Alabama’s state beekeeper meetings gather hundreds of beekeepers to share knowledge, experiences, and techniques.
Beekeepers demonstrate ingenuity, such as using accessible hives for those with mobility challenges, and inspire others through talks and presentations.
Honey tasting sessions highlight the diversity of honey types, teaching attendees how to appreciate and compare flavors.
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In Alabama, we have two state beekeeping meetings where a lot of beekeepers get together to learn about what we love: honeybees. It is interesting how beekeepers can all come from such different backgrounds but have one shared interest.
We met a beekeeper in Alabama who was paralyzed and wheel chair bound, but still a beekeeper. He keeps bees in an extra long top-bar hive. It is low enough that he can manage on his own from his wheelchair. He also travels around the southeast to beekeeper clubs and area meetings, giving talks on how to keep bees as paraplegic. As I said before, the ingenuity of beekeepers is amazing.
At these state meetings, beekeepers and soon to be beekeepers pick and chose the talks they want to hear. Did I mention there were nearly 800 beekeepers at this meeting!
Talk of the day goes to Roy Smith from Florida Panhandle.
HIGHLIGHTS AT THE MEETING
We walked into his packed class and there were 30+ different jars of honey from all over the US. It is incredible how many different types of honey there are. His talk was about tasting and teaching others how to taste honey. He had a couple that he called, “The Cadillac of honey, the champagne of honey, the Lincoln of honey”. I liked those comparisons, despite the obvious biases for the honey from his hometown.
- Cadillac = Tupelo Honey
- Champagne = Fireweed Honey
- Lincoln = Sourwood Honey
I chatted with him as we passed in the hallway and he was jazzed to talk about honey. It’s good to see a person’s passion boil up to the surface. It’s good for the soul.
Adam Hickman owns Foxhound Bee Company and is a certified EAS Master Beekeeper. Before ever selling a box through Foxhound Bee Company, Adam wrote beekeeping blogs for education. Adam regularly teaches beekeeping classes through Foxhound Bee Co and also through his local beekeeping club.