Contact a Master Beekeeper!
The Texas Master Beekeeper Program is a voluntary educational program that challenges beekeepers in their knowledge of honey bees and beekeeping. As part of the program, beekeepers are required to complete a certain amount of Public Service Credits which consist of outreach activities focused on educating the general public about honey bees. In essence these beekeepers become ambassadors for the apiary industry. The beekeepers listed below have accomplished their Master or Master Craftsman Level Certification within this program. They are experienced at speaking about many topics related to honey bees. If you are interested in contacting a Master Beekeeper directly, please use the contact information they have provided in their bio.
Last Updated: 11/09/2026
Texas Master Craftsman Beekeeper:
Texas Master Beekeepers:
- Freddie Benjamin
- Diego Berry
- Todd Cepica
- Judge Christian
- Nick Coker
- Ron Couch
- Nanette Davis
- Beth Derr
- Timothy Elliot
- Roger Farr
- Danielle Fleming
- Ryan Giesecke
- Mary Ann Green
- Jennifer Harbour
- Kellie Jensen
- Donovan Johns
- Michael Kelling
- Michael Kerr-Pankonien
- Kirk Kirksey
- Dianna Kocurek
- Theodore Luoma
- Heather McBride
- Terry McFall
- Chris Michel
- Gregory Oermann
- Rachel Payne
- Tanya Phillips
- Ashley Ralph
- Tara Randle
- Chuck Reburn
- John Rhodes
- Harrison Rogers
- Terrah Rosecrans
- Justin Russell
- Phyllis Stroud
- John Swan
- Leonard VanMarion
- Pamela Yeamans
- Robin Young
Michelle Boerst, Master Craftsman Beekeeper
About Michelle
She became a Master Beekeeper in 2018 and achieved the last level, Master Craftsman in January 2023. Michelle lives in Aubrey, Texas and owns Bursting Bees. She also works for Alveole, an urban beekeeping company in the DFW area. She has two grown children whom she hopes will someday join her in the apiary. Michelle gives presentations on bees and beekeeping, mentors beginner beekeepers, teaches beekeeping classes and rehomes bees from all over the North Texas area. Sometimes they sell a little honey, too! She has volunteered for the Collin County Beekeepers Association, Denton County Beekeeping Association, The Texas Beekeepers Association.
Services
Mentoring, rehoming bees, honey sales
Presentation Topics
Mentoring, Beginning Beekeeping, Bees, Hive Inspections, Beekeeping Equipment
Contact Information
beemaster@burstingbees.com
940-231-6831
burstingbees.com
Dan Brantner, Master Craftsman Beekeeper
About Dan
Dan started beekeeping in 2013 after attending a two hour introduction to beekeeping class offered through Groupon. As an architect who was raised on a farm in Minnesota, he quickly realized that beekeeping provided a unique opportunity to combine his passion for the outdoors and the environment with his woodworking hobby. Seeking to expand his beekeeping knowledge and skills, he joined the Texas Master Beekeeper Program. Dan found the Texas Master Beekeeper Program to be a tremendous information resource and the Public Service component of the program provided him the opportunity to discover the joy of sharing information regarding the fascinating world of beekeeping with youth, school and civic organizations.
In 2014 Dan and his wife Donna founded Texas Honey Company which currently produces honey, comb honey, creamed honey and mead. Honey produced by Texas Honey Company has won 1st place at the State Fair of Texas as well as the Texas Beekeepers Association annual Honey Contest. In the first year of bottling, Texas Honey Company’s mead won 1st at the Texas Beekeepers Association Honey Contest.
Dan is a member of:
- The Texas Beekeepers Association
- Real Texas Honey
- Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association
- The American Institute of Architects
- MENSA International
Services
Mentoring new beekeepers; Making presentations to schools, youth and civic organizations; Honey sales
Presentation Topics
Beginning Beekeeping; Making your own beekeeping equipment; Hive products; Preparing for honey contests
Master Craftsman Presentations
Contact Information
Texas Honey Company
4033 Tumbril Lane
Plano, TX 75023
972-365-5592
dcbrantner@msn.com
Danielle Fleming, Master Beekeeper
About Danielle
Danielle Fleming is a Master Beekeeper and a Director on the Texas Beekeepers Association board, where she supports the beekeeping industry and promotes environmental sustainability for bees. Danielle brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for apiculture to Hive & Harvest, which she co-owns with her husband, Austin.
