According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, honey bees produce six hive products—honey, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, propolis, and venom—all of which are collected and utilized by people around the world for various nutritional and medicinal purposes.

Honey is the most well-known and economically important hive product, valued at $2.08 per pound and boasting more than $300 million in annual sales. However, the honey bee’s greatest contribution to agriculture is not a product of the hive at all—it is their work as crop pollinators. In fact, the FDA reports that pollination accounts for $15 billion in added crop value each year.

Unfortunately, the apiculture industry is continually faced with multiple threats to the health of honey bee colonies, including: American Foulbrood, Colony Collapse Disorder, Nosema, mites, and various other diseases, as well as pests and parasites. With the appropriate education, beekeepers can help keep some of these devastating issues at bay, or at least prevent them from spreading throughout the apiary.

Although hive losses among beekeepers in the Magoffin County are improving because of previous educational programming, they are still at high rates. Therefore, the agent organized and implemented a Honey Bee Field Day for beekeepers in the county in September. 23 enthusiastic, engaged, and suited-up beekeepers attended the event where they are assisted in hands-on hive inspections and learned to do alcohol washes for mite counts, perform mite treatments, look for signs of other pests, parasites, and diseases, and take a closer look at the inner workings of the hive.

In addition to the hive inspections, the agent also partnered with Kentucky State University and the Powell County Beekeepers Association to add further educational components to the program. KSU Extension Associate, John Haney, attended to discuss and demonstrate the Mobile Bee Autoclave. The autoclave is available to all beekeepers in the state to sterilize equipment and kill, and/or prevent the spread, of diseases, mites, beetles, and moths. Two beekeepers brought equipment for sterilization, while 100% of the others said they hoped the agent would arrange for the autoclave in the coming year because they would definitely bring equipment now that they understood the importance of sterilization and the ease of sterilization provided by the autoclave.

Lastly, Larry Young, well-known member of the Powell County Beekeepers Association and Kentucky Queen Breeders Association, discussed winter hive maintenance, including winter feeding. He also shared a recipe for bee candy (which the agent demonstrated how to make at the next month’s meeting) for those who were not currently employing a feeding regimen for their hives.

80% of the beekeepers said they learned something new during the hive inspections, 72% who were not currently winter feeding said they would begin implementing a feeding schedule, 65% said they were leaving with more knowledge about the pests, parasites, and diseases affecting honey bee health, and 40% said they are now more confident in their ability to perform mite counts and treat accordingly.

This program will have positive long-term implications for Magoffin County beekeepers, including better hive management skills, further reduced hive losses, and increased honey production.