 Dan Cummings manages several thousand acres of almonds and walnuts in the Sacramento Valley of California. He has been a Director of the Almond Board of California for the last 12 years and is the Chairman of their Bee Task Force. He was recently elected to Blue Diamond Growers Board. Dan is a partner in Olivarez Honey Bees which runs over 10,000 colonies and is a commercial queen breeder.
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 John Miller is a fourth-generation beekeeper. He has kept bees for 36 years. John owns Miller's Honey Farms, Inc. based in Blackfoot, ID with branches in Gackle, ND and Newcastle, CA. He also owns Miller Honey Mandarins of Newcastle, CA where he grows seedless Owari-Satsuma Mandarins on C-35 Rootstock. John is a partner in En-R-G Foods, Inc. of Steamboat Springs, CO, manufacturers of honey-based energy bars, gels, protein bars and energy chews. John is a former 2-term chair of the National Honey Board.
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 David Miksa has been keeping honeybees for 55 years following in his father Andrew's footsteps who started in 1936. He presently operates a family-owned queen rearing farm with his wife, Linda, children and grandchildren. For the past seven years, successfully shipping tens of thousands of queen cells each year via next day UPS. In the past, they have done honey production in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and still do in Florida. Past employment includes insect researcher at Cornell University under Dr. R.A. Morse, a life- long friend and several years doing bee breeding research at the USDA Madison Bee Management Lab under Dr. Floyd Moeller and E.R. Harp.
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 Joe Traynor operates a pollination service for beekeepers and almond growers. Joe's firm, Scientific Ag Co, is based in Bakersfield and also does agricultural consulting, specializing in soil and plant nutrition. Joe is a former beekeeper with extensive experience in many crops.
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 Joe MacIlvaine has held the position of President of Paramount Farming Company since May 1987. He is responsible for general management of the company’s operations, including the management of 120,000 acres of agricultural properties. The company’s primary crops are almonds, pistachios and pomegranates. In each of these products, Paramount is the largest grower in the country. Prior to his employment at Paramount, Joe was General Manager of Tejon Farming Company, part of Tejon Ranch. He is President of two water districts, and has been at various times Chairman of the Almond Board of California and its Production Research and International Committees, Treasurer and Director of Western Grower’s Association, Vice Chair of the California Pistachio Commission, President of the Southern Sierra Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and President of the Rotary Club of Bakersfield. Joe is active in a number of community organizations. His education includes a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master’s of Business Administration from UCLA.
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Zac Browning is a 4th generation commercial beekeeper and honey producer. He is a co-owner of Browning Honey Co. Inc. With his brothers, he operates over 18,000 hives ![zacbrowning[1].jpg](images/stories/staff/zacbrowning[1].jpg "zacbrowning[1].jpg") for honey production and pollination in Idaho, North Dakota, and California. Zac’s has served the beekeeping industry as Chairman of The Honey Voluntary Quality Assurance Committee, as Trustee for the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, as a member of the National Honey Board, and as a member of several state Beekeeping associations. Zac is a committed member and current president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
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David Mendes operates 7000+ hives for crop pollination and honey production. With a home base in Ft Myers Florida, he brings bees to Maine for blueberry pollination and ![davemendes[1].jpg](images/stories/staff/davemendes[1].jpg "davemendes[1].jpg") Massachusetts for cranberry pollination each summer and now to California for almond pollination in the winter. In the Spring and Fall the bees make honey in Florida. Dave has been a full time commercial beekeeper since 1977. He is currently vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
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Gene Brandi has operated a bee business in Central California for honey production, as well as pollination of almonds, alfalfa seed, cherries, and melons for the past 30 ![genebrandi[1].jpg](images/stories/staff/genebrandi[1].jpg "genebrandi[1].jpg") years. He as been on the Board of Directors for the California State Beekeepers Association since 1978, currently serving as its Legislative Chairman. Mr. Brandi served on the Board for the American Beekeeping Federation from 1988-1992 and was chairman of the National Honey Board from 2001 – 2004.
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 Christi Heintz has been managing production research for the California almond industry for the past 12 years. She currently operates as a research consultant, managing pollination research for both the almond industry and Project Apis m. Christi also manages the environmental sustainability program for the Almond Board. Christi holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from UC Davis and has been a hobby beekeeper.
Please direct any questions or feedback regarding PAm. To:
Christi Heintz, Executive Director
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 Meg Ribotto is a Massachusetts native who relocated to Arizona in 1982. Meg holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Teacher Certification from Chapman University. She is a former elementary teacher. Having volunteered for various community organizations and a public library board member in charge of a membership for over 3,000 members, she now enjoys working for PAm as an administrative assistant. Meg's hobbies include hiking, skiing, cardio-weight workouts and reading.
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