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‘10 Texas Honey Queen Report

Saturday, 13 February 2010 17:00 |

by Allison Adams

Hello, Texas Beekeepers!

     I hope you and your bees are off to a wonderful start this New Year! I have just arrived home from an adventure in Florida, beginning with the ABF Convention in Orlando, and I’d like to share my experiences with you.
     It all began on Tuesday, January 12th, when Nicole Pettibon, Rachael Seida, Shirley Acevedo, Blake Shook and I arrived at the Wyndham Resort in Orlando, Florida. After checking into the hotel, I had the privilege of meeting the 2010 Pennsylvania Honey Queen, Tessa Bryson (the younger sister of Rachel Bryson, who was the 2008 American Honey Princess when our own Rachael Seida was the 2008 American Honey Queen). Like me, Tessa had come to the Convention to observe and learn before competing for the American Honey Queen title in 2011. She and I (and Mrs. Talbert, who joined us) enjoyed a very nice conversation together. On Tuesday evening was the welcome reception, and I had the opportunity to meet beekeepers from all over the nation. It was a very pleasant time of fellowship!
     The Convention officially began on Wednesday morning with the opening ceremonies, greetings from Diane Jurchen (American Honey Queen) and Allison Hull (American Honey Princess) and introduction of the competing state Honey Queens. In the afternoon, I sat in on several very informative shared interest group presentations in the honey producers/packers division. Since most of my time at the next 2011 ABF convention will be spent in meeting people and selling quilt raffle tickets, I thought this event in Florida was my chance to learn as much as possible! Wednesday’s evening event was the Honey Queen reception and Quiz Bowl which proved to be an excellent opportunity to observe, learn and take notes for next year!
     Thursday began with the ABF Ladies Auxiliary Breakfast and meeting, when the American Honey Queen and Honey Princess gave their end-of-year reports. Next, each of the competing state queens demonstrated their knowledge of beekeeping and hive products by performing a short skit or giving a brief presentation before the assembly. It was very entertaining to see how creative the girls had been in designing their marketing presentations – I am already getting ideas for next year! During the breakfast I enjoyed listening to the ladies at my table as they shared stories about their introduction into beekeeping by marrying commercial beekeepers – their first date in the bee yard, picking up packaged bees on their honeymoon, etc. I am sure some of you ladies can relate to that! Thursday ended with a trip to the Sleuth Mystery Theater for dinner and a show.
     Friday’s big event was the ABF Foundation Scholars Recognition Luncheon, where those who had made significant contributions to the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees were recognized and awarded. After the ceremony we heard from the keynote speaker, Dr. Jim Tew of Ohio State University, who gave an interesting and humorous speech on the ways beekeeping has changed over the years. Late Friday afternoon I sat in on the American Honey Show Auction where beautiful honeys, candles and beeswax sculptures were sold to the highest bidder. That evening, I left with Rachael Seida, Shirley Acevedo and Janet Rowe to walk a few blocks to a local Indian restaurant (the four of us love Indian food) for supper. We then had a fun time exploring some gift shops before returning to the hotel in time to see part of a thought-provoking bee film.
