About

It all started when…

The Geneva Bee Conference(GBC) started out in 2008 as a joint meeting, held in mid-February, between two area beekeeper’s organizations – the Ontario-Finger Lakes Beekeepers Association and the Finger Lakes Beekeeper’s Club.  National speakers were invited to speak at the joint meetings and other clubs were invited to enjoy the talks and to meet fellow beekeepers.  Since 2010, the conference has been held at Hobart and William Smith Colleges located in Geneva, New York on the shores of Seneca Lake.

In 2011, the joint meetings were officially given a name; Geneva Bee Conference, as well as a new campus venue, and moved to a different month to make it easier for people to attend.

In 2016, the conference again is getting some improves. We provided a lunch for a small cost, having 2 break out sessions and an evening social at a local winery. 2016 proved to be a fantastic conference, record breaking 300 people, be sure you do not miss the next one!

In 2017, the conference grew again and we had more attending, more vendors and had continued success. After the conference, the 2 clubs discussed making some improvements and finding a new home for the conference for a number of reasons. One of the changes is that the Ontario-Finger Lakes Beekeepers Association will now run the conference solely. We also found a new home for the conference because of our growing number of attendees.

In 2018 , the conference once again grew, with over 350 attendees, many vendors and lots of willing volunteers, once again was a success. Our new location at FLCC Campus in Canandaigua proved to lend itself to the our needs and allow us to conduct 4 simultaneous break out sessions.

The 2019 Conference had a name change to The Greater New York Bee Conference to not only encompass our move to a new location at FLCC but to give us endless possibilities thru-out the State as we continue to grow.

2020 marks our 12th year of holding the Greater New York Bee Conference ( the conference formerly know as Geneva Bee Conference ) Our speakers and location are going to be top shelf , please join us.