Bill Hesbach - Keynote Speaker

Bio:  Bill Hesbach is a Connecticut native with a background in engineering.

He's an Eastern Apicultural Society Certified Master Beekeeper, a graduate of the University of Montana's master beekeeping program, and the President of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association.

Bill also operates a side bee business called Wing Dance Apiary in Cheshire, CT., which produces artisanal raw honey and other natural hive products.

Bill teaches bee biology and various beekeeping methods at meetings hosted by regional beekeeping clubs. He is an active member of the Eastern Apicultural Society, where he participates in the Master Beekeeper Certification program, and he is a regular guest speaker at regional beekeeping seminars.

His special interests in beekeeping include bee biology, flight, and the connection between local flora and bee behavior. He's a published author, and his articles on beekeeping appear in The American Bee Journal and Bee Culture magazines.

Tracy Barrilleaux

Bio: Tracy has extensive knowledge in holistic health and wellness with over 20 years of clinical experience. She is former co-owner of an environmentally friendly massage center where she emphasized the importance of self-care while being responsible to the Earth. A native of Michigan, she and her husband live in the Traverse City area where she actively volunteers in caring for the National Lakeshore, supporting the homeless population and as a hospice volunteer. As a beekeeper, Tracy enjoys working with and learning about the bees with her hives and spending time immersed in nature, hiking, swimming, and enjoying the beauty of the Traverse area. Tracy practices the art of the frame drum, an instrument traditionally used in processions honoring the Bee Goddesses in ancient Greece. 

Jamie Berlin

Bio: Jamie Berlin started the Ypsi Melissa bee stewardship project, offering mentoring, a hive host program and partnering with community organizations to increase local bee gardens. She founded and organized Festival of the Honey Bee, a three day event in Ypsilanti, MI, featuring a bee art show, education for all ages, a vendor fair and urban hive bike tour. She led the campaign for Ypsilanti to become Michigan's first Bee City USA. She credits bees and beekeeping as some of her primary teachers about creativity and creative process. A certified Creatively Fit Coach, she incorporates honey bee wisdom into her approach to creative arts.

Rick Dimanin

Bio: Rick Dimanin started beekeeping around 15 or 16 years ago. All of his hives died for the first two years until he got serious about varroa. Because he wanted to learn as much as he could about honey bees, I started the Cornell Master Beekeeping Program in 2018 and successfully finished it in 2020. Last year, Rick and his wife moved to Thompsonville and started their own apiary, Betsie River Honeybee Farm, on our 40 acres. They keep between 40 and 60 colonies on their property. Rick started a beekeeping class in Thompsonville this year and had 17 students, all of which raised their own colonies with packages. The fee for the class was $75 and all proceeds were donated to the Betsy Valley Library. Currently, Rick is planning on having an additional beginning class starting next year and an advanced class with queen rearing, etc., at the same time.

My presentation entitled “ Honeybee immunity: how to get Healthy bees” will deal with What an average beekeeper can do to get healthier bees. Getting healthier Bees goes beyond varroa Control and requires an understanding of immunity, and what dietary supplements can increase resistance to pathogens.

Dr. Cory Emal

Bio: Dr. Cory Emal is a Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Michigan University, where he helped launch and now leads the Fermentation Science program. A dedicated home fermenter for many years, he enjoys blending science with craft, and he and his students have earned national awards for their beers, ciders, and meads. His research bridges chemistry and biology, exploring everything from the flavors in honey and the healthy components of green tea to the search for new treatments for inflammatory disease.

Ana Heck

Bio:  Ana Heck is Michigan State University's apiculture extension educator. She learned beekeeping in Nicaragua while working with a nonprofit organization that led rural development projects. She later worked with the University of Minnesota Bee Squad and Michigan State University's Department of Entomology before joining Extension. Her role engages beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, and home gardeners to improve the health of pollinators. Ana holds a master’s degree in public policy and a graduate minor in entomology from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Zachary Huang

Bio:  Dr. Zachary Huang is an associate professor in entomology at Michigan State University. Zachary grew up in a small village in Hunan, China and went to college to study agriculture in the first batch of students following the cultural revolution. During the early 1980s, he received a scholarship to study honey bees in Canada, and in 1998, he came to MSU. Zach’s research includes stresses on honey bee behavior, physiology and colony performance, Nosema apis, Nosema ceranae, Varroa destructor, extreme temperatures, transportation, pollination, and pesticides. He blogs regularly about honey bee flowers at bees.msu.edu.