     Saturday was my last convention day. I made my final tour of the tradeshow, which was one of the highlights of the Convention. I had thoroughly enjoyed walking up and down the aisles, looking at books, extractors, smokers, mailboxes, beetle traps, honey, note cards, Polish propolis lollipops, bee bracelets, calendars, salt and pepper shakers and so much more! It was also a wonderful place to meet people, and I was a little sad to see it go. I also listened to a fascinating seminar on top bar hives on Saturday morning. In the afternoon, I met up with the Honey Queens and Honey Princess at the Orlando Public Library for Kids and Bees, an event organized by Kim Lehman of Austin, TX. Saturday evening was the ABF Banquet. It began with the entry of all six competing state queens and the American Honey Queen and Honey Princess. We then enjoyed a delicious formal dinner before the introduction of the new ABF officers. Next was the sweepstakes drawing, quilt raffle drawing and live auction. The last and crowning event of the evening was the coronation of the 2010 American Honey Queen and American Honey Princess. Chosen as the 2010 American Honey Queen was Lisa Schluttenhofer of Indiana and Amy Roden of Wisconsin was crowned 2010 American Honey Princess.
     Throughout the Convention I had been meeting people from all over the United States, Canada and even Bermuda. A great way to do this was to casually approach someone or walk by them and say, “Hello, I’m Allison Adams. What is your name?” Their reply would sound something like this: “Oh, hi! I’m _____ - and where are you from?” I would answer, “I’m from Texas, in the Dallas area – and where are you from?” They would respond and I would ask, “And do you keep bees in _____?” When the person told me how many hives they kept in their state, province, or country, the number was nearly always in the hundreds or thousands. When they asked me “And how many hives do you keep?” I must confess I felt a little silly at my answer: “Four.” I guess I felt a bit out of place among all the commercial beekeepers, but by the end of my stay in Florida, I came to realize that it does not matter how many hives a person keeps. Whether one keeps 6,900 hives, 25 hives or just one, or even if someone has no hives at all, but nurtures a few flowering plants for the honey bees to gather pollen and nectar from, they are doing a truly wonderful thing. After I replied with the small number of hives I kept, some of the beekeepers would say very sincerely, “Good for you!” That encouraged me so much – I’m glad to be a beekeeper!
     When the Convention was over, my family (who had driven to meet me) picked me up and we enjoyed several days exploring Florida before driving back home. One of our stops was at an organic pick-your-own citrus grove in Clermont, Florida. The family who owned the orchard kept many beehives on their property for pollination and honey production, and I tasted their delicious orange blossom honey, as well as, some saw palmetto and tupelo honey that they sell. My family and I also spent a day in St. Augustine, and as we were strolling down one of the old streets there, we spied a little tea and spice shop, so we stepped in to look around. As we spoke with the two ladies working in the shop and we mentioned we were beekeepers, they looked upon us with wonder and approval. It reminded me of something said at the Convention: “Beekeepers are the good guys.” Honey bees are in trouble (after all, the title for this year’s ABF Convention was “Keeping the Hive Alive”), and thus, we too are the good guys. Thanks to the media, thousands of people now understand how important honey bees are to us. That speaker at the Convention was explaining that because of this, beekeepers have truly become the “good guys.” As those who care for these precious creatures, beekeepers are esteemed and respected more now than perhaps ever before – it certainly is a wonderful time to be a beekeeper!
     I want to thank you all so very much for making it possible for me to attend the 2010 ABF Convention. I had an amazing time meeting and learning from beekeepers and researchers from across the nation, such as David Hackenberg, Reyah Carlson, Nancy Gentry, Randy Oliver, Maryann Frazier, David Mendes and many, many more. Some of these people I had only seen in television productions, so I felt like I was meeting movie stars! It was an incredible privilege to be able to learn from these people and share in their discoveries. It will be so nice to arrive at the 2011 ABF Convention in Galveston and already know so many friendly people – I just love beekeepers!
     I am looking forward to my next event at the Fort Worth Livestock Show at the end of January or beginning of February – stay tuned for more information!

