is currently the MSBA Education and Programs Chairperson. Kyle was the 2022 Missouri State Fair Apiculture Contest Grand Champion, the 2023 Eastern Apiculture Society Mann Lake Youth Scholarship recipient, and attended EAS 2023 where some of the ideas of MO BEE Day originated from. Kyle currently keeps between 30-50 hives. Outside of Beekeeping Kyle is the Manager and Mechanic at Richmond Bowl, City Aldermen and Planning and Zoning Chairperson for the City of Henrietta, while attending the University of Central Missouri, working toward his degree in Agriculture Education. Outside of Beekeeping, work, and classes, you can usually find Kyle with his friends and family. Kyle loves the outdoors and is an avid camper, fisherman, and thanks to his girlfriend Vivian, he is currently learning how to ride horses as well.

• Valorie Nichols
  Valorie Nichols

  Valorie Nichols has been a beekeeper since 1994, I started out, taking the beginning beekeeping classes for the first time and won a hive from what was soon to be my mentor. Unfortunately, I fell victim to losing my first hive in the winter, but got back up and decided that this hobby was something that I really wanted to pursue. So I bought two additional hives, those two became four, four became 16 and you know the rest of the story.

  I retired in 2017 from United Parcel Service with 34 years of blood sweat and tears and decided that I wanted to turn my hobby that was on steroids into a business.
  I have held several positions in our local club Beekeepers Association of the Ozarks, and with my current position as Vice President and South West Missouri Regional Director for the MSBA.
  I am currently keeping around 100 hives of bees, and do a lot of custom extraction to complicate my life even more!!!

• 

  Tom and Melissa
  

  Tom and Melissa

  Tom and Melissa began their beekeeping adventure in 2017 when a video of a cut out caught Melissa’s interest. Over the next year they began researching and taking classes to learn to become successful backyard beekeepers. In the Fall of 2018, they captured a late season swarm and tried to grow it in a nucleus box. Unfortunately, the swarm had other plans and absconded their new home. In Spring of 2019 they started the season with 2 nucleus colonies and 1 package of bees, that Fall they ended the season with 8 colonies. They successfully overwintered those 8 that quickly became 16. They have since doubled and tripled their colonies annually now having 150+ colonies spread out over 6 different apiaries.
  Their beekeeping goals are education, sustainability, and local nuc and queen sales. Their education goals are being met through both participating in the Great Plains Master Beekeeping program as well as helping teach the monthly classes. They also do local speaking engagements at schools. They were also asked to sit in on board meetings with the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association and were elected to board positions in 2023, Melissa as Vice President and Tom as Program Coordinator. These positions further allow them to help bring quality speakers to their club meetings and promote beekeeping education. They also attend several beekeeping conferences throughout the year to help continue their own education. Sustainability practices for them include being able to use any products produced from the hive to help fund their beekeeping adventure. They sell honey, honey straws, creamed honey, comb honey, lip balms, pollen, soaps, beeswax candles, queens, and nucs as well as preform bee removals. In 2022 they also built a wax dipping tank and began wax dipping all their woodenware equipment to help preserve their investment.

• 

  Judy Wu-Smart
  

  Judy Wu-Smart

  Judy Wu-Smart received her BS in Zoology at Humboldt State University, Arcata, California. She received her MS in Entomology at Washington State University, with the advice of Drs. Walter Sheppard and Carol Anelli. Her MS research examined the effects of pesticide residue accumulation in brood comb on honey bee health. She continued on a PhD program with Dr. Marla Spivak at the University of Minnesota, where she examined the effects of systemic neonicotinoid insecticides on honey bee and bumble bee queens and colony development. She’s now an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In her role at UNL, Judy is developing a pollinator health program to help understand the underlying stressors in bee health and their interactions with environmental toxicants.

• Lennie Rosenkrans
  Lennie Rosenkrans

  Lennie Rosenkrans is a Hannibal native, a 1984 graduate of Mizzou with a BS Ag in biochemistry, and retired from Continental Cement after a 25 year career that included 15 years as a fuels lab chemist and 10 as an environmental specialist. He has been a homebrewer for 30 years and a winemaker and mazer for 15, taking up beekeeping 5 years ago

• Adam Coulter
  Adam Coulter

  is the District Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Dallas, Polk, Greene in Webster Counties. Mr. Coulter has been with the NRCS for the past 21 years. He provides technical conservation services for landowners interested in protecting and sustaining the environmental resources of their land. This also includes managing and administering USDA Farm Bill Programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). Mr. Coulter’s principal duties include working with urban landowners, municipalities and entities in implementing conservation practices that help sustain and enhance soil, water and agricultural resources. He works with livestock, agroforestry and wildlife projects. Previously Mr. Coulter was a Water Quality Specialist and Urban Conservationist for the South Missouri Water Quality Project for the NRCS. Before entering governmental service, Mr. Coulter was the Project Manager for the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks where he worked in Source Water Protection in urban and agricultural drinking watersheds. Mr. Coulter has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a Master’s of Science degree from the State University of Pennsylvania.

