15th Annual Bee Forum

Join us for our 15th Annual Bee Forum: The Ins and Outs of Practical Beekeeping

Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance hosts an annual Bee Forum to join local beekeepers and beekeeping experts to discuss relevant topics in the world of beekeeping, in addition to building community with Chicagoland beekeepers. GPCA is excited to have Randy Oliver back to discuss why bees do what they do. If you're a beekeeper then you know how incredible beekeeping can be, but you also know how incredibly frustrating keeping bees can be. Randy's goal during the presentation will be to help beekeepers understand why bees behave the way they do and apply that to their daily beekeeping.

To help build community and keep the conversation going, we have a shared potluck lunch.

Presenter Bio:

Randy Oliver owns and operates a small commercial beekeeping enterprise in the foothills of Grass Valley in Northern California. He and his two sons manage about 1500 colonies for migratory pollination and produce queens, nucs, and honey. He has over 50 years of practical beekeeping experience, plus holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biological Sciences. Randy researches, analyzes, and digests beekeeping information from all over the world in order to not only broaden his own depth of understanding and knowledge, but to develop practical solutions to many of today’s beekeeping problems, which he then shares with other beekeepers through his various articles in bee magazines, his speaking engagements worldwide, and on his website: www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

Tentative Schedule:

9:00 am – 10:00am: Registration and check-in

10:00am – 10:10 am: Welcome & opening remarks

10:10 am – 12:00 pm: Morning presentation - “The Ins and Outs of Beekeeping”

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Community Potluck Lunch – bring a dish to share!

1:00 pm – 1:15pm: Raffle prizes

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Afternoon presentation – “The Ins and Outs of Beekeeping”

3:00pm – 3:15pm: Break

3:15 pm – 4:00 pm: Panel discussion, Q&A, and closing

Scholarships are available! Please fill out this Scholarship Application (link opens in a new tab) or contact Bendi Qian at [email protected] for more information. The deadline to apply for a scholarship is Sunday, April 7th at 5:00pm CST.

Accommodations: When you register for this workshop you will be asked to provide any accommodations requests. If you have any questions or would like to request an additional accommodation, please contact [email protected] at least 72 hours prior to the event start.

Please read our updated Covid-19 protocols (link opens in a new tab).

Registration ends April 26th at 5:00pm CST.

Cancellation/Refund Policy: For all fee based programs, if cancelling...
- ...two weeks prior --> Full refund (minus processing fee)
- ...between two weeks and 48 hours prior and there is a waitlist --> Full refund (minus processing fee)
- ...between two weeks and 48 hours and there is not a waitlist --> Credit to be used by June 30th
- ...within 48 hours --> Credit to be used by June 30th

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago, United States