2026 Hive Minds Webinar Series

The OBA TTP is hosting an amazing educational program in 2026.

From 7 January to 22 April 2026 every Wednesday evening there will be a webinar hosted to benefit beekeeping knowledge, skills and abilities.

ITS NOT TOO LATE - YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE WEBINAR SERIES - THERE ARE LOTS OF OPTIONS.

Last night, the first Webinar was hosted by TTP.

Samuel Ramsey gave an amazing presentation about Tropi mites. As a researcher, scientist and expert, he has first-hand experience and he has traveled the world to work with and fight these little creatures.

He unraveled the unknowns, false information and detailed biology of these pests. His presentation style and enthusiasm made for a super interesting presentation- you almost forgot we talked about mites for 2 hours.

I certainly learned new things - of note - Scientists are trying to figure our why Tropi mite populations grow faster than Varroa. One of the hypothesis' is that Tropi mites do not require a host period after they reproduce like Varroa mites. So, while Varroa mites need attach to adult bees in order to gain the necessary nutrition to reproduce, Tropi mites do not need this and they can jump into a cell and reproduce as soon as they emerge...eeeeek. The scientist are working hard to figure out how they are able to do this.

The second thing I learned was that a Tropi mite egg is 40% the size of the Tropi mite. There were photos and it was ridiculous to see. Scientists are also very interested in how they can build one of these eggs every day. This would be like a human having 50lb baby, every day.

Incredible information.

Please consider attending these sessions, I am sure you will learn something new.

OBA members receive a discount on the cost and all details can be found at https://www.ontariobee.com/outreach/ttp/2026-hive-minds-webinar-series

I want to send a huge thank you to the TTP for hosting these sessions and improving beekeeper education in Ontario.

Cheers,

Alaina