East Kentucky Beekeeping School was held virtual in January 2022 due to a winter COVID-19 surge.

The committee, made up of local Beekeepers, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture state Apiarist and Extension Agents from Perry, Harlan, Floyd and Letcher Counties.

The virtual event, proved to be the highest attended school in its 12 year run. More than 200 people registered for the school with over 100 people online at any point during the day. Based on registration, those that attended represented over half of the counties in Kentucky. There were also people attending from four states outside Kentucky.

Attendees had the opportunity to provide feedback from the school through an online evaluation. Those that responded stated they didn’t have a preference for the school being virtual or in-person, just as long as we had one. The evaluations showed the majority of attendees have never been involved in beekeeping or have just been involved for 1 to 5 years. This shows the school and beekeeping has continued to be a great influence on beginners. The evaluations showed an overwhelming positive response for the school with the majority of respondents rating the school as excellent. 

Classes this year included, Timely Topics, upcoming events and programs; Viruses in the Hive; Producing Honey; Honey Labels; Beginning Beekeeping; Queen Bees; Swarms and Chasing Feral Bees.

On a 1- 5 scale, these classes had an overall rating of 4.57.

The Cooperative Extension Service continues to be seen as playing a vital role in resources for bee production and to beekeepers. This school continues to provide valuable education to beekeepers and is a platform to increase public awareness of the potential in Beekeeping in Eastern Kentucky and the entire state.