Author: Chad Allen
Planning Unit: Floyd County CES
Major Program: Beekeeping
Plan of Work: Agricultural Education and Production
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Honeybees are valuable animals. They pollinate about $10 billion worth of U.S. crops and produce about $150 million worth of honey each year. Unfortunately, they face serious new problems. Two kinds of mites that are parasites of honeybees were brought into the United States and have spread rapidly. Tracheal mites live in air tubes inside bees, making it hard for them to breathe. Varroa mites live in bee colonies and feed on developing bee larvae (brood). Both tiny pests attack wild and managed bees and have caused many colonies to die. On top of that, the fierce reputation of Africanized honeybees has attracted negative attention. Many people are working to solve these significant problems.
Bessin, R., Townsend, L.H.. 1996. “Beginning Beekeeping for Kentuckians. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. Retrieved 11/04/2024. ENT-41: Beginning Beekeeping for Kentuckians
The beginning beekeeper school was a vision and developed to address some of the problems that face the declining population of the honeybee and provide the educational resources through experts within this field. A full day of learning was presented, topics included:
The main partners for this training were the Floyd County Beekeepers Association. Not only did they provide their expertise, but they also assisted with registration, meal preparation and serving. ANR agents from Knott and Perry County also assisted throughout the day.
The event drew a total of 65 attendees, including 20 females, 45 males, and 6 children under 5. A pre- and post-evaluation survey yielded insights from 50 participants. Key findings include:
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