Beekeeping schools offered in winter months

Beekeeping associations across the country are using the remaining months of winter to offer introductory and advanced courses for prospective and current apiarists. In our home state the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension offices, the Kentucky Apiarist's office and local beekeeping clubs are offering beekeeping schools now through March across the state.

"There's been a lot of coverage of the honeybee on the national level," Greg Whitis, McCreary County, Ky., agriculture and natural resources extension agent, told Carol Spence of the UK College of Agriculture. "And people are wanting to go back to maybe raising their own honey. There's been, in the last couple years, more and more people coming in (to the extension office) or calling to say ‘I've been thinking about getting some bees.' And it's just not in my county. It's statewide." In addition to Whitis' Southeast Beekeeping School in February Kentucky will host five other schools around the state before March. (Read more)

Bees are essential to pollination of many crops, and there is concern about them because of colony collapse disorder, which kills off hives. A quick news search also reveals stories about upcoming beekeeping schools from the Sanford News in Maine, the Wisconsin Agriculturist, The Patriot Ledger in Massachusetts, and the Sussex Countian in Delaware.