• Caroline Griesemer
  Caroline Griesemer

  After a 35 year nursing career and raising three children with her husband Louis, Caroline has made beekeeping and gardening her passion. She became a Master Gardener in 2017 and enjoys the education and volunteer opportunities inherent in the organization. Louis and Caroline have been keeping bees since 2009 on their property in Springfield. They have a fascination with the interactions of the pollinators with the huge variety of plants and trees that they grow.

• 

  Michael Stauffer
  

  Michael Stauffer

  Knob Noster, MO., has been learning the art and science of beekeeping for about nine years. Some of those years were a little successful, some were a great deal successful and some were heart breaking disasters. He finds these tiny creatures to be an amazing reflection of the complexity of creation and keeps him in awe of how 60,000 individuals can work in perfect harmony to the common good. His backyard provides the ideal place to keep his three or four hives.

• 

  Larry Soles
  

  Larry Soles

  Greenridge, MO., is an Army Veteran, and an UCM Graduate in Occupational Safety. Larry is a member of Camp Valor Outdoors, Blue Star Bee-lievers, Heroes to Hives of Missouri, and serves as JoCoMoBA Vice President and Programs Officer. Larry’s apiary grew to 17 hives in his first year and now manages over 60 colonies, sells Muddy Creek Honey in multiple stores, and is growing his woodenware business in his 4th year of beekeeping!

• 

  Bruce Snavely
  

  Bruce Snavely

  Republic, MO., is a pastor, an avid beekeeper of 18 years with passionate appreciation for all things honey bee, especially education. Bruce has served as former president and board member of the Beekeeping Association of the Ozarks and 14 years on Missouri State Beekeepers Association Board as Progr am Chair and South Regional Director. Bruce has traveled aboard to share support and establish apiary programs in Guatemala, Africa and India. Presently, Bruce is partnering with Convoy of Hope’s Center for Agriculture & Food Security providing Honey Bee Education and colony stewardship.

• 

  Monte Richardson
  

  Monte Richardson

  Warrensburg, MO., is a sideliner managing Rich Honey Company, 3rd generation beekeeper with roots in the Central Valley of California. He graduated from Central Missouri State University with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and retired from the Sedalia Police Department after 22 years of service. His current day job is IT Manager for the City of Sedalia. Monte served as the Vice President, President, and Past President for the Missouri State Beekeepers Association from 2002-2008. Monte is married to his wife of 40 years, Glenda. They have two grown children that still know that “Dad is busy in April”.

• 

  Michael Larocque
  

  Michael Larocque

  Knob Noster, Mike is an U.S. Air Force and Civil Service Retiree. His beekeeping journey started 14 years ago when Mike found a wild hive that had taken up residence in a stack of pallets on their newly purchased property. Since then, Mike has been trapping and selective breeding feral survivors.

• 

  Cathy Misko
  

  Cathy Misko

  Centerview, MO., Mama of 8 and known as the “Bee Lady” since 1989. Serving as Missouri State Beekeepers Assn., Legislative Liaison; Heartland Beekeeping Partnership, Founder; Past Pres. of Midwestern Beekeepers, and currently JoCoMoBA, President, Cathy has a focus on genetics. She implements “as natural as possible” management with a commitment to IPM, averages 25 colonies, and has been chemical free for 15 years. Cathy is an Eastern Apicultural (EAS) Certified Master Beekeeper, teaches beekeeping to veterans for the national Camp Valor Outdoors apiary program, and Chairs the JCMBA Youth Scholarship Program. You can find Cathy digging in dirt, mentoring, teaching, sharing sweetness from Dancing Bees Ranch, and loving on her family, especially her hubby of 44 years and 12 grands!!

• 

  Mark Burr
  

  Mark Burr

  Centerview, MO., retired from the USAF in 2001 after 23 years of military service and retired from The Department of Homeland Security in 2024 after 20 years of civil service. Mark became interested in beekeeping in the spring of 2013 when his daughter received a colony and started keeping bees. In the fall of 2014, her hive died, and as a result, Mark decided to become a beekeeper to help her; it would be something that they could enjoy together. That winter Mark researched everything he could to learn about beekeeping and built a Long Langstroth hive. In the spring of 2015, they both installed packages, and from that point on, he was hooked. Mark is currently running 20 to 30 colonies which produces between 700 to 1200 lbs. of honey a year. He established Burrs Hilltop Bees in 2019 and is currently selling honey and other products of the hives. Mark is JoCoMoBA, Past President and current Webmaster and Membership Officers.