text:
multi-generation reproductive toxicity
based on test type (migrated information)
- Diet: during the first 8 weeks the rats were fed according to the pair-feeding technique, afterwards food was available ad libitum
- M/F ratio per cage: 1 / 1
- Length of cohabitation: 14 d
- Proof of pregnancy: no data
- Further matings after two unsuccessful attempts: yes
The doses were analytically verified at intervalls of six weeks.
The first two generations were treated lifelong, the 3rd generation for 16 weeks and the 4th generation until breeding.
During the first 8 weeks the rats were fed according to the pair-feeding technique, afterwards food was available ad libitum.
0, 0.5, 1 % (0, 250, 500 mg/kg bw)
- Time schedule for examinations: weekly during the first 8 weeks and at four weeks intervalls afterwards
- Performed on day 4 postpartum: no
The following parameters were examined in [F1 / F2 / F3] offspring: total number of offspring, % of surviving offspring
ORGAN WEIGHTS (PARENTAL ANIMALS)
An increased liver weigth was observed in females of the 3rd generation but, this increase was not treatment-related. Liver weigt increases were supposed to be caused by a weight increase during lactation and variation in litter sizes.
other: Intake of 150 mg (1%) of benzoic acid per day per rat and a bodyweight of 300 g per rat were assumed.
Publication includes a well documented study summary.
Short description of key information:
On the basis of the results of a chronic feeding study on rats the NOEL for benzoic acid was determined to be 500 mg/kg bw.
Justification for selection of Effect on fertility via oral route:
only one publication available
The available test data did not reveal a property of the test substance indicating toxicity to reproduction. On the basis of these data the substance is not considered to be classified for toxicity to reproduction under Directive 67/548/EEC (DSD) or under Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP).


text:
Latest updated 7/5 2019
CONTENTS IN THIS CHAPTER:
1 – CARL NIELSENS INSTRUMENTATION FOR BRASS INSTRUMENTS
2 – FEMALE BRASS PLAYERS ON POSTCARDS
3 – FEMALE BRASS PLAYERS IN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS
4 – WIND BANDS
5 – JOHN PHILIP SOUSA AND HIS FAMOUS SOLOISTS
6 – BRASS BANDS
7 – MARCHING BAND INSTRUMENTS
9 – POPULAR WIND BANDS AND BRASS BANDS
10 – CHAMBER MUSIC / BRASS ENSEMBLES/MIXED ENSEMBLES
THE 20′ CENTURY II (1900 – )
1. CARL NIELSENS INSTRUMENTATION FOR BRASS INSTRUMENTS
Fig.1 CARL NIELSEN (1865-1931)
Carl Nielsen's 1st symphony is very "classical", almost like the orchestral music of Johan Svendsen or Antonin Dvorak. But from his symphony no. 2 Carl Nielsen uses the brass instruments more exposed. In his younger years Nielsen played signal horn and alto trombone (with valves) in a military orchestra in Odense and it could well be that he got his inspiration from that period – he knew the brass sound and dynamics very well. He got lots of criticism for his instrumentation and the fact that the orchestral sound was far too heavy with too much brass. The problem is the same as with Verdi, (see Romanticism II): The brass instruments at the time of Carl Nielsen sounded soft and it was impossible to play as loud as you hear today in the film music of our time – the trombone parts was played on rather mellow sounding valve trombones). You can hear it, when people are playing on old brass instruments from the time of Nielsen – they sound softer than and not as brilliant as the brass instruments of our time. It is a paradox that the instrumentation of Carl Nielsen now has become a part of his "brand", and to day his works are being played with a brilliance he himself never has heard.
Opposite is the problem with the orchestral music of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. (1865-1957). Not because of the instruments, they were the same that Nielsen wrote for, but because the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra had real few string players, and that is why Sibelius often wrote soft dynamics for the brass instruments. You can play the brass parts louder than it is written.
Fig.2 FROM CARL NIELSEN'S SYMPHONY NO. 4 – THE INEXTINGUISHABLE
2. FEMALE BRASS PLAYERS ON POSTCARDS
Traditionally there have almost always only been male brass players. For a very long time it was forbidden for females to play in the military orchestras as well as in the symphony orchestras. From the middle of the 19th century there came a lot of female amateur brass players, but first after 2000 they came into the professional symphony orchestras, military orchestras and Big Bands. But in the years before and after 1900 there were a lot of female brass players, who performed in cabarets, variety shows, music halls and theatres. They are remembered by lots of pictures and photos that are used for postcards and posters.
FEMALE BRASS PLAYERS FORM ABOUT 1900.
fig.3 THE JANIETZ ELIE DAMEN BLAS ORCHESTER, postcard from march 1912. Even coming from Germany they performed dressed as Scottish ladies.
Fig.4 ODA RUDOLPH a photo from 1898, Missouri, USA by Mr. BIGELOW, presented as Flash-Light Expert and General Photographer
fig.5 Cornet player NETTIE from Chicago, photo from the beginning of the 20th century.
Fig.6 YOUNG LADY PLAYING THE TROMPE DE CHASSE, POSTCARD FROM 1905. This instrument is the authentic French horn and the ancestor of the modern orchestral horn. It is played outdoors as the signaling component of the Hunt, an equestrian tradition that goes back to the 17th century and the time of Louis XV (look under BAROQUE)
Fig.7 KÖNIGS CORNET a PISTON-TRIO, Charlotte, Magarete and Melani. Postcard from 1915
Fig.8 FEMALE TROMBONE PLAYER ON A PEDESTAL, PHOTO FROM THE "THE APEDA STUDIOS" in NEW YORK in 1915-1925. You find the girl on other postcards as well, an she could well be a model, and not a musician.
Fig.9 FEMALE FANFARE WIND PLAYERS IN THE LADIES TRUMPET CORPS "THURINGIA" HEIDELBERG.
Fig.10 THE LADIES BAND, MUASTON, WISCONSIN, USA 1888
3. FEMALE BRASS PLAYERS IN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS
To be a professional brass player in a symphony orchestra were for a long time a 100% male profession. Today there is many female brass players but the ice was broken by a handful of players:
HELEN ANNE KOTAS HIRSCH (1916-2000) was principal horn in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1941-1948). She was a pioneer and the first female to secure such a position—in fact, the first woman to be hired as principal of any section, except harp—in a major U.S. orchestra. She was also an accomplished horn soloist and an outstanding teacher.
Fig.11 HELEN KOTAS surrounded by the rest of the Chicago Symphony horn section in October 1941: Max Pottag, Frank Erickson, Joseph Mourek, and William Verschoor
MAISIE RINGHAM WIGGINS 1924-2016, England, began playing trombone at the age of 10, under the guidance of her father and she soon became known as "The Wonder Girl Trombonist" for her remarkable performances in Salvation Army Brass band concerts. She was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Manchester College of Music and following her studies, successfully auditioned to become principal trombone of the BBC Midlands Light Orchestra. Just over a year later she was invited by personal telegram by Sir John Barbirolli to join the Halle Orchestra and from 1946 to 1956 she was principal trombone of the Halle Orchestra, an era when women were seldom seen in brass sections. After leaving Barbirolli's orchestra to raise a family, she continued playing and teaching into her 90s, receiving the MBE from the Queen for her services to music.
Fig.12 MAISIE RINGHAM features on the souvenir brochure to celebrate the Halle orchestra's 1948 tour to Austria.
LIVIA GOLANCZ (1921-2018) bought her first French horn for £5 at the age of 15, and at 16 was accepted at the Royal College of Music to study horn and viola. The second world war created opportunities for female musicians and she joined the London Symphony Orchestra straight out of college in 1940. When Barbirolli became conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in 1943, he chose Livia as principal horn. She admired his insistence that female musicians should be treated on their musical merits. She then joined the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (1943–45), and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (1945-46). Returning to London in 1947, Livia was appointed principal horn at Covent Garden, where she had her first experience of chauvinism. Karl Rankl, then its musical director, who was known for his resistance to female musicians, refused to work with her. Later she worked at Sadler's Wells Opera (1950-53).
Fig.13 LIVIA GOLANCZ
JULIE LANSMAN (1953- ) won the 1985 audition – behind a screen – for principal horn player at the Metropolitan Opera. She is world renowned as a master teacher and holds faculty positions at The Julliard School of music and the Bard college Conservatory and teaches as a guest at the Curtis Institute. About being the first woman in the Metropolitan horn section Julie says: Since that time, four more women have joined the Met Orchestra horn section. The Met horn women are all former students of mine! I am optimistic about women in the brass world continuing to win auditions with great orchestras!
Fig.14 JULIE LANSMAN
MARIE SPEZIALE, USA, who lives in Clifton, became the first female trumpet player in a major orchestra when she joined the Cincinnati Symphony in 1964. She retired in 1996 after 32 years with the orchestra. But she is still active performing and doing master classes in Europe, Japan and throughout the United States.
Fig.15 MARIE SPEZIALE
SUSAN SLAUGHTER joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1969 and four years later became the first woman to be named principal trumpet of a major symphony orchestra. She stayed in the orchestra for 30years until 2010. Slaughter has founded Trumpet Lab, a week-long workshop designed to give young musicians the opportunity to study orchestral literature with a professional musician. She is also the founder of the annual International Womens Brass Conference, an organization dedicated to providing opportunities and recognition for women brass musicians.
Fig.16 SUSAN SLAUGHTER & THE INTERNATIONAL WOMANS BRASS LOGO
4. WIND BANDS
Fig.17 MARINE BAND WATERBURY 1910, ITALY
The best-known wind-orchestra strength is that of the Wind Band. It has woodwind as well as brass and percussion of course. During the years there have been several kinds of strengths: The English Brass and Reed band is almost a Brass band with only a few high woodwind players, the English Military Band is a relatively small Harmony of only about 25 members, the Dutch Fanfare Band exists of brass players with a flugelhorn at the top and a complete group of saxophone players, but without flutes and clarinets. In the south of Europe, you find some really big orchestras, as the Republic Garde in Paris: Garde Republicaine, a band with 80 musicians, and the Police orchestra in Rome: Banda del Carabinieri with 103 musicians. Here the strength exist, beside the standard strength, of alto horn, Bb- and Eb flugelhorn, tenor horn (baritone) cimbasso, string double bass, harp, piano and more.
Fig.18 GARDE REPUBLICAINE BAND, PARIS, exists of 80 musicians. The band had many prominent brass players amongst their members. One of the classics in the repertoire of brass chamber music: Eugene Bozza's "sonatine for brass quintet" was written in 1951 for the a quintet of this band.
