A Bee’s Eye View of Nucs and How they Adapt – a talk about making up nucs, bee math and keeping the bees in sync with their natural age related job progression to lower the stresses of building a strong healthy colony. Using nucs as a first aid kit, queen rearing, queen mating, queen introduction and overwintering are covered.

John Benham has been a full time beekeeper for over 24 years, operating 40 colonies and a breeder of quality queens and bees for over 20 years. He is an Eastern Apiculture Society Certified Master Beekeeper and Life Member of EAS. He is the President of the Mammoth Cave Area Beekeepers 2017 to present, past member, President/officer of four local associations since 2004, 2015 Kentucky State Beekeepers President, 2015 Kentucky State Beekeeper of the Year and a life member and advisor of the Kentucky Queen Bee Breeders Association. He shares his knowledge and love for the bees as a mentor, speaker, instructor, volunteer and organizer at state, local, regional and national associations. Of all of John’s accomplishments as a beekeeper, he is most proud of his survivor stock apiaries populated by locally trapped bees and local open mated queens where he annually produces well over twice the state average of honey per colony and is a past winner of two blue ribbons at the Kentucky State Fair.