SCBA 2026 Summer Conference
Presented by Diamond Sponsor:
Thank you to our Sponsors -
We could not deliver this conference without your generosity
We could not deliver this conference without your generosity
Platinum Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor?
SCBA depends on our conference sponsors to off-set the cost of our conferences for our members and support our Youth Education and Research initiatives. We have several levels of sponsorship to meet most every budget and would love to have you join us in helping to provide quality education and programming for the beekeepers of South Carolina.
Anyone can sponsor – Businesses, Individuals, Clubs, or Organizations! Please click the button below.
As a Sponsor, you will enjoy national advertising through our website and social media platforms as well as conference program and event signage. You may also elect to join us as a vendor with added sponsorship. Vendors may add sponsorship to their registration accessed separately by using the Vendor Registration Link below. If you choose to also be a vendor at our conference, your vendor placement will be prioritized based on your level of sponsorship.
A Full Conference Registration is included for those sponsoring at $250 or above. Businesses and Affiliated Clubs may choose to sponsor a conference activity and name one of their members to fill the complimentary registration. Attendance is not required for sponsorship.
SCBA is a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization. All sponsorship donations are tax-deductible.
Thank you for supporting the mission of SCBA in South Carolina!
Meet our Keynote Speakers
Dr Jörg Mayer
Professor, Zoological Medicine, University of Georgia
Dr. Jorg Mayer grew up in Germany where he received his primary education. He went to Budapest / Hungary to study veterinary medicine shortly after the “iron curtain” fell.
During his studies he was fortunate to be able to work with veterinarians in South Africa and Namibia for 6 months. He always had a strong interest in exotic animal medicine.
After he received his doctoral degree from the University of Budapest/Hungary, he went to the USA for an internship in ‘Zoological Medicine and Surgery’ at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI. At the end of the internship he was part of a research team studying wild tree kangaroos in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea for 3 months. After this exciting experience, he went to the Royal veterinary College in London, England to study for his Masters of Science degree in wild animal health. The masters project which focused on lead toxicity in the common loon, brought him to the Tufts Wildlife Clinic in the USA. There he was hired to serve as a Clinical Associate Professor and as the head of the clinical service for exotic animals. After 10 years at Tufts University he moved to Athens, Georgia in 2010. He currently is a Full Professor in Zoological Medicine at UGA.
Dr Mayer lectures regularly at large national and international conferences on all aspects of exotic animal medicine including Honey Bee Medicine. He qualified with the first batch of specialists in Exotic Companion Mammals as a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, in addition he is also a Diplomate of the American and the European College of Zoological Medicine. He served as the president of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians from 2010-2012. Since 2012 he has also served as an International Fulbright Specialist in Zoological Medicine. In 2025 he was certified in honey bee medicine by the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium.
Dr. Mayer has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters some of which have been translated into French, Spanish and Portuguese. His latest book the “Veterinary Clinical Advisor for Birds and Exotic pets” was published in early 2013. In 2013 and in 2024 he received the exotic speaker of the year award by the NAVC. In 2018 he was voted Continuing Educator of the Year in Exotics at the Western Veterinary Conference. In 2016 he received the Oxbow/AEMV Exotic Mammal Health Award, an annual award to recognize excellence and innovation in the field of exotic mammal health.
Email: mayerj@uga.edu
Theresa Martin
Apicultural Research Professional and Lab Manager for the University of Georgia Honey Bee Program
Theresa Martin is the author of Dead Bees Don’t Make Honey: 10 Tips for Healthy Productive Bees, which includes a Foreword by Dr. Thomas Seeley.
Theresa has achieved 99% colony survival and honey production that is twice the local average in her eight years as a beekeeper, with 20–25 colonies in Kentucky. She practices nature-based beekeeping, which is a methodology that places bee health as the highest priority and optimal pathway to productivity.
Following the model of how bees survive in the wild, employing integrated pest management, and providing high support yet low intervention, she demonstrates that healthy, alive bees are more productive than sick or dead bees.
Theresa is a Cornell Master Beekeeper, 2024 Kentucky State Beekeeper of the Year, and President of the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association. She is also a writer for Bee Culture Magazine and worked at Fidelity Investments and Procter & Gamble in information technology and operations management.
Theresa can be reached at theresa@littlewolf.farm Her book is available on Amazon.
Email: theresa@littlewolf.org
Dr Tammy Horn Potter
Bee Extension Specialist, Kentucky State University
Dr. Tamara Horn Potter currently serves as a bee extension specialist for Kentucky State University, an author and former state apiarist. From 2008-2014, she worked at Eastern Kentucky University and with coal companies to get pollinator habitat established as a best management practice for surface mine reclamation.