Fig.19 THE MOUNTED FANFARE BAND SECTION of the FRENCH REPUBLICAN BAND in dismounted formation during a concert.
Fig.19 BANDA DEL CARABINIERI, ROME, exists of 95 musicians. At the right, you see a "Cimbasso", an instrument that is seldom used in a wind orchestra.
The type of harmony orchestra that is most common is the American inspired Concert Band. The repertoire is versatile, with arrangements of classical music, jazz and entertainment music and pop music, and original compositions. There can be many different instruments, as double bass, harp, piano, and cello and more, which makes it possible to show big contrasts, from soft chamber music to big orchestral tutti. When you look at the score of a Concert Band, you will find the high parts in the woodwind section while most of the lower parts are in the brass section. The brass section exists of:
4 trumpets (in older times there were special parts for cornets, like 2 trumpet and 2 cornets)
2 tenor trombones and a bass trombone
A part for a euphonium – that can be double (there has been parts for baritone/tenor horn)
A part for the tuba, often written in octaves or divisi, to be played by 2 – 4 tuba players.
There has also been written a long range of original pieces for the Harmony Orchestra: Rimsky Korsakov (1844-1908), Gustav Holst (1874-1934) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1857-1934), Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and Percy Grainger (1882-1961). Recently Johan de Meij (1953- ), Holland, has written some prominent works, solo concerts and symphonies, with an instrumentation that is full of fantasy, and therewith widened the knowledge and the popularity of the Concert Band.
Fig.20 RØDOVRE CONCERT BAND, Denmark
5. JOHN PHILIP SOUSA BAND HIS AND FAMOUS SOLOISTS
Fig.21 SOUSA BAND
One of the most remarkable wind orchestras ever was the American John Philip Sousa's (1854-1934) Band. Originally, he was a violinist but he became leader of a wind orchestra and a composer, especially of marches. He became known as the King of the Marches, and during his career, he wrote more than a 100, amongst them "The Stars and Stripes Forever" that became the American National March. He wrote 10 operas as well, but he is not known for that.
Fig.22 SOUSA ON A STAMP, 1940
Fig.23 SOUSA THE CONDUCTOR
Fig.24 THE UNITED STATES MARINE BAND, photo 1864. The band was established by act of congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States. The relationship between the Marine Band and the White house began on New Year's Day 1801, when President John Adams invited the band to perform at the Executive Mansion. The same year President Thomas Jefferson gave the band the title "The President's Own". Sousa was leader of the band from 1880 to 1892.
Sousa conducted the 'United States Marine Band' in Washington 1880-1992, but after that he started his own band. He had a real crowd of star soloists and he himself was a good conductor (in the opinion of the tuba player William Bell Sousa was the best conductor he ever had). Sousa's ambition was to create an orchestra that was as good as a symphony orchestra, and he succeeded, he got all his wishes fulfilled. His orchestra became world famous and he himself too.
Fig.25 PAINTING OF SOUSA – UNKNOWN ARTIST
The Sousa Band was on various European tours and in 1910-1911, he toured all around the world. When Sousa was in Berlin in 1900, R. Strauss was present at the rehearsals and the performance, and you can imagine that Strauss got many ideas from the splendid musicians. Under the 1st world war, Sousa was a real patriot as he volunteered at an age of 60, and he became the manager of the many music corpses in the marine. He asked though that his salary would not be more than 1 dollar a month. When Sousa stopped with his Band in 1931, he had played 15.623 concerts.
Fig.26 JOHN PHILIP SOUSA and the SOUSAPHONE. J. P. Sousa's name not only was the name of his orchestra, but also the name of an instrument, a special tuba that was named after him. In 1893 orchestra he conducted a Marine orchestra that had Helicons, but in his opinion the sound was too thin and direct, and he got build an instrument that had a bigger bell which was bend upwards, it got the nickname: "the rain catcher". However, the sound went upwards as well, and disappeared. Therefore, Sousa had the bell bend forwards. From left to right: J.P. Sousa, the rain catcher and a "nymph" with a sousaphone.
Fig.27 SOUSAS TUBA/SOUSAPHONE SECTION. TO THE RIGHT: 2 BIG BB-SOUSAPHONES MODEL CONN 48K JUMBO
Fig.28 A SOUSAPHONE SIDE BY SIDE WITH 2 TUBAS, in the bass section of the Cedar Falls Band , Iowa USA in 1902.
The size and shape of the sousaphone has continued to make it a favorite object of cartoons and jokes. Here at the front of an American magazine for teenagers from 1947:
Part of Sousa's succes were the prominent soloists who often played virtuous and incredible variations on simple but ear catching melodies.
Fig.29 HERBERT CLARKE (1867-1945) was known for his virtuous and expressive cornet playing. He was a composer, he wrote etudes and had been trumpet player in the New York Philharmonic and at the Metropolitan Opera, but he loved the cornet far more than the trumpet. In a letter from 31 January 1921 to a young man, who sought his advice to change to the trumpet instead of the cornet he wrote: "Replying to yours of the 19th just received, would not advise you to change from cornet to trumpet, as the latter instrument is only a foreign fad for the time present, and is only used properly in large orchestra of 60 or more, for dynamic effects, and was never intended as a solo instrument. I never heard a real soloist playing before the public on a trumpet. One cannot play a decant song even, properly, on it, and it has sprung up in the last few years like "jazz" music, which is the nearest Hell, or the devil, in music".
Fig.30 ELDEN BENGE – was the young man. We do not know whether he took Clarke's warning about jazz to heart, but he ignored the great man's contempt for the trumpet. From 1928 to 1933, he was principal trumpet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and then accepted the same position with the Chicago Symphony. In Chicago, he began designing a new trumpet for his own use. By 1937, he was making trumpets at home and selling them. Two years later, he formed the Benge Company and continued to make and sell trumpets after he moved to California in 1953. He did little advertising; his trumpets sold through word of mouth among professionals about the quality of the Benge trumpets made in Burbank. After Benge died in 1960, the Conn-Selmer company made Benge trumpets for a time, but production of most models dwindled, then ceased in 2005.
As mentioned in ROMANTICISM II Patrick Gilmore had 2 competing cornet-soloists. Also Sousa had 2 famous conet-soloists: Herbert Clarcke and:
Fig.31 HERMANN BELLSTEDT (1858 – 1926) who played in Sousas band 1904 – 1906. Later he conducted his own band and served as Professor of Wind Instruments at the Cincinnati Conservatory. Bellstedt composed for band, orchestra, piano, violin, and cornet. His most famous piece is the cornet solo NAPOLI – variations on the Neapolitan tune Funniculi-Funnicula.
Fig.32 ARTHUR PRYOR (1870-1942) invented a technique that made it possible to play as virtuous on the slide-trombone, as on the valve-trombone. His technique was outstanding and besides, he made his compositions to be "right" for the trombone – you can hear that in his most well know solo: Variations on the melody "The Blue Bells of Scotland". Pryor became famous and a feteret musician. One time, when the audience called: "Pryor-Pryor" , it was heard like "fire-fire" and the concert was stopped by the lokal fire brigade. At a performance in Leipzig before an audience estimated at 25000, Pryor received a tremendous ovation. At the intermission, members of the Gewandhouse Symphony Orchestra came to stage to disassemble his trombone and inspect it, questioning how anyone could achieve technique on the trombone as Pryor's without the benefit of some mechanical "yankee trick" aid. Through 12 years, Pryor performed about 10,000 times, at least twice a day, all week trough, from the age of 22, until he became 35.
Fig.33 SIMONE MANTIA (1873-1951) was born in Palermo, Italy, and began playing the alto horn at age 9. In 1890, the Mantia family immigrated to New York City where he soon began playing professionally in orchestras on trombone and in bands on both trombone and euphonium. In 1896 he joined John Philip Sousa's Band as the euphonium soloist, and by 1900 had become known as the "best euphonium player in the world" when he toured Europe with the Band. On trombone he performed with many orchestras, in Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 35 years. Here Mantia worked under the baton of the legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini. The trombone section complained that the parts for the Verdi-operas were so difficult that they could only be played on valve trombone (As they were actually meant for), but the argument was quickly settled when Toscanini asked the very able Mantia to demonstrate these parts on his slide trombone. Later, Mantia moved on to conduct his own ensemble, the Arcade Orchestra. Mantia recognized the need to expand the euphonium repertoire and arranged and composed many solo pieces.
6. THE GOLDMAN BAND
Just at Sousa's time the Harmony Orchestra movement reached its top in USA with about 10.000 orchestras in 1890 – later a bit less. A later Faymos band was THE GOLDMAN BAND. It was established 1918 by Edwin Franko Goldman (1878-1956). His son Richard Franko Goldman conducted the band from 1956 – 1979. The Goldman Band gave the first complete performance of Percy Grainger's LINCOLNSHIRE POSY 1937, Darius Milhauds Suite Francais 1945 and Arnold Schoenbergs Theme and Variations op.43 1946. Hector berlioz's Grande symphonie funebre et triomphale was given its first performance in USA by the Goldmann Band 1947
Fig.34 THE GOLDMAN BAND – PHOTO 1939
7. MARCHING BAND INSTRUMENTS
A special kind of performance is seen today in the American High School and University wind bands. They play in colourfull uniforms and with a special choreografy at sport events. For this purpose some special "marching" versions of the low brass instruments have been designed, to be hold as a trumpet, or to carry on the shoulder.
Fig.35 MARCHING MELLOFON (alto horn), MARCHING FRENCH HORN (valdhorn,
Fig.36 MARCHING EUPHONIUMS
fig.37 MARCHING TUBAS
Fig.9 "MASSED BAND". Really big wind orchestras can be seen when several orchestras play together. Here are several Russian military orchestras put together to form a gigantic harmony orchestra.
8. BRASS BANDS
Fig.38 HINSDALE BRASS BAND, ENGLAND c. 1910
The Brass Band movement speeded through the 20th century. It is still the competition element that bears the Brass Band atmosphere, and from being a British phenomenon there now are competitions in other countries, as well as European and World competitions. Over time, composers and arrangers also begins to write more differentiated for the Brass band's instruments. From arranging the way that relatively few voices had everything that was important, the substance is now distributed more on all the instruments.
