Tarabeekeepers Association

August 17th, 7pm

Topic: Apitherapy and bee venom research at UGA

Speaker: Jörg Mayer

Dr. Jörg Mayer is a Full Professor of Zoological Medicine in the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. A board-certified specialist in zoological medicine with over 25 years of clinical and academic experience, he has recently expanded his expertise into honey bee veterinary medicine and apitherapy. As a past President of the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium (2025) and a past board member of the American Apitherapy Society (2024–2025), Dr. Mayer is a leading advocate for integrating veterinary science into bee health management and the therapeutic use of bee products in exotic animal medicine.

Dr. Mayer’s current research centers on honey bee colony health and apitherapy. Key areas include the effects of hive microclimate on Varroa mite proliferation, the application of biosensors to monitor the bee colony as a superorganism, and the immunomodulatory and oncological applications of apitherapy in exotic pets. He also explores honey bees as a novel teaching model in veterinary education and investigates the in-vitro effects of apitherapy on lymphocyte function across species.

We welcome anyone interested in beekeeping to attend our meetings, which are free and open to the public. We meet at the Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church, 1150 Jefferson Ave, East Point GA, 30344, every third Monday at 7pm. Doors open at 6:30. Park and enter from the back of the building.

Tara Beehives in College Park:
harvesting honey

The Tara Apiary at Metro Atlanta Urban Farm is growing! This month we were gifted a brand new western cedar top bar hive. While it may be late to get a colony established this year, we'd love it if a swarm magically appeared.

Our existing colonies are thriving and we recently extracted the first honey from this apiary. We also had another first time event—inviting Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association members to participate and learn about honey extraction along with Tara folks and students from Academe.

The event was held at Academe of the Oaks in Decatur On June 4th. The honey harvested came from Academe's apiary and the Tara Beekeepers apiary.

Tara Beekeepers Association invites you to join our club!
Membership is $25, and includes family members.

We take payment in the form of cash, check, or credit card (at our meetings). If you would like to send a check, please make it payable to Tara Beekeepers Association and send to:
David Brookshire, Treasurer
1925 Fisher Drive
Stockbridge, GA 30281

2026 MONTHLY MEETING LOCATION:

We host our monthly meetings at the Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church in East Point, GA on the third Monday of each month, at 7pm. Centrally located in the South Metro Atlanta area, our monthly meetings are free to attend, and we welcome anyone who is interested in learning about honey bees!

Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church

1150 Jefferson Avenue

East Point, GA 30344

Directions to Fellowship Hall Meeting Room:

Parking and building entrance are located behind the church on the southeast side at the corner of Batavia St and Winburn Drive.