From 2014-2024, she served as the KY Dept. of Agriculture State Apiarist, working with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Columbia Gas to get pollinator habitat established on highway rights-of-way. She joined KY State University Land Grant Program as Bee Extension Specialist in 2024.
After finally downsizing from 300 hives, she and her husband Doug now manage honey bees at three apiaries in the Bluegrass.
She’s served on more nonprofit beekeeping boards than anyone should have the right to.
She was named 2010 Pollinator Advocate of the Year by Pollinator Partnership, received the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, and the Eastern Apiculture Society Divelbiss Extension Award in 2021.
Dr. Potter is the author of Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation (UP of KY, 2005), Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Teach us About Local Trade and Global Economics (UP of KY, 2012), and Flower Power: Establishing Pollinator Habitat (Wicwas P, 2019).
Email: tamara.potter@kysu.edu
Click below to view the conference program for each day
Honey Show Information
With more than 25 different categories this years honey show has something for everyone. Browse the rules at the below link and find a category for you. Cash prizes and awards will be given for the best entries.
The honey show is open to any South Carolina Beekeepers Association member who is a paid conference attendee and who wishes to enter one or more exhibits. Only 1 entry allowed per family per category. The honey show is NOT open to individuals serving as judges, stewards, or show secretaries, nor to individuals who are immediate family members of those individuals serving as judges, stewards, or show secretaries.
Entries may be submitted during the following times:
- Thursday, July 16, from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
- Friday, July 17, from 7:30 am – 9:30 am.
All entries will remain on display until 3:00 pm, Saturday, July 18.
Exhibitors may pick up their entries between 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 18.
Conference Activities
Bee Bowl
Up to 8 local club teams will compete to determine which 2 teams will represent SC in the championship Bee Bowl against NC at the 2027 Spring Conference.
Are you a “bee nerd”? Love everything bee knowledge? Then YOU should be on your club’s team. Teams consist of 4 members plus 1 alternate.
Get your team together and contact us to reserve your team’s spot on the roster!
Email: info@scstatebeekeepers.com
Beek Bash and Beek Olympics
Don’t miss our annual Friday Beek Bash. A complimentary catered buffet is offered with pre-registration.
Registration must be completed by June 1st to guarantee your ticket due to catering deadlines.
Affiliate clubs will compete in our Annual Beek Olympics: 10 bee-themed activities geared to get you involved and chuckling. Participation will help earn points toward the Club Spirit Award — the coveted Club Spirit Copper Smoker!
Live Bee Yard
Work bees with experienced beekeepers as they demonstrate how to read frames, perform a mite wash, apply mite treatments, complete an inspection for a practical exam, and more! Bee veils will be required to participate in bee yard activities. Please bring your veil or bee suit!
Intro to Beekeeping – Youth or Adult
We are offering two complimentary Saturday workshops for the whole family!
The youth workshop will focus on the products of the hive as well as general information about bees an pollination.
The adult workshop is geared towards adults thinking of starting beekeeping and those who are in their 1st year of beekeeping. We will explore the workings of the hive, seasonal tasks, biology, honey harvesting, diseases and pests, as well as what equipment is needed to start.
This course is not intended to replace a full beginner beekeeping course, but is intended to help answer questions and prepare one to have a successful 1st year of beekeeping.
These workshops are complimentary but do not provide access to the rest of the conference.
Vendor Fair
Vendors from all across the nation will display and demonstrate their products. Many are offering discounts and specials to provide you with the best value in beekeeping equipment and supplies. Our Vendor Fair provides an opportunity for you to see, touch, feel, and ask the experts about items you’ve only seen in magazines and catalogs as well as secure those conference specials!
Door Prizes, Raffle and Big Prize Action
We will be offering a number of exciting door prizes, many of which are equipment pieces gifted from our vendors. We will also have a number of high value raffle prizes and some unique auction items.
You must be in the main auditorium at the time of drawing to win the door / raffle prizes.
Master Beekeeper Program Testing
The SC Master Beekeeper Program will offer the Certified Level Written, the Journeyman Level Written and Written Practical portion, and the Master Level Written, Oral, and Field exams.
Prerequisites apply per the MBP Manual.
Deadline to register for testing is June 30th.
- Certified Level Written $10
- Journeyman Level Written/Practical $35
- Master Level Written $75
In order to take the exam portfolios for Journeyman and Master level must be submitted electronically for review by with confirmation to proceed to testing.
