LACBA Speaker August 10, 2026 - Kim Lehman (Via Zoom)

The Beekeeper’s Lab : Discussion and Demos

Candle bowls
Rolled candles
Beeswax jewelry
Comb rubbings
Lip balm
Painted hives
Seed balls
Mason bee houses
Encaustic Art

LACBA Speaker September 14, 2026 - Dr. Ruben Alarcón (In Person)

Impacts of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions at 10,000 ft.

Dr. Ruben Alarcón, earned his Ph.D. at UC Riverside, where he studied plant-pollinator communities in high elevation mountain meadows. For his postdoctoral work at University of Arizona, he studied hawkmoth communities, followed by an entomology research position at the USDA’s Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, AZ. Dr. Ruben Alarcón is currently the Chair of Biology at CSU Channel Islands and regularly teaches Entomology, Behavioral Ecology, and Apiculture & Bee Biology. His research focuses on pollinator ecology, honeybee health, and sustainable agriculture. He is the faculty advisor for the Bee Club. On his free time, Dr. Alarcón enjoys backpacking, kayaking, fishing, and volunteering with Canine Adoption and Rescue League https://carldogs.org/

LACBA Speaker November 2, 2026 - Genesis Chong (In Person)

Can some bees thrive better with Varroa? What Southern California hybrid honey bees may teach us

Genesis Chong is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Riverside, where she studies how honey bees respond to various forms of stress, including parasites such as Varroa destructor and environmental challenges like heat stress. Her work combines field and laboratory approaches to understand the mechanisms that allow some bees to survive under pressure. She is particularly interested in how immune responses and host-parasite interactions contribute to resilience, with the goal of supporting more sustainable beekeeping practices.

Presentation:
In ongoing evidenced-based research, it is clear that some feral or hybrid bee populations consistently maintain lower varroa mite levels and require fewer mite treatments. Chong's research goal is to understand what exactly causes this phenomenon, and isolate it in order to benefit large scale bee populations, through the establishment of a molecular breeding program. In this talk, she will share her findings from her long-term study of feral-hybrid honey bee colonies in Southern California.