An experienced educator, Danielle teaches courses at McLennan Community College, focusing on honey tasting, and the medicinal uses of honey. She has presented at the Texas Beekeepers Association Annual Convention, where she shares insights and practical advice with the broader beekeeping community.
As the Youth Program Director of her local beekeeping club, Danielle inspires the next generation of beekeepers. Through her work with the Hives for Heroes program, she mentors veterans and first responders, helping them find healing and purpose in beekeeping. Danielle is also a Honey Judge Candidate through the American Honey Show Training Council (AHSTC) and has won numerous awards for her extracted honey, mead, and photography, including two blue ribbons at the 2024 Texas State Fair and six white ribbons at the 2024 Texas State Honey Show.
Her dedication to education, sustainability, and excellence in beekeeping makes her a trusted resource for beekeeping services and education.
Danielle is a Member of:
• Texas Beekeepers Association – Director
• Temple Area Beekeepers Association – Youth Program Director
• Hives for Heroes – Mentor
• American Honey Show Training Council – Honey Judge Candidate
Services
• Bee, Beekeeping, and Apitherapy Education and Presentations to Organizations, Schools, Events, etc.
• Honey Tastings
• Mentoring
• Bee Sales
• Honey & Product Sales
• Online Education
Presentation Topics
• Beekeeping 101
• Advanced Beekeeping
• Bee Husbandry/Management
• Bee Biology
• Pests, Pathogens, & Diseases of Honey Bees
• Apitherapy
• Hive Products
• Preparing for Honey Shows
• Horizontal Beekeeping
• Bees for Tax Exemption
And so much more. Feel free to reach out for specific topics. Will travel.
Contact Information
254-644-6766
QueenBee@theHiveandHarvest.com
www.theHiveandHarvest.com
China Spring, TX (outside of Waco)
Kirk Kirksey, Master Beekeeper
About Kirk
Kirk and his wife Joy (a Texas Master Gardener) have been gardening together for over 40 years. His interest in bees and beekeeping blossomed as he watched pollinators working blooms in and around his vegetables, flowers, fruit trees, and unplanned flora (so called weeds). After retiring from a Healthcare IT career, he and Joy moved permanently to their beloved Rancho Incognito (Somewhere on the Brazos) where they established the Sticky Fingers Apiary.
In addition to being a Texas Master Beekeeper, Kirk is a Texas AgriLife Master Gardener and a Certified Master Beekeeper from the University of Montana program. He believes beekeeping is a never-ending journey, with continual education being the key to success.
Kirk is deeply concerned about the loss of honey bee habitat and believes the term “Weed” should be purged from our thinking and the English language. Kirk is a long-time photographer. His “Bees on Weeds” is an ever-growing photo collection of honey bees foraging on undomesticated plantage.
Services
Texas Honey Bee Education (THBEA) Board Member, NO-MOW-MAY promoter, President – Glen Rose Dino-Bee Club, TBA Journal Contributor
Presentations
“Why Honey Isn’t Bee Vomit”, “A Bee’s Eye View of Pollen”, “A Bee’s Eye View of Nectar”, “How to Start a NO-MOW-MAY Program”, “Why You Should Care About Africanized Bees”, “So, You Want to be a Beekeeper: Key Decisions” – with a portable observation hive, “Beekeeping by the Numbers”
Contact Information
Rancho Incognito
972.365.5398
kkirks1414@gmail.com
www.mcbsbees.com
Shannon LaGrave, Master Craftsman Beekeeper
About Shannon
Shannon La Grave began beekeeping as a scholarship student with the Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association. She participated in the club’s Honey Queen program as both a princess and a honey queen moving on to the state level. After these experiences, she continued as a hobby beekeeper, diversifying into a small business including selling honey at farmers markets. Shannon has worked in the industry of beekeeping supplies for five years and has been teaching classes consistently for the past four years. Shannon is currently working in the field of corporate hive management with Oak Cliff Bee Company rooted in Dallas TX.
In addition to the business of bees, she began studying for the Texas Master Beekeepers program and is currently preparing to complete and test for the final level of Master Craftsman this year. Shannon is currently the President of the Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association that meets in McKinney, TX.
Shannon often refers to the inspiration of John Talbert who, during her scholarship student days, stated, “If you are not learning, then you are not doing something right”. Shannon has found enjoyment and wonder through the process of learning about the intricacies of the individual bee and the scope of the hive as an organism.