Fig.39 THE INSTRUMENTS IN A BRASS BAND. Apart from two tenor trombones, a bass trombone and percussion, all other instruments are almost one big saxhorn family:
One soprano Eb-cornet
Nine Bb-cornets. Front row: one principal cornet, three solo cornets. Back row: one repiano cornet, two 2nd cornets, two 3rd cornets
One flugelhorn (B♭)
Three tenor horns (E♭; called alto horn in almost all other countries) – solo, 1st, 2nd
Two baritone horns (B♭) – 1st, 2nd
Two euphoniums (B♭)
Two E♭ basses, also known as E♭ tubas, notated in treble clef
Moreover, two BB♭ basses, also known as B♭ tubas, notated in treble clef
At first, the Brass Bands only played arrangements, but already from the beginning of the 20th century, pieces have been written to form an original Brass Band repertoire. At first it were the "Great" English composers , such as Edward Elgar (1857-1934), Gustav Holst (1874-1934) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1857-1934) who wrote original pieces, that nowadays can be seen as "classics". Since then, a load of pieces are written for the many competitions, music that is a real technical challenge, and difficult to play.
Traditionally Brass Bands played with a steady, quick and heavy vibrato, what some people would call "A Unique singing quality" – others would call it vulgar and without taste. In the score to the Overture for Brass Band "Henrik V", the composer Vaughan Williams writes: The composer wishes that trumpets should be used instead of cornets and that 'the vulgar sentimental vibrato that disfigures most brass band performances should be strictly avoided'. Today the vibrato is moderate and the way the players of modern Brass Bands perform is rather "normal".
The use of vibrato in brass bands is a very discussed subject. Traditionally Brass Bands played with a steady, quick and heavy vibrato, what some people would call "A Unique singing quality" – others would call it vulgar and without taste. Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham (1879 – 1961) conducted symphony orchestras, but was disparaging of other ensembles: "Brass bands are all very well in their place – outdoors and several miles away." In the score to the Overture for Brass Band "Henrik V", the composer Vaughan Williams writes: The composer wishes that trumpets should be used instead of cornets and that 'the vulgar sentimental vibrato that disfigures most brass band performances should be strictly avoided'. Today the vibrato is moderate and the way the players of modern Brass Bands perform is rather "normal".
Fig.40 ROBERT CHILDS. The British euphonium player, conductor and Director of Brass Band Studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Robert Childs writes about vibrato in brass bands: In my opinion playing with vibrato in brass bands comes from the days when we used to play symphonic arrangements. Arrangers of the day gave the euphonium cello and bassoon parts, cornets often played violin or high wind parts, and various instruments in the band would play the vocal solos in the operatic arrangements. The brass band basically played more en the style of a chamber orchestra then a modern brass ensemble – this included vibrato. However during my time in the brass band movement I've noticed a change in attitudes to vibrato. The professional brass players (conservatoire trained) returning to the movement have an added colour in their sound field. These men have taught us there is more to tone colour than just playing with the same vibrato all the times.
Fig.41 BLACK DIKE MILLS BAND with conductor Nicholas Childs (brother to Robert Childs) . Perhaps the most famous of the bands was formed 1855 in the village of Queensbury in Yorkshire. John Foster, an amateur French horn player in the early part of the century, established a cotton mill on a stretch of land known as "Black Dyke". He organised a brass band with what little was left of a village band, and provided instruments, a practice room, and uniforms, known as the Black Dyke Mills Band. Foster could never have imagined that one day his band would be more famous than the textiles manufactured in his mill. The band has won many prizes and competitions over the years. In 2014, the band won the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain for a record 23rd time, and the British Open Championship for another record 30th time. They have also won the European Championships a record thirteen times, most recently in 2015. Black Dyke Band has made over 350 recordings, including one of the first brass band recordings in 1904. Even not being military orchestras, the English Brass Bands always wear uniforms.
Fig.42 BRASS BAND SOLISTS. The best-known Brass Band musicians are soloists. They started as members of the best Brass Bands and became fulltime virtuoso. As Brass Bands are so popular, their soloists have become idols. Above two cornetists, left: Roger Webster, right: Richard Marshall (principal cornet in Black Dyke Mills Band). Below two euphonium players, left: Steven Mead, right: David Childs. Brass Band musicians are in principle amateur musicians and perform officially without fee, but soloists as these four have professional jobs as well, especially as teachers, but also as musicians in other orchestras apart from Brass Bands.
9. POPULAR WIND BANDS AND BRASS BANDS
The idea of giving marching wind bands or brass bands uniform on has hit all over the world. They are often locally dressed in national or locally colorful costumes, but the use (more or less) of international standard-instruments is worldwide:
Fig.43 TYROL
Fig.44 CANADA
Fig.45 AFRICA
Fig.46 INDIA
Fig.47 SCOTLAND
Fig.48 Easter procession in SPAIN
Fig.49 PHILIPPINES
Fig.50 FRANCE
Fig.51 JAPAN
Fig.52 BRAZIL
Fig.53 ITALY
Fig.54 SERBIA
Fig.55 ENGLAND
Fig.56 RUSSIA
Fig.57 And finally an anachronism: ALPINE HORNS DESIGNED LIKE "STANDARD" BRASS INSTRUMENTS.
The mountain village of Baade, Austria, hosted the annual FESTIVAL OF ALP HORNS. This ancient musical instrument is a symbol of the region – performed on during weddings, festivals, battles, funerals.
10. CHAMBER MUSIC / BRASS ENSEMBLES/MIXED ENSEMBLES
Before and after the change to the 20th century there have been written chamber music for different strengths accompanied with brass wind instruments. The Wald horn is a part of the wind quintet, and there are other well-known pieces like Stravinsky's "History of a Soldier", with trumpet and trombone, his Octet for wind players with two trumpets and two trombones, and The Sonata for trumpet, horn and trombone by Francis Poulenc (1899-1960).
The wind quintet is a standard combination af instruments consisting of 4 woodwind players and one brass player, namely: Flute, Obo, Clarinet, Fagot – AND HORN. A large number of original works have been written for wind quintet all the way from the 18th century to the present.
Fig.58 BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WIND QUINTET. Hornplayer is Fergus McWilliam.
The biggest break-through for brass chamber music came in the 1960ies, with the 2 ensembles: The New York Brass Quintet and The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, England, and the brass ensembles got a big boom. The best-known strength for a brass ensemble is the brass quintet, with two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba. Already from the start, the repertoire existed of:
1 – MUSIC FROM THE RENAISSANCE AND THE EARLY BAROQUE. The brass quintet does not sound like the music of Mozart or Brahms, and the old music sounded somewhat authentic. However, it is not, the full sound of the tuba is not like the sound of the old bass trombone or the lighter sound of the Serpent, but the repertoire was perfect and the effect tremendous. The brass quintet promoted in a way the playing of the old music – later even on original instruments like the cornetto and the sackbutt.
2 – THE FEW ORIGINAL PIECES FROM ROMANTICISM. This repertoire played an important part in the acceptance of the brass ensemble as a chamber music ensemble.
3 – A RANGE OF ARRANGEMNETS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC, JAZZ and POPMUSIC – not just "chamber music" as it was known, but it became important in the establishment of brass ensembles.
4 – NEW ORIGINAL CHAMBER MUSIC. Like with the old music, the brass sound was something rather new, and free from traditions. So lots of new chamber music is written for brass ensembles. Some of the best known, and nowadays almost classic original brass quintets, are the Sonatine by the Frenchman Eugene Bozza (1805-1991) and the Quintet op.73 by the Englishman Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006).
Fig.59 "EARLY" BRASS QUINTET FROM FROM AROUND 1900. Walter Bowman Rogers, ( 1865- ) – was a key figure of the phonograph industry for three decades, first as a featured cornet player on records and then as a music director for companies, the two most important being the Victor Talking Machine Company and Brunswick. Here he is performing (no. 2 from right) with a brass quintet.
Fig.60 BRANDON HIGH SCHOOL BRASS QUINTET, OHIO, USA 1910
Fig.61 BRASS QUINTET OF THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. Back row from left: bagerst Frank Crisafully – trombone, Arnold Jacobs – tuba, front row: Adolph Herseth – trumpet, Hugh Cowden – horn and Reinold Schilke (who later founded his instrument- and mouthpiece firm) – trumpet (der senere skabte sit instrument- og mundstykke firma). This ensemble was a pioneer for brass chamber music; they were playing from the beginning of the 1950ies, and had their jobs in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well.
Fig.62 ROBERT NAGEL (1924 –2016) was an American trumpet player, composer, and teacher. He was an early advocate for brass chamber music, and the founder and director of the NEW YORK BRASS QUINTET. He served as a faculty member of the Yale School of Music from 1957 – 1988 and was a founding member of the International Trumpet Guild.
The New York Brass quintet was founded in 1954, and it became one of the pioneer ensembles for "brass chamber music". Its first performance was in October of that year at the Carnegie Recital Hall (later Weill Recital Hall). Initially formed to play children's concerts in cooperation with Young Audiences, Inc., the ensemble soon became recognized as the finest brass quintets in the United States and would eventually enjoy residencies at the Hartt School, the Yale School of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. Quintet members were busy as freelancers, but they were very dedicated about the quintet and prioritized it so high that they always completed their rehearsals even if only 3 of the members were present! The quintet performed music from all style periods, they commissioned Vagn Holmboe's Brass Quintet no. 1 and Malcolm Arnold's Brass Quintet and premiered numerous other works. Robert Nagel has chronicled some 1,000 works written for the NYBQ since the Bozza Sonatine was premiered in August 1954. of Eugene Bozza's Sonatine and Alvin Etler's Quintet for Brass Instruments received critical acclaim, and their LP Baroque Brass became listener favorite. Far from the popular element that later became famous among brass ensembles, they were very serious and with elegance they helped to put the brass quintet in "the good chamber music environment".
Fig.63 THE NEW YORK BRASS QUINTET, established in 1954. This photo was taken by a reunion concert in 1986 at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. From left to right: John Swallow – trombone, Alan dean – trumpet, Harvey Phillips – tuba, Paul Ingraham – horn, Robert Nagel – trumpet.
Fig.64 THE PHILIP JONES' BRASS ENSEMBLE. THE CLASSIC QUINTET, 1975. From left to right: John Iveson – trombone, Ifor James – horn, John Fletcher – tuba, Philip Jones – trumpet, Elgar Howarth – trumpet. The ensemble was founded in 1951 by the trumpet player Philip Jones (1928-2000). The repertoire was a mixture of: Renaissance and Baroque, the few original pieces for brass chamber ensemble from Romanticism and New music and Popular music. A mixture of old sacral, cheerful and popular music.
