Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A hidden KY gem: the annual Bluegrass Beekeeping School

As promised, I'll share with the the top 6 honey bee highlights of 2010.  Here's the first....

As of a few years ago, one of the annual highlights in my life is most definitely attending the day long Bluegrass Beekeeping School.  Click on the link to find out about 6 KY beekeeping schools in 2011. 
It's one of those amazing events that many people don't realize we have in Kentucky.

While they have the schools across the state, from Hazard to Henderson, my 'home' school is the main event in Frankfort on the Kentucky State University Campus.  Always held on a full Saturday in March, this is a gathering of over 300 honey bee fans.  This isn't your grandfather's beekeeping gathering. This is an amazing place where kids, parents, old-timers, new-schoolers, women and men, country farmers, urban gardeners, and suburban dwellers come together to learn from and inspire each other.  

There's a beginner's beekeeping tract of classes - perfect for the first and second year beekeepers.  There are also plenty of really interesting advanced classes.  The workshops I attended in 2010 included a presentation on the nine species of honey bees around the world.  Did you know about the stingless Mayan honey bees?  Or the giant honey bees of southern Asia?  What about the different species that our local beekeepers choose?  Carnolian (from Slovenia), the Italian (the most popular here), and the Russian.  Each is known for certain traits and each beekeeper has her/his own preference.

My favorite workshop was given by Tiffany Gillespie who lives with her husband and son near Mammoth Cave.  She talked about the special type of hives they are using - called a top bar hive (tbh).  Having the opportunity to see the hives that they built and hearing about their experience was inspiring.  It planted the seed that has since then been nurtured into an exciting venture for 2011.  More on this in upcoming posts. 

The school provides a place for vendors who sell beekeeping supplies, bee products (like Toni Downs' famous lip balm), and other fun and important beekeeping items. 

If you're interested in becoming a beekeeper or just want to learn more about honey bees - plan to attend one of the KY beekeeping schools. 

The 2011 Bluegrass Beekeeping School will be on March 12th.   I'll even be presenting this year! 
I'll be providing the first "urban beekeeping" workshop at the BBS.  I expect there will be other experienced urban beekeepers there - so there will be a good space to share and discuss our sometimes unique needs and experiences.  Thanks to Phil Craft, the Kentucky State Apiarist, for getting me on the agenda. 

Rich, my husband, has even said he wants to join me at the school this year!  Should be fun....

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