Master Craftsman Presentations
- Drones as Indicators of Varroa Mite Load (audio issue the first 9 minutes and 18 seconds)
- Honey Judging
Contact Information
Email: beekeepershannon@gmail.com
Heather McBride, Master Beekeeper
About Heather
Heather has been a beekeeper in East Texas for 9 years and is a Certified Texas Master Beekeeper. She is a Certified Texas Master Gardener in Bowie County. She currently works for Texas A&M Agrilife Extension in Overton, as the Honey Bee Technician and now coordinates the Texas Master Beekeeper Program. She started in the Texas Master Beekeeper Program herself in the Fall of 2017 and is now a Certified Texas Master Beekeeper as of Fall of 2024!
She has done a little bit of everything from removing bees in homes and other structures, queen rearing, educating other beekeepers and the general public, mentoring new beekeepers that she connects with in her local clubs and through the Hives for Heroes Program, to making mead, beeswax candles and other hive products. Both Heather and her husband met in 2001 while they were both serving in the USAF. Although her husband, Len McBride, says “he’s only here to lift the heavy stuff”, they both work together part-time to manage currently around 40 colonies in Texarkana, TX with goals to continue to grow their apiary.
Heather is a Member of
• Longview Beekeepers Association – President
• Marshall Beekeepers Association – Program Director
• Texarkana Beekeepers Association – Secretary/Treasurer
• NETX Beekeepers Conference – Program Director
• Hives for Heroes – Mentor
• American Honey Show Training Council – Honey Judge Candidate
Services
Beekeeping 101 Classes & Queen Rearing Classes, Mentoring, Queens and Nuc Sales, Apiary Visits, School & Club Presentations, Honey Sales, Farm Visits & Bee Experiences, Bee Removals & Bee Removal Referrals
Presentations
Queen Rearing, Integrated Pest Management, Mead Making Demonstrations, Hive Products, Beekeeping 101, Splits/Increases, Overwintering, and many more!
Contact Information
McBs Bees
Texarkana, TX
903-316-7952
mcbsbees@gmail.com
www.mcbsbees.com
Chris Michel, Master Beekeeper
About Chris
Chris has been a beekeeper in the Conroe Texas for 12 years. She is also a Master Gardener and member of the Native Plant Society of Texas with an interest in adding plants and building habitats to support pollinators and restoring wildscapes in the urban setting. She retired from a career as a Human Resources Professional and Leadership coach and now enjoys supporting growth of not-for-profit businesses.
Services
Bee Husbandry; Mentorship; Teaching new and intermediate beekeepers; Strategy and goals for your apiary
Contact Information
Email: michelfarm@gmail.com
Phone: 832-316-1082
Nathalie Misserey-Biggie, Master Craftsman Beekeeper
About Nathalie
Nathalie B. is a Master Craftsman beekeeper with 15 years of experience and a thriving operation of 400 colonies that she maintains entirely Treatment-Free. She is a respected international speaker and professional educator, regularly invited to lead trainings and present on speaking tours across the United States, Australia, and Africa.
Nathalie is a dedicated advocate for Horizontal, Natural Beekeeping as a simple, affordable, accessible, and highly manageable approach that is especially well suited to backyard and small-scale beekeepers. An inventor at heart, she designed the easy-to-build Bee Mindful standardized Horizontal Top-Bar Hive and the Bee Mindful Flex Hive, a Langstroth to Top-Bar adapter that streamlines and expands the adoptability of Horizontal Top-Bar Hives by allowing full interchangeability of comb and enabling efficient Top-Bar NUC production by all, including Langstroth beekeepers. Her innovations earned her an invitation to present at Apimondia 2025 in Europe.
Nathalie is deeply committed to community outreach. She has developed beekeeping training programs and teaching apiaries for refugees in the Congo, Nigeria, and Texas, and has launched multiple Youth Scholarship Programs, donating more than a hundred horizontal hives and supporting underserved communities in the process. She also supports the Amish community that now hand-crafts her hives, creating meaningful local jobs by passing all profits from hive production directly to them.
An Ohio State MBA graduate, Nathalie B. is the owner of Bee Mindful LLC, a full-service beekeeping business based in Austin, Texas. She teaches widely attended workshops, apprenticeships, and advanced courses, helping beekeepers gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to succeed in Sustainable Beekeeping.
