The decline of pollinators and domestic honey bees due several environmental, health and pesticide misuse has reached critical level. As news programs and social media reports continue to draw public attention to the crisis, the demand for extension programs about the topic have also increased. I have worked very closely with entomology experts and our local beekeepers association to address these issues at the Laurel County Extension Office. 

 The Southeast Kentucky Beekeepers Association meets at the Laurel County Extension Office monthly from March and October. The experienced beekeepers are a wealth of information themselves, but they are constantly searching out the latest information and techniques to preserve the health of the hives. At each of their eight yearly meetings, the association invites guest presenters to address the group and conduct a question and answer session with the members on their specific areas of expertise. A few of the topics that were covered this year included: hive beetle management, mitter bitter, splits and nucs and winter preparedness. Guest presenters for this year’s programs included Tammy Horn Potter, Laura Rogers from KSU and Doug Potter.

The Southeastern Kentucky Beekeepers also hosted the Kentucky Beekeepers Association annual spring meeting. This was a one day event that included three presenters discussing the topics of queen rearing, hardware sanitation, and mite control. The association also works along with my program and the 4-H agents to present honeybee information at several extension and school events. The group estimated the number contacts with the youth audience to be 1100-1200 youth over past year. Additionally, the association serves as a contact to assist the public with swarm problems. Community members can either call the extension office or the group’s swarm hotline and the association will contact the nearest beekeeper to harvest the swarm. 

Clients that are new to beekeeping or are interested in information are encouraged to join the association and to attend the monthly beekeeping meetings and regular pollinator workshops held at the extension office. This year I worked with KSU extension agent Laura Rogers to schedule a series of beginning beekeeping classes. The four-class series covered basic bee information; hardware; bee diseases and pests; and honey harvesting and marketing. Realizing that not everyone who wanted to learn more about pollinators were interested in becoming a beekeeper, I invited UK entomologist Dr. Dan Potter to present Bees, Pesticides and Politics workshop. Dr. Potter discussed his past and current research on pesticide usage its effects on pollinators. He provided tips for incorporating pesticide usage and pollinator conservation for both homeowners and farmers. The class was very informative and provided reassurance that pesticide usage and pollinator protection could coexist.  Nineteen people attended the meeting (57% male, 43% female), with 100% of those in attendance stating that they learned at least one new practice that they will utilize immediately. 70% stated that they planned to use the overall knowledge gained through the workshop in the upcoming 6 months.