Washington County beekeepers host successful beekeeping school
KY Proud Lunch: From left to right, Rosalee Carrico and Danny Ray Spalding serve lunch to Paula Coss from The Honey and Bee Connection, Bill Carrico and David Sweazy.
NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
Community News
Billy Abel (left) and Joe Wohner staff the registration table in preparation for student check in.
Tuesday, April 2, 2018 — The Washington County Beekeeping School, held at the new Washington County Extension Office on Saturday, March 24, 2018 was attended by students, instructors, and volunteers from 10 Kentucky and Ohio counties.
Sessions covered “need to know” topics for new beekeepers and informational presentations for more advanced, experienced beekeepers, as well as some general sessions for those interested in pollinator habitat and sustainability concerns. Speakers included Dr. Thomas Webster a noted bee expert at Kentucky State University’s School of Agriculture, Food Science and Sustainable Systems; Dwight Wells who works with Perdue University’s queen bee rearing program; Greg Whitis, University of Kentucky Extension agent for McCreary County; Dorothey Morgan, President of the Kentucky Queen Bee Breeders Association; Dennis Morgeson, the Washington County Extension Office Horticulturist; and David Donathan, Washington County Beekeepers Association President.
In addition to the classes, participants were able to take advantage of a complete beekeeping equipment sales store set up especially for the bee school by The Honey and Bee Connection from Morehead.
Jacob Vincent, Kentucky State University loads the beehive sterilizer during a rain shower.
Jacob Vincent of Kentucky State University, set up and operated the KSU beehive autoclave in spite of the cold, rainy weather. Despite the heavy rain throughout the day, he sterilized over 50 beehive boxes for participants of the bee school and other beekeepers who had used equipment that needed to be prepared for the coming season.
Breakfast and lunch were provided in part through a grant from the Kentucky Proud program which included eggs, honey and meat from local Kentucky Proud producers and donations from Parkview IGA. Danny Ray Spalding, St. Catharine Farm Manager, cooked and served hamburgers and bratwurst for the attendees.
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