Master Craftsman Presentations
Services
Advanced beekeeping education, Workshops and Apprenticeships, Club Fundraising Workshops, Corporate Team Building, Bee Leases for AG Valuations, Professional Consulting, World-Wide Speaking, NUC and Package sales, Horizontal Hive sales, Honey and Product Sales, Online Education
Presentations
Beginner to Advanced Beekeeping, Bee Biology, Integrated Pest Management, Splits & Apiary Increases
Natural, Chemical-Free and Treatment-Free Pest Management, Horizontal Beekeeping, Beginner and Advanced Top-Bar Hive Beekeeping, The Flex Hive adapter and its management, Hive Inspections, Beekeeping Equipment, Apiary Setup, Beekeeping as a Business, Hive Products, Bees for AG Valuation, and much more…
Contact Information
Bee Mindful, LLC
Driftwood, TX
(512) 699-0605
BeeMindfulHoneyFarms@gmail.com
www.Bee-Mindful.com
Ashley Ralph, Master Beekeeper
About Ashley
Ashley works with people all day and has enjoyed beekeeping as a way to escape back into nature. She helps run Prime Bees apiary with her husband, Justin, and is active in the Texas Beekeepers Association. Although Ashley runs another business, she is often tasked with helping to load or move bees for pollination, feed bee yards, and helps to manage over 400 hives – it’s a fun escape and although it’s hard work, it’s rewarding to watch the colonies grow and produce. Her favorite part of the year is early spring when they’re working mating nucs. She loves the top bar hives that she keeps in the backyard and enjoys the opportunity to just observe the bees when she has a chance.
Services
Bee sales, honey sales, speaking and educating to schools and clubs, hive management, work-study programs
Presentation Topics
- General Management Topics (Annual Management, Space Control, etc.)
- Bee Biology & Communication Topics
- Public Talks (all ages available) – The World of Bees
- Beginner Beekeeping Topics
- Beekeeping Business Topics (Marketing, Business Options, etc.)
- We enjoy creating new presentations, so just ask!
Contact Information
979-429-3141
hello@primebees.com
www.PrimeBees.com
Terrah Rosecrans, Master Beekeeper
About Terrah
Terrah stumbled her way into beekeeping in 2015 when she moved to Austin, Texas from Memphis, Tennessee.
Hailing originally from Rochester, New York, Terrah always had a fascination with insects of all kinds and wanted to give back in being a steward to the earth. Realizing her passion was for the bees, Terrah specifically focuses on a “hives over honey” mentality and strives to maintain strong and healthy colonies putting the bees first, always!
Taking her test in November of 2023, she finally became the 38th master beekeeper recognized through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Terrah is a full-time beekeeper managing roughly 650 hives around the central Texas area for agriculture exemptions and also provides live bee removals as well as other beekeeping services. Terrah is the previous membership director of the Texas Association of Professional Bee Removers and is also a mentor for the Hives for Heroes’s Non-Profit Organization for Veterans and First Responders.
Services
Ag Valuation Management, Live Bee Removals, Summer Camps & School Presentations, mentoring
Presentation Topics
Using Honey Bees for your Tax Evaluation/”Exemption”; Intro to Beekeeping; Hive Inspections- What am I looking at?, 1st Year Beekeeping- What to expect?;
Contact Information
585-329-6475
Justin Russell, Master Beekeeper
About Justin
Justin’s reason for being a beekeeper is that he’s always wanted to but was never allowed and now that he’s “grown” he can do what he wants. He started Prime Bees – an agricultural service company that sells and raises bees, provides pollination services, conducts bee removals, and manages bees around the Bryan/College Station area and beyond. Justin has managed bees in all kinds of hives and owns and works a growing number of Langstroth hives. Justin is a full time beekeeper and chose to participate in the Texas Master Beekeeper Program as a way to learn more about bees that could be put to work in his business. His favorite part of beekeeping is creating a full sized colony out of a few frames of bees.
Services
Bee sales, honey sales, pollination services, hive management, work-study programs
Presentation Topics
- Various Beekeeping Business Topics (Sideliner to Commercial, How to Make Money, etc.)
- Various General Management Topics (Splits, Requeening, Seasonal, etc.)
- Swarm Capture & Care
- Bee Removals
- Beginner Beekeeping
Contact Information
979-492-4114
hello@primebees.com
www.PrimeBees.com
Dodie Stillman, Master Craftsman Beekeeper
About Dodie
After finding out that both her grandfathers kept honey bees, she knew it would be in her future. In 2011 Dodie started attending the Austin Area Beekeepers Meet-ups and the Williamson County Area Beekeepers Association meetings. After spending a year attending classes and learning about bees she was able to purchase her first 2 hives. Still searching for more information she jumped into the inaugural class of the Texas Master Beekeepers Program and became one of the first official Master Beekeepers in the state of Texas. After keeping her Langstroth hives up and running productively for 5 years, she started her first Top Bar hive. In 2025, Dodie became a student of the Italian Honey Sensory Registry, expanding her expertise in honey evaluation and sensory analysis.