Fig.65 Philip Jones (1928-2000) was born in Bath, England, and brought up in a London family of trumpeters. Philip won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music and became a trumpet player himself. During the next 25 years, he held the position of principal trumpet in six London orchestras, included appointments with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1956-1960), Philharmonia Orchestra (1960-1964), London Philharmonic Orchestra(1964-1965), New Philharmonia Orchestra (1965-1967), and BBC Symphony Orchestra (1960-1971).
In 1947, Philip Jones heard a performance of brass chamber music, rare at that time, by four players from the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which started him on the path he followed until retirement in 1986. In 1951 he made the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, in the beginning a quartet already with its first piece of specially commissioned music. At this time, a group of brass instruments, no matter how distinguished its members, was still seen as a "brass band", mostly to be considered for brass band contests, open-air music, or ceremonial performances. He had special ideas about a brass ensemble performing chamber music and begun over the years to acquire new repertory, promote his own concerts, seek out engagements and refine the group's performances. In the end the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble was playing the same venues, and receiving the same critical attention, as the finest string quartets. With his ensemble, he made more than 50 recordings and gave 87 world premieres. It achieved unprecedented popularity, performing nearly 100 engagements a year in the 1980s across Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia. He had 71 works written especially for him. Otherwise the repertoire consisted of renaissance music, baroque music, the few original pieces from Romanticism and original music. He was not drawn by instinct to the avant-garde, unless the music was carefully and idiomatically written for the instruments. The members of the ensemble also showed a special British sense of humor in their light music encore pieces. When the ensemble stopped, P. Jones felt the pressure from two sides: The ensembles that played the old music on original instruments, natural trumpets, cornettos and Sagbutts, (Fig. 21), and from the ensembles that had their focus on the popular music, like "Canadian Brass" (Fig. 22 ).
Fig.66 PHILIP JONES 10 PIECE ENSEMBLE. The ensemble started as a quartet, became a quintet, but had different strengths in between; especially the 10-man strength was very popular. From left to right: John Pigneguy, Michael Laird, David Purser, Raymond Premru, James Watson, John Fletcher, Roger Brenner, Denis Wick, Paul Archibald and Philip Jones.
Fig.67 QUINTETTE DE CUIVRES "ARS NOVA" – PHOTO CA. 1970.
A French brass quintet founded 1964 by horn player George Barboteu (1924 – 2006). Other members are: Trumpet – Bernard Jeannoutot and Marcel Lagore, trombone – Camille Verdier, tuba – Elie Raynaud.
Fig.68 EMPIRE BRASS, another full time brass quintet, founded in 1972 by the trumpet player ROLF SMEDEVIG, 1953-2015 (middle back). With a broad repertoire and playing at the highest level, Empire Brass got lots of success. The ensemble still exists after the death of R. Smedevig.
Fig.69 THE BERLIN PHILHARMONIC BRASS, one of the longest standing ensembles to have emerged from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, was founded in the 1950s and they bring the distinctive sound and tradition from their orchestra. From left to right: Tamás Velenczei, Gábor Tarkövi, Martin Kretzer, Guillaume Jehl, Georg Hilser, Sarah Wilis, Alexander von Puttkamer, Stefan Schultz, Thomas Leyendecker, Jesper Busk Sørensen, Olaf Ott, Christhard Gössling. They have a wide repertoire, with special arrangements for their strength, which is 12 musicians: five trumpets, one horn, five trombones and one tuba.
Fig.70 GERMAN BRASS was founded in 1974. All members have other jobs as orchestral musician or teacher in different places in Germany. When they perform, they meet at the concert place, where they rehearse as well. German Brass exists: four trumpets, two horn, three trombones, tuba and percussion.
Fig.71 CANADIAN BRASS, FOUNDED 1970: Ronald Romm and Fred Mills – trumpet, Graeme Page – horn, Eugene Watts – trombone and Charles Dallenbach tuba. The ensemble started as a chamber music group, but very soon, they found their own form with a repertoire that mostly exists of arrangements of all kind of music, from the Renaissance to Dixieland music and with funny introductions to the various numbers. As you can see on these various record covers, we have by far gone beyond the old music opinion of "chamber music". The ensemble was one of the first where the musicians were 100% ensemble-musician. "Canadian Brass" is identical with the special brass instrument's popular sound and they have performed and played all over the world with great success.
Fig.72 MNOZIL BRASS was founded in 1993 and got an enormous success as a very special and unique entertaining Brass-ensemble. They took a step further than Canadian Brass and away from the "traditional" chamber music as such. They play everything by head and in every possible style with a bravura that has not seen anything like it. They are comedians as well as virtuosi when they with the trumpet player Thomas Gansh in the centre, have their performances speckled with crazy ideas and arrangements special written for them: three trumpets, three trombones and tuba.
Fig.73 AMERICAN BRASS QUINTET. From left to right: Kevin Cobb, Louis Hanzlik, Michael Powell, John D. Rojak, Eric Reed.
An ensemble with the completely opposite entrance to the repertoire than canadian Brass and Monzil Brass is the American Brass Quintet, established 1960. Committed to the promotion of original brass chamber music, both contemporary music and renaissance music written for the precursors of today's brass instruments. They play with a bass trombone on the 5. part instead of the traditional tuba.

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What to Remember When the Senators Vote
By Gilbert N. Kahn	November 28, 2017, 12:00 am Edit
Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of Political Science at Kean University.
Senator Paul Simon represented the people of Illinois in the U.S. House and Senate for 22 years. In addition to his congressional service Simon also made a failed run for President in 1988. While in Congress from 1975-1997, Simon's claim to fame besides his ubiquitous bowtie and horn-rimmed glasses was his high principles and personal integrity.
What is less remembered about Simon was that he was political scholar and professor despite the fact that he never received a university degree. Both as an office holder as well as a teacher, Simon often discussed why the greatest test for a politician was whether he understood that a Member of Congress needed to be able to vote his conscience even if it contradicted the wishes of his constituency or his party. This is what guided him throughout his career and this is the precise principle which many current Members of the Senate and the House do not seem to comprehend.
The President has boondoggled the Republican Congress into believing that they must pass a tax bill—any tax bill—before Christmas. Trump has convinced the Congress that there is no Republican alternative or other option. To begin the next session of Congress in January without any achievements to show for itself, will force Trump to place the onus of their failure solely on the doorsteps of Congress. They are the ones who will need to face the voters next November, not the President.
What Trump and the weak-kneed GOP Members fail to comprehend is that their tax bill is flawed and insufficiently prepared. There indeed may be many components in the bill which have merit, but the overall bill damages too many people, has not been properly debated in Congress, and must be slowly fleshed out, not rammed through. By contrast, the 1986 Reagan tax reform bill, which economists still blame for many of today's huge deficits, passed the Senate with wide, bi-partisan support after almost eleven months of consideration.
When John McCain returned to the Senate after his brain cancer surgery, he stated in his dramatic speech that it was time for the Congress to return to regular orders. Unfortunately, his call fell on deaf ears. The Congress appears now to be moving toward possibly passing a dramatic tax bill without having held formal hearings in either House, without a full bill mark-up, with the entire deal being cut behind closed doors, and with most of the Members only seeing the full bill just before voting. This process is the total antithesis of what McCain was urging when Congress considered the proposed "repeal and replace" of Obamacare. The results of Congress' failure last summer could well be repeated now.
Both Simon and McCain have crucial lessons to teach which no one in Congress appreciates. McCain may love his party but he loves his country more. McCain wants the legislative process to conduct business as it is supposed to do. Simon's lesson for Congress is that at the end of the day you will be judged by history not by how well you heeled to your party's wishes; but rather how well you acted to fix your nation's problems. Did you govern or were you a pawn that was used by your party for strictly partisan ends?
Kahntentions


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EAS 2017 Speakers (Partial List)
Vincent Aloyo - As an undergraduate at Cornell University, Vincent Aloyo was introduced to beekeeping by Prof. Roger Morse and has kept honeybees since that time, in New York, Tennessee, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, as well as in The Netherlands. He co-designed and taught a beekeeping short course as a member of the Memphis, TN Beekeeping Club, and has served as an apiary inspector in both Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Currently, he teaches undergraduate beekeeping courses at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA, and at Temple University, Ambler, PA. He also teaches continuing education beekeeping courses (Introductory Beekeeping, Queen Rearing, etc.) at both schools. In addition, Vince has a long-standing involvement with apiculture education at some local schools and has been an invited speaker at beekeeping clubs, nature centers and civic groups. Vince is a member of the Montgomery County Beekeepers' Club, the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers' Association and a life member and Master Beekeeper of the Eastern Apicultural Society.
Joe Alvarez - is the Chair of the Meadow Project Committee for the New Jersey Beekeepers Association (NJBA). With over 38 years in the landscape and nursery industry, Joe's current research project is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant focused on the native beach plum (Prunus maritima) propagation as an added value crop. Joe is currently an Ag-Hort Program instructor for Cumberland County College and a former Master Gardener Instructor and Agricultural Program Assistant for the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County.
Jennifer Berry - For the past 17 years Jennifer Berry has been the Apicultural Research Professional and Lab Manager for the University of Georgia Honey Bee Program. Her research objectives have focused on keeping bees alive, the sub-lethal effects of pesticides on beneficial insects and IPM techniques for varroa and small hive beetle control. Jennifer's extension duties include teaching beekeeping to people from all walks of life, including those in Central and South America, to those imprisoned in Georgia's maximum security prisons. She is also passionate about educating the public about the importance of beneficial insects and is somewhat of a regular columnist for Bee Culture magazine. On weekends and nights she operates Honey Pond Farm, a honey bee venture that sells quality nucleus colonies and teaches how to raise superior queens at her farm in Georgia.
Rachael Bonoan is a Ph.D. Candidate who studies honey bee nutritional ecology in the Starks Lab at Tufts University. She is interested in how seasonal changes in the distribution and abundance of flowers (i.e. honey bee food!) affect honey bee health and behavior. Rachael is also the President of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association and enjoys communicating her research and the importance of pollinator health to scientists, beekeepers, garden clubs, and the general public.
