EAS Awards Programs – 2008 Awards

The James I. Hambleton memorial award was established by the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America to recognize research excellence in apiculture. The EAS Student Apiculture award was established to recognize students studying apiculture at the undergraduate or graduate level in a recognized college or university in the United States or Canada. The Roger A. Morse Outstanding Teaching/Extension Service/Regulatory Award is given annually to recognize an individual in teaching/extension and/or regulatory activity in the field of apiculture. Nominations for this award are solicited annually and must include supporting evidence. A Committee approved by the EAS Chairman of the Board makes decisions in mid-spring. The EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research Grant is a competitive grant program developed from donations received from beekeepers and others interested in funding research on topical problems in honey bees. Proposals for support are annually solicited. The Divelbiss Award is presented at the closing Awards Banquet to the person or team that has reached beyond the beekeeping community to educate the non-beekeeping public about the values and virtues of honey bees.

The 2008 J.I. Hambleton Award
The 2008 EAS Hambleton Award winner is Zachary Huang, PhD from Michigan State University.

Zachary became interested in insects before he was five years old. Growing up in the countryside of China allowed him to play with ants, caterpillars and praying mantids. He still remembers small “experiments’ with them such as scratching the soil on an ant foraging trail to disrupt their normal travelling, or imprisoning ants inside a circle drawn by mothballs. In 1978 he attended an agricultural college in his home province, Hunan. Majoring in both entomology and plant pathology, he nevertheless showed more interest in insects than plants. For his honors thesis he calculated life tables for rice leaf rollers.

Graduating from college with honors in 1982, he considred himself truly lucky to win a national competition for a scholarship (the only one in the whole country) to study in Canada for a graduate degree. Realizing that he had never seen bees before (neither had he tasted honey), he chose to live with beekeepers in log cabins and tents, helping with Varroa mite control and royal jelly production, while reading about bee biology. In June 1983 he obtained his visa for Canada and chose University of Guelph because at the time it had the strongest apicultural program in North America. At Guelph, he studied under Professor Gard Otis for his PhD. He published five papers from his PhD and was eager to return to China.

However, no Chinese universities would accept both him and his wife. In August 1988 he started a postdoctoral position to study insect pharmacology with Dr. Charles Knowles, University of Missouri. Desiring to work with honey bees again he joined Dr. Gene Robinson at the University of Illinois in March 1989, a position he retained for eight and a half years.

Zachary achieved a permanent academic position when he was hired in November of 1998 to continue his research on honey bees at Michigan State University. Since then he has worked to serve the beekeeping industry in Michigan and throughout North America and to develop his teaching skills.

Zachary has been a featured speaker and teacher at EAS several times. Congratulations, Zach!

EAS Graduate Student 2008 Award Winner
Geoff Williams is our 2008 EAS Student Award winner. Geoff graduated from the University of Alberta in 2005 with a B.Sc. in Animal Biology. A recipient of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship, Williams is currently a M.Sc. candidate at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada under the supervision of Dr. Dave Shutler (Acadia University) and Richard Rogers (Wildwood Labs Inc.).

His thesis investigates the microsporidians Nosema apis and N. ceranae in western honey bees. Biology and management of N. apis, the historical parasite of western honey bees, is well-described, however, N. ceranae, historically of Asian honey bees and first described from western honey bees in 2006, is less understood. Geoff was first to identify N. apis, against N. ceranae.

In addiiton, he is investigating colony-level pathology associated with N. ceranae infection and ecological interactions between these two Nosema species.

In 2007, Geoff was awarded one of six global scholarships from the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees (American Beekeeping Federation) and recently received the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists’ Student Merit Award for 2008.

The 2008 Roger A Morse Outstanding Teaching/Extension Service/Regulatory Award
The Roger A. Morse Outstanding Teaching/Extension Service/ Regulatory Award winner for 2008 is Robert (Bob) Berthold, Jr., PhD.

Bob is a long-time EAS member and supporter and a lifelong beekeeper and teacher of Biology, Entomology and Apiculture. He has devoted 35 years to teaching and inspiring students and beekeepers in the study and practice of apiculture, as a college professor, short course instructor, speaker, author and mentor.

Bob received his PhD in Apiculture in 1968 from Pennsylvania State University, his M.S. in Entomology from Rutgers University in 1966 and his B.S. in Biology in 1963 Juniata College.

Dr. Berthold is Present Professor Emeritis of Science & Agriculture, at Delaware Valley College Doylestown, PA. In the past he has served as Summer Bee Inspector for Southeastern Pennsylvania. He owns and runs Berthold Candle Molds Manufacturing, Doylestown, PA where he produces and sells candle molds designed based on 17th century antique tin molds.

Bob was a Professor at Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture from 1968 to 2005. He taught Biology, Invertebrate Zoology, Entomology, Apiculture & Biology Seminar. He also coached the mens and womens Cross Country Teams for 37 years.

Berthold is the author of Beeswax Crafting, and has written for American Bee Journal and Gleanings in Bee Culture

In 1983 he received the Distinguished Faculty Member, Delaware Valley College.

Since 1956 he has been a Cross Country and 10K Runner and runs in about 20 events per year to support charities in and around Southeast Pennsylvania. Since 2007 Bob has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.

Congratulations to Dr. Bob Berthold from all of the Eastern Apicultural Society.