Dodie’s volunteer efforts are numerous, from helping at early AABA Seminars to the last couple of years working on the Texas Beekeepers Association (TBA) Conventions and Honey Shows. In 2017, she served as the Honey Show Secretary, a show that saw a dramatic increase in Honey Show events and exhibitors. She has continued working with TBA, contributing on the Legislative Committee and the Event and Honey Show Committees. She is a past president of the Austin Area Beekeepers Association, and a former Director and past President of the Texas Beekeepers Association, as well as a current Texas Master Beekeeper Program Board Member.
Presentation Topics
Beginning, and Intermediate Beekeeping, What to Expect when you are Inspecting, Honey Extraction, It Is Your Beeswax, Requeening your Colonies, Honey Bee Pests and Diseases, Drones and DCA Mapping, Honey Sensory/Tasting and any number of other topics.
Master Craftsman Presentations
Contact Information
texasbeek@gmail.com512-560-7550
Phyllis Stroud, Master Beekeeper
Pamela Yeamans, Master Beekeeper
About Pamela
Pamela Yeamans is the owner of Texan Honey Farm LLC which has apiaries along Barton Creek, on a cattle ranch in Mustang Ridge, and at the honey farm along Cedar Creek. Certified by the Texas Master Beekeeper Program, she has trained as a honey judge at the University of Georgia and managed the Texas Beekeepers Association’s largest Texas Honey Show. Pamela is happy to travel around Texas to speak with beekeepers or those interested in learning more about honey bees.
Presentation Topics
Honey processing; Introduction to Beekeeping
Contact Information
512-748-5611
pamelayeamans@gmail.com
Robin Young, Master Beekeeper
About Robin
Robin Young originally started beekeeping as a way to teach her four young children economics hands on. Robin and her husband Jack run an over 2,000 acre ranch in North Texas. She found that the more she worked with bees, the closer she felt to the Lord. She started selling honey in 2012 at her local Denton Community Market and sells her honey there to this day. Over the years, Robin started giving lectures about beekeeping topics. Her articles can be found in past editions of “The Journal” a bi-monthly magazine put out by TBA (Texas Beekeepers Association). She enjoys writing her articles and sharing what she discovered with beekeepers across the state of Texas. Her articles have also been published in several other state beekeeping publications. She has traveled overseas to study beekeeping, specifically in Slovenia. She represented the US at the first UN World Bee Day Conference in 2018. She has given presentations at the Texas Beekeepers Association annual convention on topics such as “Apitherapy” and ran the Texas Honey Show at the convention (2018 – 2021). She has also been a speaker at the breakout sessions on “Honey Judging” at the Summer Clinic. In 2018, she was voted to the Texas Beekeepers Association board and works with local clubs in Area 2. Her passion is teaching people of all ages about “Our sweet honey bees”. She also is working to spread the word that “you can improve your life and those around you through Apitherapy”. Robin Young is one of the first 8 people that have been awarded “Master Beekeeper” in Texas (3-24-2017). She majored in Queen Rearing. Her mantra is: “Pleasant words are a honey comb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bone.” Proverbs 16:24
Services
- Tours of Soul Honey at “The Young Ranch” (groups of 20 and larger by appointment only) texassoulhoney.com
- Mentoring new beekeepers
- Speaking to school groups, bee clubs, and other civic groups and honeybees and related topics.
- Judging and consulting honey shows
Presentation Topics
(Robin is willing to travel just about anywhere, including out of the country)
- Queen Rearing – 6 different ways
- Top-Bar Hives
- Apitherapy – Honey, Pollen, Propolis, Royal Jelly, Queen Larva, Drone Larva, Bee Venom and Bee’s wax
- Slovenian Beekeeping and Apis mellifera carnica(Carniolan Honey bee)
- Turning your bee hives into a business
- Mead Judging (Mead Judge at the TBA Annual Convention, 2018 – 2021)
Contact Information
Website: www.texassoulhoney.com
Facebook:
Soul Honey
13737 FM 1171
Northlake, TX 76262
940-765- 2907 call or text
