Speaker: Zac Lamas

Zac is a NIFA postdoctoral fellow under Jay Evans at the Bee Research Lab in Beltsville, MD. He focuses on how Varroa feeding behavior drives viral transmission in a honey bee colony. His previous work uncovered that the ideal adult bee host for Varroa was misidentified for nearly 30 years. Varroa actually aggregate on adult drones, and only shift onto worker bees when drones seasonally disappear from a colony. He is now using his previous findings and weaponizing that information against Varroa. Our hope is to create an effective bait trap for cost-effective Varroa control. During his PhD he was the recipient of the PAm-Costco award where he studied the vectorial capacity of Varroa destructor. He actively speaks at bee clubs and professional conferences, largely sharing information on beekeeping management. Zac previously worked for Michael Palmer at French Hill Apiaries in Saint Albans, Vermont. On the side Zac is the owner and operator of RockStar Queens. He produces quality nucleus colonies and queens in central Maryland.

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