Estill County had a Beekeeper's Association in the past, but it was no longer active. Our county beekeepers had been attending the Clark and Powell Beekeeper Association meetings instead. I held a Bee School for two consecutive weeks on Thursday nights, and there was a common request of starting our own Beekeeper Association in Estill County. I worked closely with a local beekeeper, who has attended the Clark and Powell meetings for years, to schedule an interest meeting for a Beekeeper's Association in our county. 

The first interest meeting was held last month and there were 31 attendees. In the meeting, each audience member went around and introduced themselves, as well as state how long they had been beekeeping. There were a few experienced beekeepers, many new to beekeeping, and others who wanted to get started but needed advice. Experienced beekeepers were able to offer advice on the many different ways to do things, while even novice beekeepers presented new ideas to the more seasoned individuals. One quote from the meeting that stood out was, "Beekeepers will tell you 10 different ways to do the same thing, and they are all right." This encouraged the audience to keep an open mind and accept other's ideas that may conflict with their own.

Overall, the consensus of the group was that this reached a need that had not been met previously. The networking that occurred during the meeting allowed new beekeepers to have hands-on assistance and even mentorship when starting their hives. The beekeeper meetings in Estill County will be occurring once a month, with the goal of forming a county association after consistently meeting for 6-12 months. By encouraging and supporting beekeeping in the county, this means that honey will be a more widely available commodity for these producers to have the opportunity to sell at local farmer's markets.