Submitted by Emily Barge

     As I closed my beehive up for the winter, I was amazed at how well my first summer of beekeeping went.  I am so thankful to be a recipient of the Brent Bridwell Young Beekeeper Project.  I added a honey super on the top of my hive, and was shocked at how quickly the bees went to work on filling up the super. I did not harvest any honey this fall, in fear of the bees swarming. I was able to educate myself more on beekeeping thanks to my mentor Rodney Snyder, other beekeepers, and literature on beekeeping.

     I had the opportunity to educate my family and friends this summer on honey bees. I was amazed at how interested others are on bees and the production of honey. I am planning on attending a few beekeeping classes in this spring, and continuing to educate myself and others on honey bees. I have already learned so many tips and tricks from many different experienced beekeepers.  I cannot wait until spring to reopen my hive, and to have another successful summer, and year of beekeeping.   

 Submitted by Emily in Q1

As summer is coming to an end I am able to look back on all the fun experiences I have had this summer with beekeeping and my bee hive. I was able to visit the IBA table at the State Fair and hope to help out at it next year. I also just put my first honey super on my hive and hope to be getting honey off of it soon. My bees are producing honey at a very rapid rate and seem to be pollinating every flower on my parent’s two acre farm. I love being able to sit at my kitchen table and see the bees flying around and landing on the flowers to collect pollen. My bees have also caused my mother to get angry a few times when they decide to drink all of sugar water out of my mom`s humming bird feeder, not leaving any for the humming birds. I hope to be collecting honey by late fall or next summer. Thank you again to everyone who has helped me out and to the Brent Bridwell Young Beekeepers Award for picking me to have a bee hive and start beekeeping in Indiana!

To return to Brent Bridwell page, click here.

 Emily Barge

Submitted by Emily in Q3

The Bees Have Arrived!

     I have always wanted to be a Beekeeper ever since watching a video in first grade. That dream came true for me 8 years later when I found out and then received the Brent Bridwell Young Beekeeper Project scholarship. After many years of trying to convince my parents to let me have bees but always being shot down with the excuses of the expense and lack of experience, I was finally able to have bees for free and have a wonderful support group from whom to learn and with whom to make new friends.

    Over Easter weekend, I received the hive in what seemed like a pile of wood with a million parts. After spending a few hours and pounding many nails with my mentor, Rodney Snyder, the many pieces of wood turned into a beautiful bee hive. A few short weeks later my bees arrived. As Mike got the nuc of bees out of his truck, I could hear them buzzing and imagined all these bees coming out and stinging me all at once. To my surprise, that did not happen. The bees just simply went right into their new home. One of the first things I had to do was give the bees their sugar water. This task required that I learn to use the smoker. After a few tries at lighting the fire, I successfully got smoke and was able to put the sugar water in the hive without spilling it. I am excited to see how much my bees expand the hive and grow over the summer.  I am also excited to learn more about beekeeping from my mentor, Rodney Snyder.