Ann Breinig is a mixed media artist. She double majored in Spanish and art at Millersville University and, after graduating, became a Spanish teacher. Since she retired from teaching in 2009, she has dedicated herself to continuing her art and creating art fulltime. Her continuing art development includes seminars at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and workshops from professional artists that she admires. She has participated in 7 group shows in the Delaware Valley. She grew up in Lititz, Pa and has also lived in Valencia, Spain, and Denver, Colorado. She now resides in Dresher, Pa. Her paintings are primarily mixed media and encaustic, incorporating her art with her original photography, found papers and objects. These papers and objects come from a lifetime of collecting natural materials, as well as others items that she finds personally significant.
Denise Bridgens is a new beekeeper and President of the Lewes Beekeeping Club. This adventure began when Denise took a 5 week course in beekeeping at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute hosted by the University of Delaware during the winter of 2016 and became enamored with bees. Not finding an existing beekeeper to work with locally (for the sheer fun of it), she formed a club comprised of class members and neighbors. Together they purchased two hives and bees and along with their class instructor, started beekeeping at a local farm. Keeping the club going has been fun but challenging, working out investments, duties, schedules, insurance and legal issues, and pulling together a diverse group of people into a cohesive team. Denise has degrees from Rutgers and Drexel and runs a telecommunications company focused on teleconferencing, web conferencing, and custom collaboration services when not tending to her family, the club's bees, or her dogs. Denise is a member of the Delaware Beekeepers Association, the Eastern Apiculture Society and the American Beekeeping Federation.
Janet Brisson and her husband Mike have been a self-sufficient family and organic farmers for over 30 years. In 1995 they were forced to become hobbyist beekeepers due to lack of pollination as bees were losing their fight against the insidious Varroa mites. Horrified to discover that even the most organic-minded beekeepers were driven to use some type of chemical to save their bees, the Brisson's researched and started building and using screened bottom boards along with intensive drone brood management to reduce their chemical use. After 10 years and various adaptations of Screened Bottom Boards they re-discovered using powdered sugar as an effective way of detaching Varroa mites and have been chemical free since 2005. One final modification of their screened bottom board to make using powdered sugar easy, the Brisson's developed their product, the Country Rubes Combo Screened Bottom Board, that has become nationally available to beekeepers.
"Healthy Bees & Environmentally Friendly Varroa Control." Monitor and manage your hives, bees and varroa mites using screened bottom boards, powdered sugar, drone brood manipulations and Natural/Small Cell Foundation.
Jeff Burd has been a hobbyist beekeeper for nearly ten years. He is the immediate past president of EAS; the current First Vice President of the New Jersey Beekeepers Association and is in his second year as president of the Mercer County Board of Agriculture. Jeff became an EAS Master Beekeeper in 2015 at Guelph, Ontario.
Jeff grew up on his Grandfather's farm near Pennington, New Jersey. He was a member of his local 4-H Dairy Club and showed his Holstein cows at county, state and national events. Currently, Jeff teaches an Introduction to Beekeeping class at Mercer County Community College twice each year. Jeff was also an assistant Instructor for the Rutgers Bee-Ginner class.
Jeff credits his beekeeping accomplishments to the mentoring of Tim Schuler and Bob Hughes; and the help of many close friends and family.
David Burns - is a full-time beekeeper and owner of honeybeesonline.com (Long Lane Honey Bee Farms). He is an EAS certified master beekeeper (2010). In addition to being a queen producer and a package bee provider he also produces beekeeping podcasts and online lessons. He is also a vlogger on YouTube with over 1.5 million views on his beekeeping channel. He teaches beekeeping courses from his training center in central Illinois including his Beekeeping Institute. He also is the creator of the Winter-Bee-Kind, a winter feeding system.
A. Dean Burroughs - Certified Master Beekeeper, Maryland State Apiary Inspector (MD Dept. of Agriculture),Past President – Maryland State Beekeepers Association, Founder & Past President - Lower E. Shore Beekeepers Club, Third generation beekeeper, Has kept bees the past 32 years, BS Degree, U. of Tampa, 1963 – MA Degree Appalachian U., 1965, Retired (2003) after 31 years, as Associate Professor from Salisbury, University Department of Health and Sport Science
Dr Dewey M. Caron is Emeritus Professor of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, Univ of Delaware, & Affiliate Professor, Dept Horticulture Oregon State University. I spent 40+ years teaching, doing bee extension and bee research at Cornell (1967-70), University of MD (1970-1981) and University of DE (1981-2009). Since retirement I 2009, I spend 4-6 months each year in Bolivia where I keep Africanized bees, sometime on east coast giving bee schools and lectures and in Portland Oregon. I currently have 5 backyard colonies in Tigard OR where I resettled to be closer to 5 grandkids. My first EAS was 1967, have served as President, Director, Chairman of the Board, Chair of several Board committees and currently am Advisor for EAS Master Beekeeper program and helping organize SC and programs for 2016 (and 2017) EAS conferences.
Kimberly and Ben Carpenter own and operate Hungry Bear Farms based out of Canandaigua New York. Hungry Bear Farms is both a beekeeping supply business but also a small commercial beekeeping business, with a goal of hitting 500-600+ hives later this year. This past winter, they over wintered many colonies in both Florida and New York; where they keep their northern queen breeding stock. Ben is a board member of the Empire State Honey Producers Association. Kimberly is the secretary and Ben is the President of the Ontario Finger Lakes Beekeepers Association. Currently both are in the process of becoming EAS Master Beekeepers and hope to finish their certification this year, 2016.
DR Jeffrey Mark Cheskin - got his scientific training started in Rutgers University in New Brunswick NJ and recieved his BS in Microbiology with a minor in Biochemistry in 1986. He then went on to Chiropractic Medical School at National in Chicago and recieved his doctorate in 1990. He has been in private practice in Delaware since 1990 and has always had a serious interest in the natural sciences, in outdoor sports, and in the outdoors in general (being members of Greenways, the Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy).
Currently, Dr Cheskin and his partner Terri, run and produce all wines (and hard ciders) at Liquid Alchemy Beverages. They plan on making this a full-time job... along with the appreciation of the honey-base, as a raw product and it's value to our economy.
Katy Ciola - For the previous 9 year's Katy has worked in the field of apiculture. She received a Bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of Florida and worked for several years as a certified African Honey Bee Technician. She completed her Master's thesis in Entomology at the University of Delaware in 2015. Her thesis focused on developing sustainable beekeeping managerial methods to reduce Varroa mite populations. In 2015 she received a grant from the Eastern Apicultural Society and Virginia State Beekeepers Association to conduct a citizen science field project with small scale and hobbyist beekeepers throughout the mid-Atlantic to test the effects of splitting as an effective tool for Varroa mite control.
Christopher Cripps DVM - learned about bees when he completed the Boy Scout Merit Badge in Beekeeping on his way to Eagle Scout. While earning his BS at Cornell University, he took 3 beekeeping classes with laboratories. He worked as a bee inspector for Franklin and Delaware Counties in Ohio while in veterinary school at The OSU. After graduating in 1995, he moved to Greenwich, NY where he worked in Battenkill Veterinary Bovine as a food animal practitioner. He continued to keep bees, sell honey, and provide pollination while practicing. In 2012, Chris bought Betterbee with his partner from the veterinary practice. They soon brought in another veterinarian as a third partner. Betterbee sells beekeeping supplies, produces nucleus colonies and queen bees, and presents a number of classes to teach people about various aspects of beekeeping. Chris is the webmaster for the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium, a group dedicated to educating veterinarians about honey bees.
Don Coates, VM, a retired veterinarian beekeeper with 20 hives, is devoting study time and personal resources to explore the hidden world of beekeeping - anatomy, diagnostics and pollen. Introducing other beekeepers to the exciting, often basic, discoveries provided through microscopy has been a personally rewarding experience over the past three years. Don has accumulated a substantial number of pollen images for eventual publication. Monitoring Nosema and its enigmatic relationship to hive health has become a major focus. Searching for a clinical approach to evaluating colony health, he is developing a score sheet that applies number values to hive inspection elements. Using this protocol, he has organized a "field seminar" to dialogue with other beekeepers on this and other topics. Applying methods and concepts used in clinical practice of small animal medicine, he hopes to build on the existing knowledge base for evaluating hive health in order to improve survival rates. For more information see: www.citizensciencebeekeeping.com
Clarence H. Collison is an Emeritus Professor of Entomology and Emeritus Head of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Mississippi State University. Throughout his career he has taught beekeeping, trained graduate students, written numerous beekeeping publications and participated in many educational programs for the beekeeping community. He has served on the EAS Board of Directors several times and Chaired the EAS Master Beekeeper program from 1981-89 and 2000-2011. He writes the monthly column "A Closer Look" and prior to that "Do You Know?" for Bee Culture.
Lawrence Connor was born in Kalamazoo Michigan and earned his doctorate in honey-bee pollination of crops at Michigan State University. He has worked as Extension Bee Specialist at The Ohio State University, President of Genetic Systems, Inc. (which produced tens of thousands of instrumentally inseminated queens honey bees as well as the Starline and Midnite breeding stock), and now owns and operates Wicwas Press, specializing in publication of quality bee books. He relocated (from Connecticut) back to Michigan in April 2007 to continue growth of his publishing and writing activities. He has edited and published over two dozen books and recently written: Increase Essentials (2006), Bee Sex Essentials (2008), Queen Rearing Essentials, Bee-sentials: A Field Guide, Swarm Essentials (with Steve Repasky), Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping (with Dewey Caron), Increase Essentials Second Edition and Mating Biology of honey bees (with G. and N. Koeniger and J. Ellis).
Connor is a monthly contributor to The American Bee Journal and to Bee Culture Magazine. He travels extensively and lectures on a wide range of subjects concerning honey bees, bee breeding, pollination and colony management.
Deborah Delaney is an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware where she mentors graduate and undergraduate students working on various aspects of pollinator health and productivity. She teaches Insects and Society, Apiculture and Pollination Ecology. She has over 20 years of experience working with pollinators, specifically honey bees and maintains between 25-60 colonies in the teaching apiary at UD's Newark farm. Her research program has four main focal areas: 1) genetic identity and diversity of US honey bees 2) temporal stability of pollinator populations and 3) best management solutions for creating sustainable managed pollinator populations 4) pollinator nutrition and forage mapping.
