4-H Essay Contest

4-H Essayists Look to Pollinator Pollination for 2008

“The problem of declining bee populations is very real,” wrote Kelton Shockley in his first place essay in the 4-H Beekeeping Essay Contest. “Honey bees don’t just provide honey, they are vital to the production of many foods. The honey bee is much more than a small insect. The bee is vital in sustaining our food sources.”

The 2007 essay contest, sponsored by the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, drew state-winning essays from 18 states. The subject was “Pollinator Conservation.” Essayists were to explore measures being used – or needed – to protect and conserve pollinating insects, especially honey bees, and to reduce the factors that negatively affect pollinating insects.

Kelton, 13, lives on a small farm in the mountains near Applegate, Ore. As first place winner, he receives a $250.00 cash award. In addition to bees, he raises Dexter cows, which he milks. The judges noted that Kelton proposes original ideas on how to approach the pollination conservation problem. He titled his essay: “Stay-at-Home Bees: Some Thoughts on Conserving Pollinators.”

Sage Mijares, 10, of Canon, N.M., wrote the second place essay. She wrote from the vantage point of her family’s bees placed most of the blame for the decline of honey bees on varroa mites. She began her essay: “I am a girl with varroa mites;” and concluded it with, “I look forward to the day I will be able to say, ’I am a girl without varroa mites!’” Her second place prize is $100.00.

The third place essay was written by Elizabeth Lawrence, 17, of Sandy Creek, N.Y. She gets a cash award of $50.00. She wrote about the dangers crop pesticides have for honey bees and suggest the use of alternative biological controls. If biological controls are used, she wrote, “the honey bees can continue its main purpose (to pollinate plants) without being impaired by the pesticides normally used to control these nuisance insects.”

Each state winner, including the national winners, will receive a copy of a book about beekeeping.

The essay topic for 2008 is “The Results of Honey Bee Pollination in My Community.” Essayists are encouraged to become familiar with honey bees’ pollination activities and, then, survey their communities to see what examples they can find. Some of these will be obvious, i.e., apples on sale at the supermarket. Essayists should not overlook the benefit to farmers who are able to produce more or higher value crops as a result of pollination nor the benefits to the local population from the varied diet to which honey bee pollination contributes.

Students interested in writing should contact their local 4-H offices for contest details. The state selection must be done through the 4-H system.

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See http://www.honeybeepreservation.org for more about the 4-H Beekeeping Essay Contest, or contact the Foundation office: 912-427-4233, or email info@honeybeepreservation.org.