Utah Beekeepers' Association

Utah Beekeepers' Conventions

The Utah Beekeepers' Association hosts an annual convention for its members of all skill levels. This is a great place to learn the ins and outs of beekeeping from the pros. All association members are welcome and encouraged to attend. These meetings are generally held in the Salt Lake area during the winter months. Association membership is required to attend and is offered at no charge to paid-up members. Having your beekeeper's license is good, but it doesn't give you membership in the Association or participation in our conference.

The next convention will be Friday and Saturday, February 20-21, 2026 at the Utah State University Salt Lake Campus, 920 W Levoy Dr, Taylorsville, Utah. We also plan to make the convention available to members online via Zoom (link to be provided shortly before the convention begins).

We look forward to hearing several speakers including:

• Matt Stayer: A queen breeder in Norther California with an unusual skill set to produce some of the consistently best queens in the industry. Matt is no stranger when it comes to bees. Matt has worked in bees for over 30 years. With both his parents working in the bee industry, he spent most of his childhood in the bee yards. At age 14, he started working in the bees for Jackie Park-Burris Queens. He worked for Jackie until his parents Bonnie and Pat Stayer bought Homer Parks Business in 1998. At that point Matt left Jackie and went to work for Stayer’s Quality Queens,

  Dr. Larry Connor: A renowned entomologist, author, and publisher who has dedicated his career to beekeeping. He is the author of several books on beekeeping. He served as the Extension Entomologist in Apiculture at The Ohio State University. He is a monthly contributor to American Bee Journal and Bee Culture Magazine. 
• Dr. Priya Chakrabarti Basu: Assistant Professor at the Department of Entomology, Washington State University. Priya studies the interactive impacts of multiple stressors on bees, for example poor nutrition, pesticides, abiotic stressors and diseases. She uses a wide array of multidisciplinary techniques across fields such as physiology, toxicology, functional biology, multiomics-based approaches and neuroethology to address her research questions. 
• Brian Stephenson: Commercial beekeeper and past president of the Utah Beekeepers' Association. Brian comes from a multi-generation family beekeeping operation in Delta, Utah. Brian will share a little about their history and practices that have helped them weather many changes that have come to beekeeping.

Click here for more detailed bios.

An agenda will be posted soon.

To register for the 2026 convention, pay your dues first, then go here to register for the event. (Note: If you get a message that says, "Event registration is not available" even though you've paid your dues, contact the webmaster.)

Due to the venue restrictions, seating will be limited to 150. We therefore will not have room for non-member guests at the convention itself (paid non-member guests are welcome to the Friday-night dinner). Dinner reservations must be made by 11 PM on February 12.

Bring a small jar of your 2025 honey for the honey-tasting table.

If you are a vendor looking for a space to show off your products, please contact our president.

Note: If you try to register for an event before paying your 2026 dues, you will get a message saying, "Event registration is not available due to event settings". So, pay your 2026 dues first.

Click here for items from past conventions.

Click here for beekeeping events outside Utah.