MSBA Annual Meeting and Conference 2026
Register Here
October 17, 2026
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (registration opens at 8:00 AM)
Maine State Beekeepers Association
Annual Meeting and Conference
Orion Performing Arts Center
Topsham, Maine
Sponsored by the Cumberland County chapter of the MSBA
Special Program in honor of the MSBA’s 50th Anniversary
Guest speaker Dr. Liz Walsh
State of the State Address by Jennifer Lund
Also featuring short presentations by Maine beekeepers
Past, Present and Future
2026 MSBA Annual Meeting Program
8:00 – 8:50 Registration, drop of Honey Tasting Contest entries, visit vendors, raffle ticket sales
8:50 – 9:00 Welcome by MSBA President Elizabeth Goodwin
9:00 – 10:00 Dr. Liz Walsh: Current Chalkbrood Investigations – Looking at whether chalkbrood resistance/susceptibility is inherited. If so, it could be incorporated into breeding programs.
10:00 – 10:15 Break – check out the Honey Tasting Contest, raffle tables and vendors
10:15 – 11:15 MSBA Past and Present – with special guests. Watch for emails with details.
11:15 – 11:45 Business Meeting – Excellence in beekeeping awards, Board of Directors elections
11:45 – 1:00 Lunch – shop with our vendors, check for additions to raffle tables
1:00 – 1:45 MSBA Present and Future – with special guests. Watch for emails with details.
1:45 – 2:45 Dr. Liz Walsh: Hangry Bees – Stock responses of honey bees to pollen deprivation
2:45 – 3:15 MSBA 50th Anniversary cake break – last chance to buy raffle tickets
3:15 – 3:45 Jennifer Lund: “State of the State”
3:45 – Honey Tasting Contest winner, raffle winners
Dr. Liz Walsh is a Research Scientist with the USDA-ARS laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Steve Pernal, of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, at the Beaverlodge Research Farm in Alberta. Liz’s postdoc was spent exploring the links between honey bee health challenges and honey bee biomarkers as a part of the national BeeCSI project, but she also did work with AFB and chalkbrood exploring stock variation, asymptomatic vs. symptomatic infections, and more. This was all very different than her dissertation work, which was done at Texas A&M University with Dr. Juliana Rangel where Liz explored the impact of miticide exposure in immature queens. Liz is pleased to be at the end of her “teenage” years as a beekeeper, since she began keeping bees as a young high school student in her home state of Wisconsin, and is proud to serve the beekeeping industry through research initiatives.
Liz has worked on various USDA-ARS projects which include examining: aggression in various honey bee stocks, drone reproductive health and biology, queen reproductive health after stressor exposure, and honey bee variation in responses to pathogens (Varroa, chalkbrood, and Nosema). She takes particular pride in the recent and ongoing work surrounding honey bee drifting and disease transmission, resistance/susceptibility to chalkbrood inheritance, and other wonderful questions that her students, postdoc, and collaborators are currently working to answer.
Raffle & Tickets
The raffle tables are always filled with numerous donated items from beekeepers and businesses. Donations of items are welcome and you may donate yours prior to the day of the annual meeting or bring it with you that day. Bee-related items are always great, however other things are accepted. There will be several folks selling tickets throughout the day. Everyone who pre-registers for the meeting receives two free raffle tickets in their registration bag.
Blind Honey Tasting Contest
Bring a small jar of your best honey with your name and address on the jar to enter the Blind Honey Tasting Contest! All that matters is how good the honey tastes to those judging. All jars are covered to prevent color of the honey from being seen or any other visual identifiers that may create bias. Members can sample the entries during the day and vote on their favorite jar. Winners of the tasting contest will be announced at the end of the meeting.
Directions to the Orion Performing Arts Center
From the North: Take I-95 to I-295 and get off at exit 31A. Take 196 east towards Topsham/Brunswick.
From the South: Take I-95 to I-295 and get off at exit 31. Turn right onto 196/Lewiston Road.
Everyone: Turn left onto Route 201/Main Street. Turn right onto Canam Drive and then immediately left onto Republic Ave. Parking is on the right. The entrance to the Orion Performing Arts Center is on the left.
