PA Honey Queen Report (September 2014)
  by Kaylee Kilgore - 2014 PA Honey Queen

Hello beekeepers! I hope everyone is having a great summer, and that your bees are well. August has been a busy month for me! I have attended 5 events so far this month, with a few more to come.

My first event this month was August 6th at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pa. I worked with two local beekeepers at their stand where they were selling a variety honey products. I also had the opportunity to teach the public about bees while helping them find the queen in an observation hive, including explaining why we mark queens.

My next event of the month was the PSBA summer picnic on August 9, held at the Wade Fisher Bee Farm in McVeytown. The picnic was a great opportunity for me to meet and introduce myself for the first time to many PSBA members. During the picnic, I provided an update on my work for the PSBA. I had already attended 20 events!

Queen Kaylee works at the PSBA ice cream stand during Ag Progress Days.

Queen Kaylee met with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett during Ag Progress Days.

August 12th through the 14th I attended Ag Progress Days near State College. Along with American Honey Princess Elena Hoffman, we answered many questions from the public about honey bees, and helped sell honey sweetened ice cream and root beer. At the Government and Industry luncheon, we had the chance to speak to Secretary of Agriculture, George Greig, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett.

On August 16th, I attended the National Honeybee Day event at the Wildlands Conservatory in Emmaus. It was a fantastic event, with an observation hive and extraction demonstrations for children, and information for adults about the importance of honeybees as pollinators, and how to maintain a pollinator friendly garden. I gave a cooking demonstration with honey banana smoothies, and described some of the benefits of cooking with honey.

Queen Kaylee educates some children about the observation hive at the Harford Fair.

Finally, I attended the Harford Fair in New Milford, where I worked with the Susquehanna Beekeepers Association at their honey hut, where they were selling honey products. I helped answer questions about the observation hive, and helped customers choose what kind of honey to buy. I also met the association s youngest member, who is going into 6th grade this year. For such a young girl, she has a profound interest in honeybees, and her passion is inspiring.

As the summer comes to an end, don t miss out on your chance to invite me to your fall events. To invite me, contact Rachel Bryson, queen program chair, at honeyqueen@pastatebeekeepers.org or 717-300-0146.

PA Honey Queen Report (July 2014)
  by Kaylee Kilgore - 2014 PA Honey Queen

Hello Again Beekeepers,

The past two months have been filled with presentations for me, from 4-H clubs, conventions and lots of storytimes.

June started off with a visit to a 4-H club in Rockwood PA on the 5th. The members were very interested in what they can do to get involved in beekeeping and during the meeting they planted pollinator friendly flowers. I was hopefully able to provide some encouragement to them as potential future beekeepers.

FFA Convention: Queen Kaylee met with other commodity representatives during the Pennsylvania FFA convention in State College.

On Thursday, June 12, I had the opportunity to attend the closing session of the 2014 Pennsylvania FFA Convention, where I promoted the Honey Queen program to other young women. I also spent time with some of the retiring State Officers, as well as the PA Fair Queen, the Pennsylvania Rabbit King, and several Dairy Princesses from around the state. This was a great event to meet and network with other commodity representatives from Pennsylvania.

June 24th and 25th I attended the National Ag in the Classroom Convention in my hometown of Hershey. I assisted Cathy Vorisek in presenting information about honeybees to teachers from all around the United States, and even a few from Canada.

Hollidaysburg Library: Queen Kaylee shows youth attending the Hollidaysburg Area Public Library some of the tools beekeepers use, including gloves and the bee suit.

With the start of July my events focused on visiting several libraries. I visited three libraries and reached more than 120 children. I attended the Hollidaysburg Area Library on July 8 and 9, educating area youth on the importance of honey bees. We did a bee craft and the children got to see an observation hive.

On July 14 at the Roaring Spring Community Library, I spoke to older children, who took the time out of their summer reading to learn about honeybees.

The weather was beautiful on July 16 when I visited the Valley Community Library in Peckville, so we went outside to play a game, where the kids got to be honeybees and pollinated their own flowers. Hopefully this helped them understand how important honeybee pollination is.

