Upcoming Events
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Collin County Beekeepers Crown New Royalty
Friday, 06 February 2009 21:31 | 
Author: Shirley Acevedo | 
2009 CCHBA Honey Queen
Allison Adams was crowned Collin County Honey Queen at the CCHBA Christmas Dinner on Monday, December 8! Allison had served as Collin County Honey Princess since September 2007. She is the 17-year-old daughter of Ned and Caryl Adams of Plano, TX, and has kept bees since 2004, when she became a scholarship recipient.
The Queen was crowned by Nicole Pettibon, the previous Collin County Honey Queen who is now our State Honey Queen. Rachael Seida, American Honey Queen, was also in attendance. Allison received a sash that reads "2009 Collin County Honey Queen" and a gorgeous bouquet of a dozen yellow roses.
We wish Allison a very successful year as Honey Queen. We are honored to have her represent our local honey industry.
Congratulations Allison!
2009 CCHBA Honey Princess
Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association has a new Honey Princess to represent the group and to talk to school children and other groups about honey bees! On December 8, 2008, at the CCHBA Christmas Dinner, Kaylynn Mansker was crowned!
Kaylynn is the 17-year-old daughter of Gary and Wanda Mansker of Nevada, TX. Kaylynn became interested in honey bees during 2008 while her brother kept bees as a CCHBA scholarship recipient.
The Princess received a lovely crown and a bouquet of pink roses. She was attended by Allison Adams (former CCHBA Honey Princess); Nicole Pettibon (Texas Honey Queen) and Rachael Seida (American Honey Queen). We wish Kaylynn all the best during her year as CCHBA Honey Princess!
Thank you, Kaylynn! We are proud of you!!
You are Invited to be a Part of Texas Beekeeping History Friday, 06 February 2009 21:24 | Author: Joan Coplin |
I’d like to add a new section in The Journal for the enjoyment of our membership: Texas Beekeeping History. If you have a story or an event that you would like to write about, I’d love to publish it. It can be just about anything you want to tell…maybe about an extra good crop or an extra bad crop; how you got started in beekeeping or how you used to do things without some of our more modern equipment. Did you grow up in a beekeeping family? Do you have stories from when you were working with your father or grandfather? I was thinking that for now, I would just concentrate on stories/tales from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s or earlier. And maybe at a later date, adding some more recent stories. It can be handwritten or typed: mailed, faxed or emailed…whatever is easiest for you. Please contact me if you would like to contribute: 409/925-5415 or by email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Or if you know of a source who could help contribute to preserving some of our Texas Beekeeping History, provide me with names and contact information and I will do the rest.
I am looking forward to hearing from you! Joan Coplin Editor, TBA Journal Honey Queen Chair Report Friday, 06 February 2009 21:17 | Author: Shirley Acevedo |
OUR TEXAS HONEY QUEEN
Nicole Pettibon of McKinney, TX, is our 2009 Texas Honey Queen! Since being crowned at the November TBA Convention, Nicole has submitted her photo, bio and recipes for the new Honey Queen brochure (see pages 8 & 9). As Honey Queen, Nicole has traveled to Tyler, Plano and Granbury, TX, and to Reno, NV. She looks forward to soon attending the Ft.Worth Livestock Show, the San Antonio Livestock Show, the TBA Delegates Meeting, the Houston Livestock Show and the Williamson County Area Beekeepers general meeting. We want to give her lots of appropriate exposure and experience. Do let me know of any events in your home area which you would like the Texas Honey Queen to attend on behalf of beekeeping. Thank you for your generous support of the Texas Honey Queen program! We look forward to seeing you soon! Sincerely, Shirley Acevedo Texas Honey Queen Program Chairperson |
State Fair Report Friday, 06 February 2009 21:20 | Author: John Talbert |
