Beekeeping continues to increase in popularity as more youth and adults become interested in helping protect our pollinators   Adair County Cooperative Extension Service has started a 4-H Youth Bee Program.  The purpose of the program to teach youth about all aspects of the Bee industry.   Topics covered are how to install beehives,  care of beehives, honey extraction, and how to market the final product.  Funding to help start the project was received from a Kentucky 4-H Foundation Agriculture Mini-Grant, Adair County 4-H Council, and donations from several adults interested in bees, two educational beehives were started by the group.

The 4-H Bee program has 10 youth and 4 adult volunteers who are participating in the program.  Youth participated in monthly meetings and worked with the educational bees hive.   Sixty pounds of honey was harvested from one of the beehives and is being sold by the group.  Proceeds from the sale of the honey are being put back into the project to help secure more bees and other needed supplies.  Club members have built, installed, and maintained the beehives since the start. The funds from the honey sale will be put back into the project.  Adair County has also qualified to be a 4-H Bee Ambassador County as part of the project for the last two years. 

An evaluation of the youth participating showed that 80 percent plan on starting their own beehives in the future.  100 percent stated that they learn at least two new skills from working with the project.