Old Friends and New Came Together in Germany for the Fumigants & Pheromones Conference

BREMEN, Germany — The eighth Fumigants & Pheromones Conference and Workshop was organized in March by Insects Limited and BM Seminar, focusing on modern methods of protecting stored products.

More than 200 pest managers from 43 countries and six continents attended this three-day conference in northern Germany. This international exchange of education began in Lübeck, Germany in 1993 and has continued on to Bologna, Italy, Chicago, Thessaloniki, Greece, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Twenty-eight invited speakers, 20 poster displays and an open night session offered ideas, new products and practical ways to solve pest problems.

A workshop located in the harbors of Bremen and Hamburg concluded the three days with demonstrations on fumigants, pheromones and new control methods staged in a large cocoa bean warehouse. The workshop was followed by a boat ride around the busy Hamburg harbor.

“I really enjoy hearing the new ideas and research presented by these world class experts, but my real thrill was at the beginning of the conference when everyone stands up and introduce themselves and tells what country they are from,” said David Mueller, who organized the conference. “To have people from Mongolia and Eastern and Central Europe attend this time along with more people from developing countries in Africa and Asia is very encouraging. The friendships and personal relationships have begun or continued at these educational meetings and continue to grow.”

The next conference will be held in March 2009 in Argentina.