Thank you all for your support,

~ Queen Allison

Ray Latner, Branch Manager Dadant - Paris, TX;

Rachael Seida, former Texas and American

Honey Queen and Allison Adams, 2010 Texas Honey

Queen outside the exhibitors area.

Allison Adams, 2010 Texas Honey Queen;

Rachael Seida, former Texas and American Honey Queen;

Lavada and John Talbert, Sabine Creek Honey Farm in Josephine, Texas

and Janet and Jim Rowe, Bee Charmer of Wylie, Texas.

Front Row: Wisconsin Honey Queen, Amy Roden;

American Honey Queen, Diane Jurchen;

Kim Lehman of Austin (in the bee dress);

American Honey Princess, Allison Hull;

Texas Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon and

Minnesota Honey Queen, Alexa
Sorenson.

Back Row: Pennsylvania Honey Queen, Maya Althouse; Indiana Honey Queen, Lisa Schluttenhofer and Iowa Honey Queen, Shiliah Spaulding.

2010 Honey Queen Report

Thursday, 14 January 2010 13:04 |

by Allison Adams

Dear Texas Beekeepers,
What a wonderful convention! I had such an enjoyable time expanding my knowledge of honey bees and beekeeping, and most of all, meeting and spending time with you – that is why I am so thankful for the opportunity to represent you all as the 2010 Texas Honey Queen! It is truly an honor to be chosen for such a position.
I had the privilege of serving the Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association for nearly two and a half years, first as Honey Princess and then as Honey Queen. I am ready to work hard on the state level to promote the beekeeping industry by educating others about the importance of one of God’s most incredible creatures, and about the people who keep them!
I would also like to thank Nicole Pettibon for her example and encouragement, and for being the dear friend that she is. I remember very fondly the time when we were both Honey Princesses together; it has been fun to work with her as Honey Queen, too. She has done a fantastic job promoting the beekeeping industry as Texas Honey Queen. Thank you, Nicole!
For those who don’t know me, my name is Allison Adams and I live in Plano (a little north and east of Dallas) with my wonderful family: my parents, Ned and Caryl, and my younger sister Caroline (16) and brother Clay (11). I was home-schooled from the second grade until I graduated from high school in May of this year, and I am now teaching children’s art classes in my home. Some of my other interests include cooking and baking (especially with honey!), sustainable agriculture, art and playing traditional Irish music.
I began my beekeeping adventure four years ago through the Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association’s excellent youth scholarship program. My family and I now keep four hives near Southfork Ranch in Parker, TX. I am fascinated by honey bees, and have thoroughly enjoyed learning about them, although there’s still so much more to know (I think that’s great). I just love keeping bees, and I know it’s something I want to do for the rest of my life!
My first event as Texas Honey Queen was on November 18th at Southwest Academy, a private school in Allen. I gave two presentations, the first to a group of pre-K to 3rd graders and the second to 4th to 9th graders. Every Honey Queen event is memorable in some way, and this one was no exception. During the second talk, the bees in the observation hive we had brought, began buzzing loudly. The children listened and stared at the hive, and one asked what the bees were doing. As I began to explain that the bees were communicating with each other, another student had a different idea. She piped up, “They probably heard you say ‘honey’!”
I am looking forward to many, many more bee talks this year, and the chance to get to know you all better.
Thank you so much,
Allison Adams, 2010 Texas Honey Queen

2009 Honey Queen Report

Thursday, 14 January 2010 13:03 |

by Nicole Pettibon

Hello to All My Friends,

I just wanted to let all of you know how thankful I am for all of your wonderful generosity, hospitality, kindness and thoughtfulness. This year has been one of the most amazing years of my life! It is all thanks to you for making it the best it could be. I will never forget it for the rest of my life and I promise you that I will represent you all to the best of my ability to reflect the bright, shining kindness of Texas beekeepers when I compete
in Orlando at the ABF Convention. Y’all are truly the best. I thank you so much!

With lots of love,
Nicole Pettibon

09 Sept/Oct Texas Honey Queen Report

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 15:09 |

by Nicole Pettibon

Hello, Everyone!