At the end of the month, on July 26, I attended the Ligonier County Market and promoted the industry with a local beekeeper. Thank you to Paul Bagnall for inviting me to the market.

As the summer continues, don t miss out on your chance to invite me to your event. To invite me to an event, contact Rachel Bryson, queen program chair, at honeyqueen@pastatebeekeepers.org or 717-300-0146.

PA Honey Queen Report (May 2014)
  by Kaylee Kilgore - 2014 PA Honey Queen

Hello Beekeepers!

During May I had the opportunity to speak to a wide variety of students, from first graders to sixth grade science classes.

 Queen Kaylee speaks to children and adults during EcoFest about the beeswax candles they will be making.

To finish out April though, I attended Ecofest at Mifflin Park Elementary School on Saturday, April 26, where I made beeswax candles with students while educating them about honey bees. May kicked off with the West Manheim Elementary School's Science Fair, where students were able to see an observation hive and sample honey sticks. On May 17th, I traveled to the annual Farm to Table Day at Fox Chase Farm in Philadelphia, where I spoke to learners of all ages about products of the hive.

The last week of May was filled with school presentations. I spoke to Central Dauphin Middle School's sixth grade science classes, Hershey Primary School's 3rd and 4th grade classes, and the first grade class at the Scott School in Harrisburg. All of the students were very engaged, and many were interested in getting involved in beekeeping. I look forward to more school presentations in the upcoming weeks!

As the summer begins and promotion requests continue to flow in for 2014, don t miss out on your chance to invite me to your event. To invite me to an event, contact Rachel Bryson, queen program chair, at honeyqueen@pastatebeekeepers.org or 717-300-0146

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PA Honey Queen Report (April 2014)
  by Kaylee Kilgore - 2014 PA Honey Queen

Hello beekeepers!

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful spring weather! My college semester is quickly finishing and this month I attended the Farm Fest at the Lehigh Valley Zoo. I had a great time educating visitors about the importance of honey bees and pollination. I also made a bee craft with the children, and gave out I love Honey stickers to kids who told me something they know about honey bees. I was fascinated by how many parents were interested in learning as well, and had lots of great questions!

As summer is quickly approaching, don t miss out on your chance to invite me to your event. To invite me to an event, contact Rachel Bryson, queen program chair, at honeyqueen@pastatebeekeepers.org or 717-300-0146.

PA Honey Queen Report (February 2014)
  by Kaylee Kilgore - 2014 PA Honey Queen

Hello beekeepers!

My name is Kaylee Kilgore, and I am honored to be your 2014 Pennsylvania Honey Queen. I am from Hershey, Pa., and I am currently pursuing a Global Studies degree at Lehigh University. I was crowned at the Western Pennsylvania Beekeeping Seminar in Mars on Saturday, February 15th. While I was there, I met a ton of fantastic beekeepers. I also received some great advice from 2014 American Honey Princess Elena Hoffman, and had the chance to watch her give her year in review to the Western PA Beekeepers. It was a wonderful opportunity to see what being a Honey Queen is like.

The next event I attended was the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild s short course. There I learned some intriguing things about beekeeping that I had not known before. I got to meet lots of new and aspiring beekeepers, as well as some students and teachers hoping to establish hives at their school. It was inspiring to see young people so passionate about beekeeping.

After that, I had Honey Queen Training, also known as bootcamp ! Over the course of the weekend, I prepared school presentations, practiced media interviews, and learned how to do cooking demonstrations. I left training prepared to represent the beekeeping industry and the PSBA all over Pennsylvania.

My goals for this year include:

• Increasing the likes on the PAHQ Facebook page to 350 or more.
• To give 50 educational presentations
• To secure two candidates to compete for the 2015 title

I look forward to meeting you all this year. As promotion requests continue to flow in for 2014, don t miss out on your chance to invite me to your event. To invite me to an event, contact Rachel Bryson, queen program chair, at honeyqueen@pastatebeekeepers.org or 717-300-0146.

Current 'From the Honey Queen' article and detailed contact information available on our Honey Queen Program page.