Sam Droege grew up in Hyattsville, Maryland, received an undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland and a Master's at the State University of New York – Syracuse. Most of his career has been spent at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. He has coordinated the North American Breeding Bird Survey Program, developed the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, the Bioblitz, Cricket Crawl, and FrogwatchUSA programs and works on the design and evaluation of monitoring programs. Currently he is developing an inventory and monitoring program for native bees along with online identification guides for North American bees at www.discoverlife.org, and reviving the North American Bird Phenology Program (https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bpp/).
Michael S. Embrey has now retired from the University's department of Entomology but not from bees. Mike had worked with Dr. Galen Dively on projects looking into Imidicloprid sub-lethal interactions with bees and Small Hive beetle issues in the Mid-Atlantic area. Later, Mike trained for two years with Dr. Gordon Wordell, in Apiculture Extension and worked part time with a commercial beekeeper for the next three years. In 1996, Mike became program manager of the Eastern Shore Apiculture Program in Maryland where he continued his extension work, teaching beekeepers and working on developing IPM methods for bee pests. Mike is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium, the Maryland State Beekeepers Association, the American Beekeepers Association, and the Eastern Apiculture Society. Mike has written articles for the American Bee Journal and Bees for Development. He has presented articles at Apimondia in 1999, 2003 and '05 and was invited to be a guest lecturer at the University of Belgrade, Serbia in 2004 and at the University of Banja Luka in Bosnia, 2006. Mike has been doing honeybee consulting work internationally since 2001 for Winrock International and ACDI/VOCA in the European countries of Bulgaria (2001, '04) and Serbia (2004-2006), Russia (2002, 04), in Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan (2001-2003), Jordan (2014) and in the Southeast Asian countries of Bangladesh (2001-2016) and Nepal (2015) where he was doing volunteer consulting work to help beekeepers develop their own modern methods of beekeeping and hygienic production of honey and marketing. Mike was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award 6 times for his hours spent in international development programs.
Karla Eisen was inspired very early in her beekeeping endeavors by some very wise beekeepers and embraced their ideas of a sustainable apiary. She brought the concept to her local bee club, the Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association, envisioning a sustainable bee club whose members could produce enough quality nucleus colonies to supply bees to Bee School students and club members instead of importing packages from afar. Using a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant she directed as a catalyst, she led the efforts that transitioned her bee club to adopt more sustainable beekeeping practices and maintain a successful nuc program for many years. She teaches beginning beekeepers as part of the Northern Virginia Teaching Consortium; gives selected talks to existing beekeepers; was a leader in the team whose work resulted in more beekeeper friendly zoning laws in her county; and was thrilled to receive her EAS master beekeeper certificate in 2015 on the first try. With the help of her husband she runs a (very) small sideline operation in the outskirts of Northern Virginia and is frequently found hanging around honey shows at beekeeping meetings.
Jay Evans Since joining the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory as a Research Entomologist in 1998, Dr. Evans' 140 research publications have focused on threats to honey bee health, from bacteria to mites, and on the ways bees and beekeepers can reduce these threats. He was an early proponent of the Honey Bee Genome Project and helped recruit and lead scientists interested in applied genomics for bees. Current projects involve searching for novel parasite and pathogen controls, improving bee immunity, and reducing the combined impacts of pesticides and disease. He has received the James Hambleton Bee Research Award from the Eastern Apicultural Society (2011) and the BA Early Career Scientist Award (2002). He serves on the Council of Fellows for the International Bee Research Association, and is an editor for several scientific journals. He holds an AB in Biology from Princeton and a PhD in Biology from the University of Utah. He has served as Research Leader for the BRL since October, 2015.
Kim Flottum is a former EAS Director from both CT and OH and held the office of Chairman Of The Board of EAS for two terms. He also served as EAS President twice. He was President of The Ohio State Beekeepers Association for three terms and his local Medina County Beekeepers Association. Before moving to Ohio he conducted honey bee research for the USDA and worked in University Extension at the University of Wisconsin. He has been in charge of Bee Culture magazine for just over 30 years, and has been keeping bees for nearly 40. He's the author of, and has edited many books on bees and beekeeping at several levels. He lives near Cleveland Ohio with his wife Kathy, 15 chickens, lots of bees, a couple of cats and several pollinator and vegetable gardens out back.
Maryann Frazier received her B. S. in Agriculture Education from Penn State University in 1980. In 1983 she completed a Masters of Agriculture in Entomology, specializing in apiculture. She has worked as the assistant state apiary inspector in Maryland and for two years as a beekeeping specialist in Sudan and later in Central America. For the past 27 years she held the position of Senior Extension Associate in Penn State's Department of Entomology and had responsible for honey bee extension throughout the state and cooperatively across the Mid-Atlantic region. She has worked collaboratively with members of PSU's Center for Pollinator Research (CPR) to understand how pesticides impact honey bees and other pollinators. In addition she has worked with a team of CPR and Kenyan researchers to understand the impacts of newly introduced Varroa mites on East African honey bee subspecies and help Kenyan beekeepers become more productive. She has taught courses in beekeeping, general entomology and teacher education and has participated in the Entomology Department's innovative public outreach program. While Maryann retired in 2016, she continues to participate in applied research and extension in Pennsylvania and East Africa. But mostly she enjoys spending time on her Mount Union farm with husband Jim, dog Seeley and as many honey bee colonies as possible!
John A. Gaut grew up on a dairy farm in Southwestern Pennsylvania and began beekeeping when he was 9 years old. One hive quickly grew to 12 colonies. John earned the Boy Scout Beekeeping Merit Badge. Both milk and the honey were sold on the family farm, making Gautland "the land of milk and honey." John now works with the bees in Northern New Jersey, harvesting local honey and raising local queens.
Allen Hayes became an instant beekeeper in 1971 when a family friend gave him a colony of bees. They soon swarmed and freaked out not only his parents but also a not to friendly neighbor. Marriage and kids interrupted his beekeeping for a number of years but when he got back to it he quickly became Certifiably Bee Crazy. Always one to make or fix things, beekeeping fit in well with his mechanical ability. Known to many as "The Gadget Guy" he has created numerous unique items relating to beekeeping and he enjoys sharing those creations with others. Allen is probably best known in the Northeast for his talk "Gadgets You Could Keep Bees Without, But Won't Want To". He is an EAS certified Master Beekeeper who has taught beekeeping classes for over fourteen years. A lifelong resident of Central Maryland, he is an active member of two local bee clubs and is the President of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. He has also served on the EAS Board of Directors as the Director from Maryland.
Brielle Hermstedt is a Delaware resident and began beekeeping at the age of 13. Five years later, she continues to hold a passion for honeybees. Brielle has presented in Delaware and Maryland on a variety of topics including both biodynamic and basic beekeeping, honey extraction, and honeybee anatomy. In addition, she works with local schools giving lessons to classrooms of students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. Brielle is currently working toward finishing her high school and college education with the goal of becoming an Exotic Large Animal Veterinarian and Rehabilitator.
Earl Hoffman, with his wife Carol Hoffman, manage a 40 acre farm in SW Michigan. Earl & Carol have been beekeepers for over 25 years and normally run between 50-80 hives. Our business, Essential Honey Bees LLC, sells NUCS, raises buckfast queens from Canadian stock and pollinate organic vegetables. We are currently collaborating with microbiologists from lovely Milwaukee, WI. We have been performing field trials with bacteria, enzymes, yeast and fungi for over four years. Carol & I have been EAS Master Beekeepers since 2001.
Don Hopkins became interested in bees at the age of 5, when beekeeper Dave Pruden was also the bread delivery driver in his hometown. He didn't get a hive until he was nine or ten, but he has kept bees almost continuously since then. As a youth beekeeper in the Morris County (NJ) Beekeepers Association he was inspired by New Jersey State Apiarist Jack Matthenius. Don later served as president of that same organization. Don started working for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture in 1989 as a bee inspector. In 1994, he became the State Apiarist.
Don has been president of Apiary Inspectors of America twice: in 2000 and 2010. At EAS, Don is sometimes known as the Chief Bee Wrangler and has presented several workshops, primarily on bee diseases. His primary interest is honey bee health and biology, as well as the interactions between the bees and other organisms. Don has been on many volunteer projects to educate and learn from beekeepers in other countries. His trips to Bolivia have given him experience with Africanized Honey Bees and insight as to how the beekeepers there manage the bees.
Kathy Hossler is a hobby beekeeper with three hives, and is serving her second term as president of the Delaware Beekeepers Association. Kathy's interest in bees began back in the 90s with a class in insect behavior, but she didn't start keeping bees herself until five years ago when her kids gave up travel soccer and she got her weekends back. When not learning from her mistakes in the bee yard Kathy can be found teaching at Wesley College.
Edward Karle started beekeeping 12 years ago SW of Boston and was fortunate to find a mentor with 60 years of experience and 25 hives. Ed passed the EAS Master Beekeeper exams in 2015. Helping other beekeepers and new beekeepers in particular is what he likes to do best. Ed enjoys traveling and has worked with great beekeepers in Haiti, Taiwan, Switzerland, Austria, China, Thailand, Canada and Turkey. For over ten years he has regularly shared photo albums of his hive checks and teaching presentations.
Jennifer Keller is the Apiculture Technician at NC State University. Her multiple responsibilities include coordinating all of the field research in the Apiculture program (including queen rearing and instrumental inseminations), maintaining the Lake Wheeler Honey Bee Research Facility south of NC State's main campus, and conducting numerous extension activities all across the state.
Faith B. Kuehn has served as Environmental Program Administrator for the Delaware Department of Agriculture's Plant Industries since 2001. Specific program responsibilities include nursery, apiary, noxious weeds, and invasive species. In 2006, the Department received a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant to catalog native bees in Delaware's vegetable production areas, and work with farmers to establish bee conservation practices on their farms. In 2010, Faith began a project to develop a Community and Therapy gardens at the State's Holloway Campus and Delaware Psychiatric Center. This project has grown to become Planting Hope Urban Farm, with a Campus Market, CSA, and Planting Hope Apiary. In 2015, she received a grant from the USDA to develop and implement Delaware's Pollinator Protection Plan. Faith represents Delaware on the National Plant Board.
Faith received a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Arizona in 1984, and an M.B.A from the University of Delaware in 1994. Before coming to the Delaware Department of Agriculture, Faith worked as Museum Director for the Insectarium in Philadelphia; in Research, Development, Marketing, and Technical Support positions within E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.'s Crop Protection Division.
One of Faith's consuming interests is exploring connections between art and the science of insect life. This involves investigating art that reflects the structure, function and cultural connections of insects, with a special emphasis on insect jewelry.