I am happy to say that I am now a freshman at Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa! My wonderful family all drove me up here, and we made it safe and sound. Emmaus is a very small college with only 250 students; it is perfect for me because I get to know everyone! I am having a wonderful time. I have made many fantastic new friends. Nevertheless, I can hardly wait to come back to Texas for the cooking-with-honey demos at the Texas State Fair! I hope to see many of you there on the 1st and 2nd of October. It is a great opportunity to work at the honey booth and promote Texas beekeeping and honey (not to mention - you have so much fun!).
On the 27th of July, I was able to go to the public library in southeast Dallas (almost to Kaufman County) for their Annual Honey Bee Day. Shirley Acevedo and I talked to a small group of very curious people who wanted to know everything that was going on in the observation hive we had brought. The children’s librarian laid out an abundance of books on honey bees, a number of which I had not seen before. It was a nice one-on-one time with the visitors.
In anticipation of the American Beekeeping Federation Conference in Orlando this coming January, I had the opportunity to talk to former queens: Texas Honey Queen/American Honey Queen, Esther Wright Davis and Texas Honey Queen/American Honey Princess, Sara Paulson Landry. I was able to get a lot of my questions answered and get some tips about the ABF Convention. I am very grateful for their time and advice. They were so helpful.
I was so happy to be able to visit the Trinity Valley Beekeepers on the 5th of August for their monthly meeting. We listened to Janet Rowe, otherwise known as “The Bee Charmer”, as she gave main points on legally selling honey. I did not realize how much is involved with making labels, building a honey house and extracting honey according to state standards. It was a fantastic program and I was able to meet more Texas beekeepers - one of my favorite things to do!
The Collin County Hobby Beekeepers had their annual honey and photo contest on the 10th of August! This is something I look forward to every year. We had 59 honey entries and about 140 photo entries. The contest was definitely a big hit this year! Congratulations to the winners of the contests! I was able to judge the honey with Allison Adams (CCHBA Honey Queen), Kaylynn Mansker (CCHBA Honey Princess) and CCHBA member, Brad Bradfield. We had a blast discussing the many different flavors, colors and smells of so many different types of honey. I was very impressed at how well so many people did with their jars of honey this year. Great job, Y’all!
Coming up even faster than imaginable is the amazing Annual Texas Beekeepers Association Convention in Tyler, Texas! This is a fantastic weekend full of fun, learning and fellowship. Very qualified, professional speakers will be present to teach so many different classes for every level of keeping bees. Come and watch the Queens’ Quiz Bowl - full of laughter and excitement as the American Honey Queen, Texas Honey Queen and local queens and princesses from all over Texas participate in this competitive event. Attend the auctions - full of more honey-bee-related items than you have ever seen in one place at one time. You will want to come back again and again. I hope to see you there.
The Convention will be the end of my “reign” as your Texas Honey Queen. I want to thank you for this amazing year. I knew it would be absolutely great, but it is even better than I imagined. We have impacted thousands of people this year. That many more people are now aware of the honey bee and the beekeeping industry, thanks to you. Thank you to all of my hosts who welcomed me with open arms. I enjoyed every minute of my time spent with you. Thank you to my parents and family: for supporting me throughout the year, for letting me travel over weekends and talking to me at nights on the phone. I love you guys so much. Thank you, Shirley, for an amazing year. You are always right on top of everything. You make sure all of my needs are taken care of every minute of every day I am “on duty.” You have become a wonderful friend and I love you so much! And thanks especially to all of you for supporting me for this year. I cannot even begin to tell you how honored I am to have represented you all. Beekeepers are such wonderful people!

See you all in Tyler in November!
Nicole Pettibon, 2009 Texas Honey Queen

Texas Honey Queen Report

Tuesday, 14 July 2009 11:28 |

Hello, Everyone!
The months have been flying by. I can hardly believe that the year is half-way through! The honey flow is upon us and I have had the exciting task of catching a few of my own swarms. My bees have split themselves and I have now upgraded to 6 hives. Most of the honey from our first harvest in 2004 was from Indian Blanket flowers. It tasted very good! I’m eager to find out what this year’s honey will taste like.
This has definitely been a very busy last couple of months! Thanks to all of you and TBA Honey Queen Chair, Shirley Acevedo, we were able to raise more awareness of honey bees in Texas! All of the following events included individuals who were truly interested in learning why bees are important to them. They were hungry for information, and most of them wanted to know if there were beekeepers nearby to purchase honey. Some wanted to have a swarm removed, and some even wanted to start beekeeping themselves. Without all of you, this would not be possible. Thank you!
At the end of March, I was privileged to attend the last couple of days of the Houston Livestock Show. We spent those days at the Harris County Beekeepers Booth where they had a wonderful observation hive, a honey display case, a beekeeping video for people to watch, and an amazing contraption called the “Buzzeebo”. The Buzzeebo is a gazebo with a hive inside (screened in) so the bees can fly in and out of the hive. It was a great opportunity for people to see exactly what a hive looks like in an apiary. There were hundreds of people of all ages eager to see the bees and learn more about them. I had a wonderful time getting to know my host family (the Dillons) and the president of Harris County Beekeepers, Don Angle.