We had another great year at the State Fair of Texas sharing the story of honey and the honey bee with so many people. The Fair started off with a big reception on Thursday night for the media and dignitaries involved with the Fair. The Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, Todd Staples, opened the event with a rousing welcome and challenge to tell the story of agriculture during the next 24 days. And we did! With the help of over 100 volunteers, thousands of questions were answered, many of which started off with, "I have heard that if you ………". Many of the other questions were precipitated by the new large posters sharing some of the story of honey production in Texas, pollination facts and CCD. This year, honey was the focus of presentations on the Gazebo Stage for four days. No other agricultural commodity had that much exposure on the stage. Burleson’s Honey in Waxahachie gave cooking with honey demonstrations on Friday and Saturday, October 10 and 11. Your Honey Queens were on stage, Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19. Since the American Honey Queen, Rachael Seida, is from Texas, it was an all Texas Show. She was assisted by Collin County Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon and Collin County Honey Princess, Allison Adams. They enthralled the audiences with their tasty honey concoctions and their polished deliveries. It was a pleasure to watch them cast their spell. The Honey Booth at the State Fair of Texas is the biggest showcase for TBA to tell the story of honey to the consumer. If you have not had the opportunity to contribute to the support of the honey booth, do it now. We are already preparing for the next Fair September 25 to October 18, 2009. It takes about $3500 per year to sustain the presence at the Fair. Honey Queen Report Friday, 06 February 2009 21:16 | Author: Nicole Pettibon |
Hi Everyone! Today is a beautiful day! My bees are busy and I just came in the house from checking on them... So far, they have all successfully survived the winter and they are getting ready to rock and roll! Even though we have several more weeks to go, I'm eager to put the supers on right now. After the TBA Convention in Plano this past November, I had the opportunity to go to the East Texas Beekeepers Christmas Banquet with John & Lavada Talbert and Blake Shook on December 4th. We met at a restaurant called Traditions in Tyler, TX, and had such a good time meeting fellow beekeepers and making new friends. I hope to make it back to visit with the East Texas Beekeepers again soon. On December 8th, I attended the annual Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association Christmas Banquet. The new Collin County Honey Queen, Allison Adams, was crowned, and she crowned the new Collin County Honey Princess, Kaylynn Mansker. We had great food and fellowship, as well as, a fun-filled Quiz Bowl with the nineteen 2008 CCHBA scholarship recipients. The 2009 scholarship recipients were announced as well, making seven new recipients this year. I could tell that they were excited! The evening concluded with the ever-popular fund-raising auction. On January 7th, I went with Allison Adams and Kaylynn Mansker to a media training session. We met at Sarah Kornfield's (2005 American Honey Queen) home where she taught us how to communicate with people about honey bees in any given situation - whether on TV, radio, at a school or at a convention. What a great opportunity it was to work on speaking skills with an expert! Every year, Texas beekeepers donate about 300 lbs of honey to the TBA State Fair Booth which is then given to the Happy Hills Children's Academy located in Granbury, Texas. Rachael Seida (2008 American Honey Queen), Kaylynn Mansker (2009 CCHBA Honey Princess) and I joined the Seida and Mansker families on January 9th to deliver the honey. We had the opportunity of meeting the founder of the Academy, Mr. Shipman. He gave us an excellent tour of the Farm to see first-hand how they help kids in need. The children live in family units at the Academy, are able to go to school on campus, play sports and have some experience of farm life. We even talked about the possibility of their keeping honey bees. Happy Hills Farm is definitely an impressive place, and I had a memorable experience. I hope some of you can join us when we return in the fall with your 2009 donated honey. The ABF Convention in Reno, Nevada, from January 13-17, was an absolute blast! I was able to go with Shirley Acevedo, the Texas Honey Queen Chairperson, and we had so much fun attending many, many sessions on all sorts of topics about honey bees. These included the latest updates on CCD, how to make your own beeswax candles, bee sting therapy, queen rearing, building an effective honey house and so much more. There were all kinds of activities going on, and all kinds of opportunities to meet beekeepers from around the U.S and a few foreign countries. The 2009 American Honey Queen is Diane Jurchen from Iowa, and the 2009 American Honey Princess is Allison Hull from Minnesota. Congratulations Girls! Thank you all so much for giving me the opportunity to go! I look forward to seeing you here in Texas during 2009! And I hope to see you all in Orlando, Florida, for the next ABF Convention January 12-16, 2010! Have a wonderful month! Nicole Pettibon, 2009 Texas Honey Queen |
