What’s the Buzz? Third Annual Bee School in B/CS

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By Shelbi LeMeilleur

Calling all aspiring beekeeper’s in the Brazos Valley! The Brazos Valley Beekeepers Association and Texas A&M University Honey Bee Lab will host the Third Annual Bee School on Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Agrilife Center and Agricultural & Life Sciences Building on the Texas A&M campus.

Bee School is a full-day series of short beekeeping classes. Seven to eight classes will run simultaneously and cover a wide range of interests.

“It’s everything from the very basics of beginning beekeeping for people who are not beekeepers yet, to some advanced classes that are more designed for people who are interested in being commercial beekeepers,” says Chris Barnes, co-chairman of the Bee School committee.

A majority of the proceeds from Bee School will benefit the local 4H Brazos Valley Youth Beekeepers program. The club enables younger people to get involved and learn a skill that can become either a hobby or a profession later in life.

“We need to be teaching the next generation of beekeepers,” says Barnes. “It’s kind of hard to have enough bees to go pollinate if everyone is over 6o years old that’s doing it. The bees may not be in trouble – we may not have enough beekeepers.”

Registration for Bee School is available now on the Brazos Valley Beekeepers Association website. Registration is $50 per person, $80 for couples, and $15 for kids ages 12 to 17. Only 450 spots are available, so don’t wait! For more information, visit www.bvbeeks.org.