Kelly Kulhanek is a Ph.D student at the University of Maryland vanEngelsdorp
Bee Lab studying honeybee health and management practices. She has a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology from UC Berkeley where she worked with native bees as a research assistant in Claire Kremen's lab. She then spent a field season with the USGS in North Dakota studying honeybee health and landscape change and became completely hooked on honeybees. She is interested in studying honeybee health on a nationwide scale through the Sentinel Apiary Project. She also hopes to help develop and field validate best management practices to improve colony health and survival. She enjoys working with the Bee Informed Partnership and beekeepers to make a lasting impact on the ways we manage and support honeybees and agriculture.
Frank Licata is the Operations Manager for Mann Lake LTD at their facility in Wilkes-Barre PA. In addition to running the store and warehouse, Frank teaches beekeeping classes for beginner through experienced beekeepers in their learning center. Frank is a certified EAS Master Beekeeper, and frequently does talks to beekeeping groups at conferences, universities and beekeeping clubs throughout the country, as well as mentoring local beekeepers. In his spare time, he also runs a sideline beekeeping business consisting of 100 hives, from which he sells honey, lotions and other products from the hive.
Peter Lindner is originally from Czechoslovakia. He studied fruit culture at Rehor Medel University and began beekeeping with the German (black) bee. In the U.S. he studied plant biology at Perdue and finished a Masters at UD in Plant Science. He was the gardener for the DuPont estate at Brandywine River; he is an accomplished horticulturist with the espalier technique one of his specialties. Peter will be our tour guide at Nemours and the Dupont Chief Executive Copeland property of Mt Cuba. Peter is an outstanding photographer and there will be display of his materials in the Clayton Hall Lobby during our EAS meeting. He is a frequent bee club visitor and very active with the UD Lifelong Learning academy in Newark and Wilmington. His book Garden Plants for Honey Bees will be available at the meeting and don't neglect to ask Peter for his autograph.
Meghan McConnell, originally from South Jersey, is in her second year of a Master's degree in the vanEngelsdorp bee lab at the University of Maryland. She is currently researching chemical-free alternative treatments to control the honey bee parasite Varroa destructor. Meghan completed her undergraduate education in Environmental Science & Technology from the University of Maryland. At the University of Maryland, Meghan has participated in extension events to promote pollinator awareness in association with the student's group PollinaTerps and the UMD Arboretum and Botanical Garden including evaluating the biodiversity of native bees both on campus and as part of a state-wide citizen science project. Find more on our current research at out lab's website: www.vanengelsdorpbeelab.com . In previous years as part of the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), Meghan has been responsible for organizing the Real Time Disease Load Monitoring Project. Find more on our wonderful team at BIP's website: www.beeinformed.org
Timothy M. McMahon has been an EAS Master Beekeeper for the past two years. He normally runs 20+ hives and has an observation hive in his home. Mr. McMahon has been the president of the Montgomery County Maryland Beekeepers Association (MCBA) for the past three years. Mr. McMahon operates the club bee yard for the MCBA where the club does regular demos on hive manipulation, Varroa mite treatments, colony installation, and general hive inspections. Mr. McMahon also does volunteer work for the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab where he collects native bees in the field, preps the bees for identification and does preliminary identification under the microscope of the bees.
Laura Mensch has been the Delaware Department of Agriculture's Hydrologist for more than 10 years. She monitors the state's shallow groundwater for pesticide residues. She is also the primary Data Steward for DriftWatch and BeeCheck. Mrs. Mensch conducts outreach on DriftWatch and BeeCheck for pesticide applicators and beekeepers to help raise awareness and protect sensitive crops and commodities.
Buzz Mitchell
Mid-Atlantic Natural Beekeepers is a new group formed to help develop members' knowledge about natural beekeeping methods and best practices. Our focus is sustaining healthy colonies, advocating natural beekeeping methods, participating in citizen science research, and expansion of natural habitats to support the Mid-Atlantic region's apiaries. "Certified Naturally Grown" (CNG) is a program that several of our members participate in, and is one of our main foundations for education and practice. Our greatest strength is in the ongoing collaboration and open discussion of our members, who come from DE, PA and NJ. As members of other local and regional beekeeping groups, we also aim to expand knowledge and practice of natural approaches.
Joseph Nicolai – As a child, he watched his grandfather take care of honeybees from afar and has been fascinated and yearned to care for bees ever since. After 22 years of service in the United States Air Force, Joe retired and with the help of his wife Theresa was able to purchase their first bees in 2014 and started Big Joes Honey. They specialize in the sale of honey and all-natural products such as soaps, body butters, beard balms, and such. Joe hopes to grow his apiary to over 100 hives within the next two years focusing on a sustainability program with queen and NUC production. He is a major supporter of small business and is working with several Kent County Delaware businesses bringing beekeeping awareness to the community along with specialized products. Joe is an adjunct professor at Wesley College, Delaware and thoroughly enjoys teaching to include beekeeping. It is not unlike him to have five or more people that he is mentoring at any given time. Joe recently served as Kent County Vice President of the Delaware Beekeepers Association, stepping down in 2017.
Ken Outten has been a beekeeper for 15 years. He is a science teacher and teaches A.P. Biology at Milford High School. Ken also runs two small farms where he raises 2 acres of strawberries and 30 acres of hay. Early in his beekeeping career queen rearing became a focus. This interest let to Nuc production. Ken normally runs 70 hive, makes honey, and sells 40 nucs annually. Ken spent three years as the President of the Delaware. Beekeepers Association
Micheal Palmer - As a child, Michael spent most of his spare time outdoors, fascinated by the plants and insects and animals living in his suburban New York City environment. He escaped the city by going off to the University of Vermont, where he fell in love with the countryside, his future wife, and eventually the little bugs that we all hold so dear.
The first colonies of honeybees arrived in 1974 as package bees, and over the following twenty odd years, he built French Hill Apiaries into a farm of nearly a thousand colonies. About 1990, Acarine mites and then Varroa mites arrived in the bees. The result was not pretty. Beekeeping became way more difficult, and way more expensive. In 1998, Mike tried raising a few queens, wintering them in nucleus colonies. The results changed his beekeeping forever. Believing that quality should always trump quantity, a decision was made to cut back on the total number of production colonies in the apiary, and focus on raising the best queens possible.
Michael lives in St. Albans, Vermont with his wife Lesley, a cow named Meat, and Wilson, their Maremma Sheepdog. When not helping his crew manage the honey production colonies, or spending countless hours in the queen rearing apiaries, Mike travels the world teaching sustainable beekeeping to anyone who will listen.
Cybil Preston is the State Apiarist/Chief Apiary inspector for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Started as a hobbyist backyard beekeeper in 1997. Became a regional Apiary Inspector for the Maryland Department of Agriculture in 2004. Former president of the Susquehanna Beekeepers Association. Continues to educate new beekeepers by teaching the short course for Susquehanna Beekeepers in conjunction with Harford Community College. Became an EAS certified Master Beekeeper in 2013 at West Chester College. In 2014 promoted to the State Apiarist position for the MDA and covers 10 counties in apiary inspection. In 2015 trained with the Maryland Department of Corrections and Public Safety along with her Dog Mack to become certified in American Foulbrood disease detection. Mack is the currently the only certified American Foulbrood detector dog in the United States. In addition to working her own honeybee colonies she enjoys spending time with her family including her dogs and donkeys.
Dave Priebe has been keeping honey bees with his wife Dorinda since 2003. Our beekeeping focus is on the health and perpetuation of our own stock in a small apiary context. They manage a subset of our colonies at a certified organic farm where we provide pollination services. After seven years of beekeeping I realized that my honey bee biology and beekeeping knowledge was not sufficient to assist and protect colonies in a focused way. Dave set a goal to become a Master Beekeeper using exam preparation as motivation to study intensely. In 2011, Dave became a Master Beekeeper, and has been assisting with the Master Beekeeper program since. Dave enjoys the natural world and consider myself a student of natural history.
Dorinda Priebe and her husband David are life members of EAS and are the very first New Hampshire residents to have become EAS certified Master Beekeepers. For the last four years Dorinda has chaired the EAS MB Oral Exam committee. Introduced to beekeeping at her paternal grandfather's knees, Dorinda always knew she would have honey bees of her own. Her lifelong career as a Registered Dental Hygienist has developed a keen sense of observation and data recording. Refining her beekeeping skills for the last 15 years with a small home apiary and a pollination outyard, Dorinda is dedicated to education. Opportunity to mentor a bee club at her former High School, Merrimack Valley, serving as an Artist in Residence At Sanborn Regional High School, and most recently providing a week long Winterterm program at St. Thomas Aquinas private High School have been rewarding experiences. Dorinda is currently serving her state as EAS Director.
Tammy Horn Potter started Coal Country Beeworks in 2008, working with surface mine companies to get more habitat in Eastern KY. In 2014, Tammy became the KY State Apiarist. In this role, she has worked with Green Forests Work to receive a NRCS Conservation grant (reforestation with nectar/pollen producing trees), a USDA-APHIS Honey Bee Health Survey grant, and helped initiate a queen production association in KY. She was the 2014 President of EAS and author of Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation and Beeconomy: What Women and Bees teach us about Local Trade and Global Markets (both published by University Press of Kentucky). Tammy currently serves EAS as the EAS representative to the Honey Bee Health Coalition.
Stephen Repasky is a second-generation beekeeper living in Pittsburgh, PA. He is a certified Master Beekeeper through the Eastern Apicultural Society and is also the current President of the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association, president of Burgh Bees, and a member of the Board of Directors for the American Beekeeping Federation. He is also an active member of the Keystone Queen Breeders Cooperative and is a member of the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research Advisory Board and the Pennsylvania State Apiary Advisory Board. Stephen manages approximately 100 colonies and is involved in honey production, queen rearing and the selling of nucleus hives each summer to those interested in starting or expanding their own beekeeping adventure. He had his first book published by Wicwas Press in 2014 entitled "Swarm Essentials" and can be found teaching beekeeping classes in the Pittsburgh area and presenting lectures on a variety of beekeeping topics at local clubs and many regional and national conferences around the United States.
