Met lots of folks, learned much, and made lots of video for my fans. I even got to see and film the coronation of the new honey queen.
The main lessons from the technical track was that we should be feeding our bees in September to survive best over the winter. Also, that feeding will really help a hive with dealing with Nosema.
I also learned of a toxic honey plant in Texas that is (thankfully) reasonably rare, called ‘Snow on the Mountain’ which you can find more about here:
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=14586
I’m assuming you mean the pollen ISN’T toxic to bees, just that the plant matter is toxic for mammals & such to ingest, yes? I’ve got these on my property, and our geese – who normally chew even the salvias & yuccas down to nubs – won’t touch Snow on the Mountain. Our neighbor has a hive, and I’d hate to think this plant would hurt them.