The NC Bee giveaway was funded by the Golen Leaf Foundation which was
established to channel the tobacco lawsuit proceeds into places where it
may do some good. The plan was to give 2 free hives of Russian bees to
farmers who were losing income from changes in the tobacco program, so
as to give them an "in" to the lucrative field of beekeeping. I don't
think too many farmers either knew or cared about the program, and those
who did apply already had an interest in bees. Most of the people I knew
who applied(including myself)were already beekeepers who figured, "why
not?" There were 2773 applicants for 250 sets of bees. The recipients
had to agree to keep the bees for 2 years before selling them.

I think the the writer's idea about providing the bees to experienced
beekeepers for a mentoring program is good. I think that our local
beekeeping clubs should consider establishing a state-wide uniform
course with a single text and standardized(as far as possible for each
locality) management practices and equipment. Our local
club(Craven-Pamlico)recently held a 5-week introductory course and
public response was really good. We had 30-40 new faces interested in
beekeeping. How many will actually try it remains to be seen.

 The challenge remains to get young people interested in beekeeping.We
have only 2 youngsters in our club. Most beekeepers are OLD or REALLY
OLD and it seems like maybe retirees are the only ones with time and
money enough to start this hobby. For those already keeping bees, there
is the leap from hobbyist to sideliner to commercial. There is a
"practices and principles" gap between hobbyist and commercial that
takes a different mindset. Most commercial beekeepers do not have the
time or resources to attend to bees in the same manner in which a
hobbyist does. Commercial guys work hard and fast, while most hobbyists
I know like a slower, more serene pace. Not every beekeeper has the
ability or desire to become a professional commercial beekeeper. I like
the idea of many thousands of backyard beekeepers with 2-4 hives along
with the idea of 2-4 beekeepers with several thousands of hives.

The NC Master Beekeepers program requires that the candidates do public
presentations. I have my 1st level "Certified" completed and hope to
take the Journeyman test this summer. I have several bees talks
scheduled and have a powerpoint presentation under development. I'm
hoping maybe some of the 1st graders I'm talking to next week will get
inspired enough to start thinking about beekeeping as a hobby somewhere
down the line. The NCSBA is trying to raise money to build a Beekeeping
exhibit at the NC zoo in Asheboro, where beekeepers volunteer to do
presentations of bee handling and sell some hive products to boost
awareness of the important role of honeybees and beekeepers.


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