๐ŸŒ Beekeeping conferences

A living calendar of popular international and regional beekeeping events. Use it to pick a country or region, then confirm the current edition on the organizer's site before booking travel.

Dates move every year. The usual season is more stable than a specific city. Last reviewed: 8 September 2026.

EurBee and eurobee are different events: EurBee is the scientific European Conference of Apidology; eurobee is the professional trade fair in Friedrichshafen.

Typical season

When What tends to happen
January North American winter circuit: ABF conference and NAHBE expo. Nordic-Baltic NBBC often sits in late January or early February.
March Apimell in Piacenza, Italy. SICAMM (dark European honey bee) is often in late March when it is an in-person year.
June Australian Bee Congress in winter for the southern hemisphere.
July Eastern Apicultural Society annual conference in the eastern US and Canada.
August to early September Latin American FILAPI congress. Africa Bee Expo has recently been in early September.
September EurBee (biennial) and COLOSS (often the days before EurBee). Apimondia prefers mid-September to mid-October.
October BeeCome / European Beekeeping Congress, German-language beekeeper congress, UK National Honey Show (late October).
November eurobee trade fair in Friedrichshafen. Apimondia 2027 is an exception and is in mid-November in Dubai.

Global

Apimondia - World Beekeeping Congress

Largest global gathering of beekeepers, scientists, traders, and legislators, with a large ApiEXPO trade show. Run by the International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations.

  • Usual season: every 2 years, preferably mid-September to mid-October. Host continent rotates.
  • Next edition: 50th congress, 15-19 November 2027, Dubai, UAE (Dubai World Trade Centre).
  • Previous: Copenhagen, 23-27 September 2025; Santiago, Chile, 4-8 September 2023.
  • Sites: apimondia.org, Apimondia 2027, apimondia2027.org

COLOSS conference

Annual scientific meeting of the COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes) network. Often scheduled next to EurBee so researchers can attend both.

  • Usual season: early September, annually.
  • Latest edition: 22nd conference, 6-7 September 2026, Bologna, Italy (same venue as EurBee 11).
  • Site: coloss.org

Europe

EurBee - European Conference of Apidology

Biennial scientific conference for honey bee and wild bee research. Started in Udine in 2004. English is the working language.

  • Usual season: September, every 2 years, rotating European city.
  • This edition: EurBee 11, 7-10 September 2026, Bologna Congress Center, Italy.
  • Site: eurbee2026.com

eurobee - professional trade fair

Annual international beekeeping fair and Southern German Professional and Commercial Beekeeping Days. Organized by the German Professional and Commercial Beekeepers' Association (DBIB). About 7,200 visitors and 165+ exhibitors in 2025.

BeeCome / European Beekeeping Congress

Practitioner-oriented European congress with an exhibition, hosted by national associations. The 2026 edition is in France.

  • Usual season: early October. Cadence is not strictly annual; host country changes.
  • Next edition: 1-4 October 2026, Agen, France (UNAF and L'Abeille Gasconne).
  • Site: beecomeagen2026.com

Apimell

Largest specialized beekeeping trade fair in Italy. Strong for equipment, hive products, and meeting European suppliers.

  • Usual season: first weekend of March, every year, Piacenza.
  • Next edition: 5-7 March 2027, Piacenza Expo.
  • Site: apimell.it

National Honey Show (UK)

UK's premier honey show plus lecture convention, workshops, and trade hall. Late October at Sandown Park near London.

  • Usual season: late October, every year.
  • Next edition: 22-24 October 2026, Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey.
  • Site: honeyshow.co.uk

German-language beekeeper congress

Rotating congress for German-speaking associations (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and neighboring regions). Separate from the smaller annual Deutscher Imkertag.

  • Usual season: October.
  • Next edition: 93rd Deutschsprachiger Imkerkongress, 8-10 October 2026, Dresden.
  • Site: deutscherimkerbund.de

Nordic-Baltic Beekeeping Council (NBBC)

Annual meeting of Nordic and Baltic beekeeper associations, with the NBARS research symposium. Relevant for Gratheon as an Estonia-based team.

  • Usual season: late January or early February, rotating among member countries.
  • Latest edition: 29-30 January 2026, Tallinn, hosted by Eesti Mesinike Liit. Next host rotates among member countries.
  • Site: mesinikeliit.ee (host pages change by year)

SICAMM

International association for conservation of the dark European honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). Mix of in-person congresses and online years.

  • Usual season: late March when in person. Next in-person host announced for Ireland in 2027.
  • Site: sicamm.org

North America

American Beekeeping Federation (ABF)

Major US industry conference and tradeshow for commercial and sideline beekeepers.

  • Usual season: January, every year, rotating US city.
  • Next edition: 12-16 January 2027, Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas.
  • Site: abfnet.org

North American Honey Bee Expo (NAHBE)

Large winter expo in Louisville: vendors, education, honey show. Easy to combine with the January US circuit.

  • Usual season: January, every year, Louisville, Kentucky.
  • Next edition: 7-9 January 2027, Kentucky Expo Center.
  • Site: nahbexpo.com

Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS)

Largest non-commercial beekeeping education conference in the US. Lectures, workshops, Master Beekeeper exams, vendors. Rotates among 26 eastern US states and Canadian provinces.

  • Usual season: late July, every year.
  • Latest edition: 26-31 July 2026, Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Next summer host is announced on the EAS site.
  • Site: easternapiculture.org

Western Apicultural Society (WAS)

Education network for the western US and western Canada. Currently runs twice-monthly virtual mini-conferences rather than one large annual in-person congress.

Latin America

FILAPI - Latin American Beekeeping Congress

Main regional congress for Latin American national beekeeping organizations. Scientific program plus APIEXPO.

  • Usual season: late August to early September. Cadence is multi-year; host country rotates.
  • Latest edition: XVII congress, 31 August - 6 September 2026, Mar del Plata, Argentina (SADA + FILAPI). Next host is announced on FILAPI.
  • Site: filapi.org

Africa and Middle East

Africa Bee Expo

Continental conference and exhibition for African beekeeping, with international guests. Host country changes.

  • Usual season: early September in recent editions.
  • Latest edition: 2-7 September 2026 (exhibition 3-6 September), SAFEX, Algiers, Algeria.
  • Site: Apimondia announcement (no single stable organizer domain yet)

Apimondia 2027 in Dubai

See the global Apimondia entry. This is the next world congress and the main Middle East date on the calendar through 2027.

Asia-Pacific

Australian Bee Congress

National congress of the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council. Southern-hemisphere winter dates.

  • Usual season: June, every few years, rotating Australian city.
  • Latest edition: 5th congress, 17-20 June 2026, Adelaide Convention Centre.
  • Site: australianbeecongress.com.au

Apimondia also rotates to Asia (for example Daejeon, South Korea, 2015). There is no single annual pan-Asian congress with the same stability as EurBee or FILAPI; check apimondia.org/events for regional symposia.

How to choose

  1. Meet commercial beekeepers and suppliers: eurobee, Apimell, NAHBE, ABF, ApiEXPO at Apimondia.
  2. Meet scientists: EurBee, COLOSS, Apimondia scientific sessions.
  3. Stay close to home (Baltic / Nordics): NBBC, then BeeCome or eurobee.
  4. One trip, several events: COLOSS is often the days before EurBee (Bologna 2026 is the current pair). In North America, NAHBE and ABF sit in the same January window.

Always re-check registration, visa, and exhibition booth deadlines on the official site. This page is a map, not a ticket.