Sarah Red-Laird "Bee Girl" is the founder and Executive Director of the Bee Girl organization, a nonprofit with a mission to inspire and empower communities to conserve bees and their habitat. She is a graduate of the University of Montana's College of Forestry and Conservation with a degree in Resource Conservation, focused on community collaboration and environmental policy. Aside from running the Bee Girl organization's six programs, Sarah is the US Ambassador of the International Bee Research Association's (IBRA) BEEWORLD project, the Kids and Bees Director for the American Beekeeping Federation, a New York Bee Sanctuary Advisory Board member, is an active member of the Northwest Farmers Union, the Western Apicultural Society's Oregon Director, and the Regional Representative for the Southern Oregon Beekeepers Association. When she is not tirelessly working with bees, beekeepers, kids, farmers, land managers, and policy makers, Sarah heads for the hills with a camera, large backpack, fishing rod, bike or snowboard, and her best friend, Sophie the Yellow Lab.
Karen Roccasecca is the State Apiarist at the PA Department of Agriculture in Harrisburg, PA. She began working in the Apiary Lab with former State Apiarist Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp in October 2006, one month before Dave Hackenberg submitted his CCD samples. Karen and the PA Apiary Inspectors are currently working with several other states on early detection procedures for exotic honey bee pests.Karen is also a member of the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research Advisory Board, the PA Apiary Advisory Board, and is the liaison for Bee Informed Partnership with Apiary Inspectors of America.
Grace Savoy-Burke is a graduate student at the University of Delaware studying entomology. She is currently wrapping up her master's thesis looking at the diversity of native and introduced bees in woodlands of Maryland and Delaware. She will be continuing at UD as a PhD student in the Delaney lab.
Thomas D. Seeley, biologist and writer, is a professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University. He teaches courses on animal behavior and does research on the behavior, social life, and ecology of honey bees. Tom is an avid beekeeper and began keeping bees while a high school student, when he shook a swarm into a box and brought it home. His scientific work is summarized in four books: Honeybee Ecology (1985), The Wisdom of the Hive (1995), Honeybee Democracy (2010), and Following the Wild Bees (2016).
Bart Smith has enjoyed working with honey bees for over 40 years; during that time, he specialized in bee diseases, parasites and pests that affect honey bee health. He received an MS degree in entomology from the University of Maryland where he investigated the bee louse, Braula coeca, a wingless fly that is found only on honey bees. While at the University, Bart began working for the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) and became the State Apiary Inspector for 27 years. After leaving the MDA, he worked as a support scientist at the USDA Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. His duties at the Bee Lab included running the bee disease diagnostic lab, and he had overall responsibility for the 400 honey bee colonies maintained by the BRL for research purposes. After 13 years, he retired at the end of 2015. Bart currently resides with his wife Rosemary in Maryland except when they are traveling around the country in their motorhome.
David Smith became interested in bees while in grade school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. One of his teachers was a beekeeper and had an observation hive in the classroom. Noticing David's fascination in watching through the glass he started an explanation of the bee activity inside the hive. He even taught David how to catch a bee from a dandelion bloom without getting stung. His family moved to a rural area in 1945 and David started an apprenticeship with a local beekeeper, winning his first of many Blue Ribbons in an annual 4H Fair in 1949. Recent awards include the following: Best of Show, EAS 2004, 7 Springs PA; Best of Show, EAS 2013, West Chester PA; Best in Show, MSBA Honey Show, 2013
He is a past-President of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association, a Life Member of both EAS and MSBA and an EAS Certified Master Beekeeper.
Micheal Smith is the 2017 EAS Student award winner. Michael is a PhD student at Cornell University under Tom Seeley; both Tom and Michael will be on the 2017 EAS program. His recommendation for our student award was supported by Heather Mattila, our 2016 EAS Hambleton Award winner. He is only the second Cornell student to be recognized by EAS (as student winner) of 31 total (Gene Robinson was the first Cornell student awarded the student award 32 years earlier)
Michael was initially introduced to honey bees after a chance encounter with a Welsh Beekeeper at Atlantic College in 2005. He then went on to complete his undergraduate degree at Princeton. His introduction to honey bee research began with Heather Mattila, at Wellesley College, where he worked summers as a research assistant. During his Cornell PhD, he has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant.
Landi Simone is a small-scale commercial beekeeper in northern New Jersey, owner of Gooserock Farm in Montville, Morris County. She manages about 100 colonies of bees, producing prize-winning premium varietal honeys, artisan honey spreads, beeswax cosmetics and handmade beeswax soaps.
A familiar figure at EAS, Landi is a certified Master Beekeeper since 2004 and currently serves as both the Master Beekeeper Director and the Chair of the Certification Committee. She has given numerous talks and workshops at EAS over the years and teaches an annual short course in beekeeping in New Jersey. Landi is an active member of the NJBA, and has held several offices in the organization.
A retired consulting engineer with degrees from Columbia and Rutgers, Landi finds her second career in apiculture every bit as challenging as engineering and a lot more fun. As her photo shows, she loves getting chummy with her bees but just can't get them to stop tickling!
Marla Spivak is a MacArthur Fellow and McKnight Distinguished Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota. Her research efforts focus on breeding bees for their natural defenses against diseases and parasites, and on propagating floral rich and pesticide-free landscapes to support the nutrition, health and diversity of all bee pollinators.
Nathalie Steinhauer is a current PhD candidate in Dennis vanEngelsdorp's lab at University of Maryland, department of Entomology. She graduated with a Master in Biological Sciences from Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and with a Master Research in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London, UK. Her PhD project's objectives are to apply epidemiological approaches to honey bee health and identify best management practices associated with reduced colony mortality.
As part of the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), Nathalie has been primarily responsible for organizing and leading the effort of the analyses of the National Honey Bee Colony Loss and Management Surveys for the past 4 years. She has collaborated in the publishing of the Loss Survey results in peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Apicultural Research & Apidologie) and is currently working on the Management portion of the survey with the intention of graduating in August 2017.
Cliff Sunflower is an EAS master beekeeper (1986), environmental educator, storyteller and performer. He annually provides an assembly/workshop program for schools and groups over 125 days each year throughout a 5state region from his base in Bath (Lehigh Valley) PA. His program Dancin' with the Bees (which he presented at 2007 EAS and will repeat this year) brings the scientific magic of the honey bee hive to life. His second program Earth's Journey is about a mythical Native American people 10,000 years ago celebrating the Winter's Solstice. He and wife Lois own Bear Honey Farms in SE PA with internet sales of honey pollen and a large selection of candles.
Dr. James E. Tew is the Beekeeping Specialist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University and Emeritus Professor, The Ohio State University. Jim has taught classes, provided extension services, and conducted applied research on honey bees and honey bee behavior - specifically pollination behavior. In 2000, he received the first EAS Roger A. Morse Teaching/Extension/Regulatory Award. He contributes monthly articles for national beekeeping publications and has written: Beekeeping Principles, Wisdom for Beekeepers, The Beekeeper's Problem Solver, and Backyard Beekeeping. He is a frequent speaker at state and national meetings and has traveled extensively to observe beekeeping techniques.
Keith Tigmor As an employee of Virginia Tech and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Mr. Tignor has worked closely with the beekeeping industry over the past 25 years. He participated in teaching, research, and extension activities in apiculture studies and insect physiology programs within the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. Since 2000 he has served as the State Apiarist at VDACS. In this capacity he is the coordinator of the regulatory and assistance programs for beekeeping in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mr. Tignor has made numerous presentations to local, state, and national beekeeping organizations on honey bee management and organized classes and workshops on honey bee related programs. Recent initiatives begun at VDACS include training and promotion of queen and nucleus colony production, implementing new management techniques, and developing pollinator protection plans. His duties at VDACS also include organizing recruitment and education programs for beekeeping, coordinating conservation efforts for endangered and threatened plants and insects, and overseeing export of ginseng from the Commonwealth.
Christopher Wade, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Delaware. Wade is currently the Environmental Program Administrator for the Delaware Department of Agriculture Pesticide Section. Have been employed at the Department for 13 years. Before being promoted to the administrator Wade was a pesticide inspector within the section for 10 years.
Ray Walker keeps bees in northern DE near White Clay Preserve. He operates a Certified Naturally Grown apiary using natural beekeeping methods and integrated pest management practices. Ray's focus is sustaining healthy bee colonies, mentoring new beekeepers/students and collaborating with citizen science project teams. His interests include queen rearing and non-invasive colony monitoring using smart hives scales, brood monitoring devices and IR thermographs. Ray is a member of EAS, DE & PA beekeepers associations, the Mid-Atlantic Natural Beekeepers group and the National Phenology Network.
Bob Wellemeyer - lives in Castleton, VA. During summers 1972-76 . Managed Rutgers University apiaries assisting NJ beekeeping short courses and judging NJ honey shows. B.S. Entomology Louisiana State University,1976. Worked for the USDA Bee Breeding and Stock Center, Baton Rouge under Dr. John Harbo. EAS Life member, President EAS 1996, VA director and delegate several times. Honey show judge for past EAS conferences and MD and NC, instructor for short courses and workshops, various beekeeping topics, including judging honey shows, field and lecture presentations on bee diseases, best management practices, floral sources and working with beeswax. Virginia Department of Agriculture 40+ years as Apiary Inspector Northern Region, served as Virginia State Apiarist,1990-95. Owner: Windsong Apiaries since 1985, providing pollination in Mid-Atlantic states, apples, blueberries, vine crops. Honey producer, small scale queen and nuc producer. Produce beeswax candles and Christmas ornaments for the holidays.
George Wilson came to bees from the vineyard and wine world. He's always been interested in specialized agricultural and competitive pursuits. George's affair with bees started in 2006 including casual observation of his wife's hobby. A "flavor and quality guy", he gravitated to honey and hive products. He now works at The Backyard Farm Apiary with his wife Karla Eisen. They raise nucs for sale and sell premium artisanal honey. During the season you'll probably find him in one of their 5 bee yards. He's judged locally, regionally, and internationally. He's Chairman of the EAS Honey Show and is dedicated to excellence of honey, hive products, and their promotion.
Jon Zawislak is the apiculture specialist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. He has worked and played with honey bees since 1998, and is equally at home in the bee yard, the laboratory or the classroom. Each year he teaches workshops and short courses for new and experienced beekeepers throughout Arkansas and beyond. His teaching emphasizes understanding the biology and behavior of our busy little friends, and keeping them healthy while minimizing pesticides in their hives. He also tries to spread the word about the importance of pollinators to the non-beekeeping public. Jon has a background in botany and entomology, and became an EAS Master Beekeeper in 2009. He and his family operate Walnut Valley Honey Farm in Little Rock, Arkansas, producing good products from the hive, and supplying pollinators for area community gardens.