Beekeepers seek young blood for club

4-H Club members learn about beekeeping from members of the Wilson County Beekeepers Association on Monday. The club is starting a youth beekeepers club. Drew C. Wilson | Times

Young people tried on beekeeping suits, looked inside bee hives and saw how honey is extracted from honeycombs in a presentation Monday night to encourage an interest in keeping honeybees.

“We want to start a junior beekeeping association within the Wilson County Beekeepers Association,” said Bruce Petway, the founding president of the Wilson County Beekeepers Association. “We need to get this started because a lot of beekeepers are aging out, and we need the young people who are coming up to take over for us.”

Wilson County is a leading agricultural county raising many products. Most of them are dependent on pollinators to make the best strawberries, watermelons, squash and more.

“Beekeeping is very important to a lot of things around here,” Petway said.

Assembled for the 4-H County Council meeting, the group heard current beekeepers share their experiences and demonstrate the use of beekeeping equipment.

Kenyatta Dixon, extension agent for 4-H Youth Development at the Wilson County office of N.C. Cooperative Extension, said Wilson County has 12 4-H clubs with about 150 kids ages 5 to 19.

“We are excited that our beekeeper club is trying to bring in younger 4-H’ers so that they can learn about becoming beekeepers so that we can keep that process going for generations,” Dixon said. “It is important to know, for one, where your food comes from, the process of growing food and how everything comes into play. It is almost like a puzzle piece, and bees are definitely an important part of our food process. They help pollinate flowers and produce. It is important for kids to learn that, and they can become the next generation of farmers and continue to grow food for us in America.”

Dixon said members of the Wilson County Beekeepers Association are going to be leading the club and teaching the kids.

“We think it is going to be a group effort to lead the youth club,” Dixon said.

The quarterly 4-H County Council meeting was held at the Wilson County Agricultural Center.

“This is where the members at large of Wilson County 4-H come together so they can find out what’s going on at the county level, district level and state level so the kids can then participate in those programs,” Dixon said. “We try to have an educational component where somebody comes in and teaches the kids something whether it be about agriculture, a life skill or healthy living.”

The Wilson County Beekeepers Association was established in May 2018 with about 20 beekeepers and has grown its membership to well more than 100.

The sign up to be a member of the either the adult or youth group, call Petway at 252-230-3192 or go online to www.wilsonbeekeepers.org/contact-us. “I would be happy to answer any questions about bees, honey or anything,” Petway said. Interested youth can also call 252-237-0111 for the Wilson County office of N.C. Cooperative Extension.

“Like all agricultural aspects, beekeeping is the future of agriculture and it is how we gain our food and it is how our pollinators can grow other food, said Allison Matthews, extension agent for 4-H Youth Development in Wilson County. “It is just really important for these youth to learn these life skills through the beekeepers association and through 4-H.”

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