You may have heard the bee population is d isappearing. What's all the buzz about? \;Honeybees\, both locally and nationally have been suffering catastrophic losses. Local bee experts\, K im Kulton and Pete Soltesz\, will explain the challenges ahead and ways we can help. Signup required.
\n\nSpeaker biographies:< /strong>
\nPete Soltesz was introduced to bees as a young boy growing up in rural PA. His parents were passionate about garde ning and bees\, in fact\, much of what they ate growing up they raised or grew. It was \; &ldquo\;all hands on deck&rdquo\; and he had plenty of time to &ldquo\;relax and enjoy&rdquo\; once all of the chores were done!
\nProfessionally\, he went to Annapolis\, studied Systems Engineeri ng\, and served in the Navy as an officer on a sub. After the Navy\, he be came a financial planner and mortgage lender\, running his own firm\, APIS Financial Group.
\nThings changed for Pete early in 2010\, when his mom came to visit Chicago for the first time. She checked out his garden and decided he needed a colony of bees. Being the industrious woman she wa s\, she found a nearby class and signed him up. There was a drawing at the end\, and he won the grand prize: a five-frame nucleus colony. This set t he wheels in motion\, from 1 hive\, then 2\, then 12\, 42\, and at the hei ght of this past season\, nearly 100 colonies.
\nHis passion and kno wledge for bees has continued to grow. And it is how he met Kim\, while re moving that swarm from the Warrenville roof. He is an active member of the local beekeeping community\, serving as the current President of the Cook DuPage Beekeepers Association since 2013\, and former VP of the Illinois State Beekeeping Association.
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Kim Kulton is orig inally from Elmhurst\, Illinois. She studied Biology\, Chemistry and Anthr opology at Northern Illinois University. She began her career as an entomo logist with the state monitoring mosquito populations. She was the first t o confirm the presence of West Nile Virus in Illinois. \;
\nAs a n entrepreneur\, she built and operated Dogs To Frogs\, a 20+ year local p et care business.
\nIn 2013\, Kim got a call from a friend in Warren ville\, inviting her to come over to watch a beekeeper remove a swarm of b ees that had moved into her home. Rather than sit on the sideline watching with her girlfriends\, Kim rolled up her sleeves\, climbed the scaffoldin g\, and helped the beekeeper remove the bees from the roof. And this is ho w it began for Kim! She got "the bug\," and later went on to start her own company: "Bee All About It."
\nShe now collects and removes swarms\ , raises local queens\, promotes bee venom apitherapy\, provides pollinati on services\, and produces local honey for sale. In 2015\, she purchased a farm near Sheridan\, IL\, and moved her bee operations there. Today\, she has nearly 100 colonies of bees across 10 locations in Cook\, Dupage\, Wi ll\, and Lasalle Counties. Kim is on the Board of the Cook DuPage Beekeepe rs Association\, and has 4 dogs\, 2 cats\, 2 horses\, and a small flock of chickens!
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