Jan Lawson

Bio: Jan started beekeeping in the late 1960s when I was 14 years old. He really didn’t know what he was doing, so he learned by trial and error, which was much easier back then. There were very few bee clubs and he didn’t have a mentor,so when he got himself into serious trouble, Roger Hoopingarner was just a phone call away. Roger was always patient and rescued Jan many times. These days Jan is searching for the magic number of bee hives. That number where beekeeping is fun, especially on those hot summer days. He can occasionally be found at the Dadants Bee Store where he “works” part time. If he’s not there, he’s in the garden or in the bee yard.

Dr. Meghan Milbrath

Bio: Dr. Meghan Milbrath is an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at MSU, where she studies honey bee diseases, focusing on transmission risk and treatment. Dr. Milbrath is also a beekeeper - she began working bees over 25 years ago as a hobby, and since 2011, has run The Sand Hill Apiary, a small livestock and queen rearing operation in Munith, Michigan. She studied biology at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and received degrees in public health from Tulane University and the University of Michigan, where she focused on environmental health sciences and disease transmission risk. Meghan worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University, studying nosema disease and in the honey bee lab at Swedish Agricultural University.

Vicki Rowe

Bio: Vicki Rowe is a mead maker and is a new beekeeper (2025). She began with mead in the early 1990’s when she had mead at the Michigan Renaissance festival back in 1994, and decided she could make that. Her research while learning to make mead was published on a web page, and Got Mead? was born. It has remained the largest and most trafficked mead website for nearly 40 years, and continues to provide mead making information to people around the world. She also has broadcast her podcast, Got Mead? LIVE for 10 years, and it continues being broadcast on most podcast platforms. Vicky lives near Kaleva Michigan with her husband and 6 dogs and the ‘girls’ (the bees). She is a member of the West Shore Beekeepers Association, and is hoping to expand her beekeeping in the years to come.

Jackie Rushton

Bio:  Jackie is a Shamanic Herbalist, Bee Priestess and bestower of the Ways of the Wise Woman. She has been holding space for women to discover deep transformation, empowerment and self-love for over 3 decades. Jackie has led women to find the Divine in themselves and one another through moonlodges, herbal and priestess apprenticeships and shamanic beekeeping. She guides women in listening to the plants, the bees, one another, and their own bodies, supporting them as they develop their intuition and become wise women healers, leaders and carriers of the sacred flame of women’s mysteries. From the Saginaw area, Jackie has over 20 years of experience raising honey bee queens and is currently pursuing Master Beekeeper certification through Cornell University.

Shaana Way

Bio: Beekeeping has taken Shaana Way on journeys both foreign and domestic for eleven years and she still learns something new every day. From Southeast Asia to the Central Valley of California, Shaana has pursued opportunities to learn with beekeepers from around the world and has worked for several operations within the United States. She has studied breeding queen bees for much of her beekeeping career and is actively seeking the best practices for optimum queen production and performance. She operates Grassroots Honey Co. in Galesburg and also conducts research projects with St. Joe Valley Apiaries in Three Rivers, Michigan.

Rich Wieske, MBA President

Bio: Rich was a lifelong camera operator and media production company owner. He considered himself a quiet introvert who hated meetings. That all changed when he discovered mead and apis mellifera. Now Rich declares “the bees made me do it!” A self-proclaimed “tree hugger", he enjoys hunting for mushrooms and has even traveled around the world on a ship. In his spare time, Rich enjoys making candles and chocolate truffles. Rich serves as the current president of the Michigan Beekeepers Association (MBA) , the Educational Director of the Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers Association (SEMBA), and the Vice President of the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS). He loves going to conferences and talking with beekeepers: "some of the greatest people in the world!" And yes, Rich has visited all 36 bee clubs in the state of Michigan!

Jon Willow

Bio: Jon Willow is a community beekeeping educator in northern Michigan. She came to the bees in 2017 through an extended, woman-centered apprenticeship and is an initiated priestess of the Melissae. She is also currently pursuing Master Beekeeping certification through Cornell University. An experienced Oracle and Tarot reader, Willow serves at festivals, fairs, and other gatherings.