Beekeeping interest is at an all time high with Washington County being no different.  The Washington County Beekeepers with the leadership of the club President David Donathan put together a one day school with two tracks one for beginning beekeepers and one for intermediate level beekeepers. Speakers included Dr. Thomas Webster from KSU, Dr. Tammy Potter from KDA, and many other local and regional beekeepers.  A few of the topics included introduction to beekeeping, getting and installing bees, splits and nucs, honey extraction, pest management and much more!  The KSU Autoclave was also onsite sterilizing equipment for participants.

Dr. Tammy Potter, Kentucky State Apiarist, worked with the Kentucky Proud Program to develop a grant program in support of educational bee schools hosted throughout Kentucky. In order to qualify for the assistance grants, school organizers had to incorporate at least one KY Proud/KY-grown ingredient along with one local honey in breaks and meals during the bee school.

The Washington County Beekeepers became the grant program’s test case when they were the first organization to submit a qualifying application by partnering with St. Catharine Farm (beef), Blanford Farm (eggs), and Booker Road Bees (honey) to incorporate their locally produced products into the breakfast and lunch menus.

There were 60 participants in the bee school representing 11 counties in Kentucky.