Send portfolios and any questions to mbp@scstatebeekeepers.com.
Note: If you completed the Journeyman Review Class your testing fee was included in the class fee. You do not need to pay for it during conference registration. Instead email mbp@scstatebeekeepers.com to confirm you intend to test and submit your portfolio.
Register for Master Beekeeper Testing here.
Register to Attend
Three full days – SAVE with EARLY registration.
$125 — EARLY BIRD by May 31st
$140 — STANDARD from June 1st
$50 — Daily Rate by June 30th
$60 — Daily Rate from July 1st
$280 — Family Rate (for up to two adults and three children up to 17 years)
Current SCBA membership is required to use the conference member registration. Please log in to your SCBA member account prior to clicking the registration button to secure your member rate.
Three full days — SAVE with EARLY registration.
$145 — EARLY BIRD by May 31st
$160 — STANDARD from June 1st
$65 — Daily Rate by June 30th
$75 — Daily Rate from July 1st
$320 — Family Rate (for up to two adults and three children up to 17 years)
You may register as an SCBA member to secure special conference rates.
Three Full Days
- $50 – for Youth ages 12-17 years
Note: General conference programming is geared for adults and is typically not appropriate for children under 12.
All youths must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or guardian under a separate paid registration.
Interested in Helping out at the Conference?
We couldn’t deliver the quality confeernces you have come to expect without the support of our volunteers. We have lots of different roles available ranging from set up and take down crew to registration desk support, greeters, prize runners and room monitors – there’s something for everyone!
We will publish a sign up sheet where you can select your volunteer slots. In the meantime if you would like to lodge interest or ask questions please contact Marika at treasurer@scstatebeekeepers.com.
Vendor Directory
Our conference vendors are listed in alphabetical order. Please click on their logos to visit their websites. Conference special offers are listed below each logo.
$90 for a 10lb box of beeswax
TBD
Free delivery of pre-orders to conference
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
Interested in Becoming a Conference Vendor?
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Vendor at our Summer 2026 conference.
Vendor booths will be located on the first floor of the conference building. We offer half booth, full booth and double booth options ranging from $150-$450.
All vendor options include a conference badge(s) and inclusion in the Friday evening social. Dedicated vendor demonstration times and a vendor showcase have been built into the schedule to encourage shopping. Please indicate your willingness to fill one of the demonstration slots on your registration form and consider offering a discount or special to coordinate with your demonstration. We will publish your specials on our website to encourage pre-conference sales. Booth location assignments will be prioritized based on the date of registration and sponsorship level, if applicable.
Please contact Danny Cannon at advertising@scstatebeekeepers.com with any vendor questions or click below to register.
Conference General Information
Venue Information
Furman University.
3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29613.
The conference is taking place in the Younts Conference Center and adjacent Herring Center. Meals will be served in the Daniel Dining Hall.
Dorm and Hotel Information
Furman University has made a number of affordable dorm rooms available for you during the conference for the discounted rate of $42 per night. Please select dorm room on your registration form for each night you wish to stay on campus. The deadline to register for dorm rooms is June 1st.
In addition, SCBA has secured discounted rooms at the below hotels for the 2026 Summer Conference. There are a limited number of rooms available at each hotel at the rates listed, and rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis depending upon availability. We recommend making your reservation as early as possible to ensure availability. Please reserve directly through the booking links.
$112 per night
$139 per night
$152 per night
$154 per night
Refreshments and Meals
We have secured a campus meals package for $92 which consists of 8 meals including;
- Dinner Wednesday, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Thursday
- Breakfast and Lunch Friday
- Breakfast and Lunch Saturday
On Friday evening we will host our annual complimentary buffet.
Refreshments will be served throughout the conference, complimentary or at a subsidized rate.
Complimentary water is available at the venue – please bring your reusable container.
When registering for the conference you will see the option to add on the meals package as well as dorm rooms and MBP testing.
If you registered under SUPER EARLY BIRD please add meals packages and dorm rooms here or below. These will be linked to your registration.
If you do not reserve a meals package you may purchase lunches at the on-site cafeteria or off-site at nearby restaurants and cafes.
Note: Deadline to register for the meals package is June 1st.
Sign up for Spring 2027 by 8/31 and SAVE BIG!
It's Spring and Love is in the Air
Spring 2027 is our joint conference with North Carolina Beekeepers Association, being held at The Gateway Center in Richburg, SC.
Register by August 1st, 2026 for Super Early Bird rate ($75 members). Only available until the end of August.
Registration opens July 16th, 2026.
Contact info@scstatebeekeepers.com
See you in Greenville!