The day after the Houston Stock Show, we went to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. That was an amazing experience! Don Angle, who is retired from the Air Force, accompanied several of us: Misti Dillon, Blaire Dillon, Nancy Firstonsworth, Ethan Firstonsworth and me to the base. While there, we had various guides who gave us tours. These included Lt. Col. David Serage, Chief Master Sgt. Randy Bachmann, Staff Sgt. Escobar, Master Sgt. Rice and Commander Ander whose nickname is Serge. All of these men were very welcoming, helpful, and were able to answer all of our questions. We began with a tour of the dorm house, where we saw first-hand what it would be like to live at a base and be ready for any kind of emergency 24/7. The pilots respond to anything from a lost pilot to something like 9/11. We all had a fantastic time getting pictures with the fighter planes out in the hangar. I was very surprised to see how little room the pilot has for sitting in the cockpit.
Shortly after taking pictures with the planes, we had to quickly move over to the side of the runway due to a practice scramble scheduled for that day. We were all given a set of earplugs and earmuffs. The roar of the engines was so deafening that it shook the ground! We watched as two planes flew off into the horizon, disappearing within seconds. That day was an awesome experience, and I thank all the people at the Ellington Air Force Base for the tour and for their time and service to keep the 250-mile radius around Houston safe!
On March 24th, I went to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center with TBA Treasurer, Jimmie Oakley. We spoke to the director, Susan Rieff, about the benefit of having honey bees pollinate the flowers in the garden. After that, Williamson County Beekeepers Association member, Deryn Davidson, who works at the Center, gave us a tour of the garden. She will be working with her hive which the Center plans to add to the garden. I was able to meet a friend of hers who is a beekeeper from England, Maranda Kimberley. It was neat to learn the names of so many different types of flowers I had never seen before. The Center is beautiful. If you are ever in Austin, you would enjoy visiting.

That same afternoon, we drove to downtown Austin to visit the Capitol. We were able to visit all the offices of our local representatives and present them with a bottle of honey and a TBA/Honey Queen brochure. In addition, we visited the office of Senator Florence Shapiro, who we were able to watch on the Senate floor. Overall, I believe it was a very good impression we made upon the Representatives and Senator as we promoted awareness of the Texas Beekeepers.
That evening, we attended the Williamson County Area Beekeepers Association (WCABA) March meeting. We awarded the past and new scholarship students with their certificates. The new WCABA 2009 scholarship students are Paul Exley, Jared Rutherford and Colter Chase. Congratulations! It was really cool to see some of the kids I know from my speech and debate group at WCABA. One of the students was Nathan Exley, who gives a speech on honey bees during the speech and debate competitions. He is now going to nationals to compete. I had a great time after the meeting getting to know more beekeepers and assembling frames for the new scholarship students. Thank you, Kay & Jimmie Oakley, for hosting me.

On March 26th, I got to do a local event at the McKinney Fire Station for a group of Girls Scouts (Daisies), who were studying flowers and insects. There were ten of them ranging from about 7 to 10 years old. They had many questions after the presentation and loved the Bit-o-Honey candies we handed out afterwards. Thanks to Judy Buckner, CCHBA member, for going with me to help.

A couple weeks later on April 4th, I went with CCHBA member, Michelle Pryor to the Heritage Farmstead in Plano to work a beekeeping booth there. We had an observation hive that many people wanted to see, as well as, local honey for sale. It was fun to go back and visit with people we had met the previous year. It was a
beautiful day and we had a great time.

