Meet The Speakers

Carla is recently retired and now devotes more time to creative endeavors, including beekeeping and a sideline business, Chestnut Ridge Garden. Carla, together with her husband, Stan Houk, work to be a consistent year-round presence at their local Farmers Market and both are active in the Rockwood Park Backyard Beekeepers Association (RPBBA). There are many projects related to community outreach/education including RPBBA Honey Bee Festival (planning, supplies, set up and follow through); presentations to local garden clubs and to fellow beekeepers. In addition, there are monthly RPBBA study groups using the VSBA study guides for the MBP Apprentice/Journeyman.

Brooke Savage is a Virginia Master Beekeeper with 15+ years of experience and thousands of hours spent in hives managing 200 colonies for farms, institutions and corporate clients with Trophic, a full service hive management company that packages distinct honey expressions for each client.

Keith is originally from Madison County, Virginia, but has lived in Powhatan, VA since 1996. Growing up in farm country, his interests included woodworking, gardening and the outdoors. He brought all of these interests together in the Spring of 2016 when he started keeping bees. He now has multiple hive types in his apiary, including Langstroth, Layens, observation, top bar and Warre hives. His observation hive (located inside his garage) is the "star" of his apiary and is made from 60+ year old walnut and cherry that his grandfather originally harvested from the family farm and contains eight medium frames (two wide by four tall). He also handcrafted the Layens, top bar and Warre hives. His Langstroth style hives are 4-frame, 5-frame or 8-frame configurations using medium frames. Although he has used some small cell foundation, most frames in his hives (including the observation hive) are foundationless. Most of his bee stock is derived from Central Virginia swarms and colonies that have survived multiple seasons. He has also introduced a few Russian queens in his apiary as an experiment in strengthening his local stock. ​ In addition to developing his apiary and launching Honey and the Hive, LLC, he has been a member of the Huguenot Beekeepers Association since 2015, and has served as an officer since 2017.

Ryan Williamson of Sourwood Farm is a second generation beekeeper running a full time sideline operation of 200-250 colonies with his family in Earlysville, Virginia. A proclivity to tinker and experiment has resulted in endless humbling mistakes but also occasional success. The presentation will focus on those tips, unique management techniques and equipment modifications that have proven useful in his operation with the hope that a few might be useful in yours.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners are specially trained volunteer educators who provide sound gardening information to our local community. While each member is unique, we share a common love of gardening and enjoy sharing our knowledge with others. For the most part, the Heart of Virginia Master Gardeners Association serves the counties of Buckingham, Cumberland, and Prince Edward, but we also have members from both Nottoway and Appomattox counties.

Gary Gosdzinski. Retired US Navy. Beekeeper and mead maker for over 20 years. Currently manage between 50 and 80 colonies each year. Partner and head beekeeper for G&S Apiary, INC and Breezy Hill Meadworks located in Smithfield, VA.