The Denton Organic Gardening Club was next on the list, so, with the assistance of TBA Honey Queen Chairperson, Shirley Acevedo, I gave a presentation about the benefits of honey bee pollination and how to organically keep a hive. This was one of the more challenging events due to the detailed questions people asked. They were all very interested in knowing different organic ways to treat the bees. Some Maryland beekeepers were there as guests of a Denton family.

Next, was the Earth Day Festival in Sherman that I attended with Shirley Acevedo. There was live music, eco-friendly venders and miscellaneous workshops that people could attend. We gave a beekeeping workshop and sold my very first batch of creamed honey! This was a wonderful family event, so we had many children fascinated by the observation hive. One little girl asked me if she could take one of the bees home to keep as a pet. There were 100 to 200 people attending this event, which turned out to be a great success.

It was exciting to attend the National Honey Board Meeting in Austin with TBA member, Kim Lehman, on April 23rd. (Thank you so much for hosting me, Kim!) The National Honey Board works at promoting the fact that pure honey does not have any additives. They are sponsoring the “Honey, Honest to Goodness” promotion at
several (5) Minor League Baseball parks again this year. The evening after the meeting, we were able to go to the Round Rock Express game, which is one of the sponsored teams. It was Honey Night, and the radio announcer, Mike Capps, gave Clint Walker (NHB Member) of Rogers, TX, a lot of free radio air time to talk about beekeeping and natural honey (nothing added). Clint threw out the First Pitch and we got to hand out honey sample bottles to visitors after the game. We had great fun!

On April 27th, I went with Harris County Beekeepers Association (HCBA) President, Don Angle, to the Wabash Feed and Antique Store where they sell
beekeeping supplies. After taking a tour of the store, we went to lunch with the owner, Betty Heacher, who is interested in starting her own hives. The Wabash is a very convenient place for Houston beekeepers to buy their supplies and maybe even a few interesting antiques or a peacock. Then on April 28th, I went to the HCBA April meeting to crown the new Harris County Honey Queen, Rebecca Hollington. She also works at Wabash. Congratulations, Rebecca! Thank you, Misti
Dillon and family, for so generously hosting me.
It was back to Houston for me on May 16th for the Pasadena Strawberry Festival, where they have the world’s largest strawberry shortcake! The cake was 1905 sq. ft., covered with more than a ton of strawberries, glaze and whipped topping. I attended with my brother Caleb, Don Angle, Rebecca Hollington, Jeff Ballard and Rebecca’s boyfriend, Zach. We had an observation hive at our booth. There were many other vendors and several hundred people attending. We had a great time giving out honey samples, selling honey and answering questions for the people
looking at the bees.

The next day, Caleb and I went to NASA in Houston for the Level 9 tour with Jeff Ballard and Rebecca Hollington (Harris County Honey Queen). The NASA tour included pretty much everything but a ride in a rocket! We were able to eat in the cafeteria with the astronauts and check out the 50-foot deep pool that holds a life size model of the Space Station for the astronauts to work on so it gives them an anti-gravity effect. We were able to look at another life-size model of the station out of the water, sit in the old mission control room, watch live footage of the astronaut out in space working on the Hubble Telescope, and to top it off, look at the Saturn 5 Rocket which is taller than the Statue of Liberty! We had a fantastic time thanks to HCBA member, Harry Reichart (who previously worked at NASA) and who organized the tour. That was a “blast”! Thank you Mr. Reichart!

The following night, after eating some wonderful honey ice cream at a little place called the MOOHIVE, I attended the Houston Beekeepers Association May meeting with HBA program coordinator, Donald Burger. I gave a presentation about the Honey Queen Program and the scholarship program which Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association does every year. The Houston Beekeepers Association had many wonderful questions, and I had a great time getting to know them! Thank you to the Dillon family and to the Burger family for hosting both Caleb and me during this visit to Houston. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with all of you beekeepers!

My brother Caleb and I graduated from high school on Saturday, May 23!! When I was little, I thought the day would never come… Sometimes folks ask if we are twins (though we are not), since we did the same grade together.

I am VERY exited to have graduated and to be your Texas Honey Queen!
Nicole Pettibon - 2009 Texas Honey Queen

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