American Honey Queen brings buzz about bees to Mystic

May 27, 2016 12:00 am • Last Updated: May 27, 2016 5:17 pm

Kim Kester, the 2016 American Honey Queen, tends to one of her beehives. (Photo submitted)

Kim Kester, the 2016 American Honey Queen, is on a national tour this spring to speak for the bees. Throughout her travels, she will educate the public about the importance of maintaining honeybee health and promote the beekeeping industry and honey consumption.

And, while she’s in the state for the Connecticut Beekeepers Association’s 125th annual conference in New Haven, Kester will speak at area schools and give a talk on June 3 at Mystic’s Coogan Farm Nature & Heritage Center.

The American Honey Queen Program has been selecting young women as spokespeople for the U.S. beekeeping industry since 1959. The local, state and national program is facilitated through the American Beekeeping Federation, which points out that honeybees are responsible for nearly one-third of our entire diet due to the pollination “services” they provide and that honeybees contribute more than $14 billion to the value of U.S. crop production. Simply stated, many of the country’s crops wouldn’t exist without the honeybee at bloom time.

A graduate of University of Wisconsin, where she double-majored in dairy sciences and poultry sciences, Kester, 23, began beekeeping in 2014 and owns six hives. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural education at Iowa State University.

The following is an interview with Kester from her home in Wisconsin, which is among the active beekeeping/honey producing states that appoint Honey Queens and Honey Princesses.

Q. How did you acquire the American Honey Queen title? Is it something you’re nominated for or apply for?

A. It’s a very intensive application and interview process. In order to be eligible, you have to serve as your state’s honey queen for one year, and also as a county honey queen, which I did.

Q. What got you interested in beekeeping?

A. I grew up on a hobby farm and I had a very strong background in 4H, so I had all kinds of animals, livestock. It got me real interested in agriculture. When I got to college, I was too old to show my animals through 4H, but I always wanted to get into something new, learn something new. I stumbled onto honeybees and liked how it tied into my passion for agriculture and also was another animal species I could care for. Before I got my own bees, I worked with mentors — people who already had bees so I could learn from them first.

Q. Was it your awareness of the threats to the survival of honeybees that also interested you?

A. It was definitely part of the draw. I was so familiar with other parts of agriculture and felt it was important to communicate how important honeybees are to our food supply through pollination, but also how they help drive other agricultural sectors in America, for example, the almond industry. Without bees we wouldn’t have any almond production or so many other food crops. Beekeepers as a group help drive the rest of agriculture.

Q. Why is the honeybee population shrinking?

A. The bee population decline is for a number of reasons. There is a certain newer class of chemicals (used on crops) that can affect the bees in a negative manner. There are also pests and disease. Varroa mites can infest hives and when you have a heavy mite load, it can open up the bees to other viruses. So, at that point they can be weakened and don’t have as many good sources of nectar nearby — they have to forage further from the hives. They never had to worry about Varroa mites back in the day — it’s more of a modern beekeeper issue. This is a combination (chemicals and disease) we haven’t seen before in the industry.

Q. Are you ever afraid of getting stung while you’re beekeeping?

A. Wearing a bee suit, I’m usually good to go. Bees are naturally very gentle creatures. You need to work with them slowly and calmly so you don’t upset them.

Q. What do you most want people to learn from you while you’re on tour?

A. To celebrate the bees for their pollination efforts but also the honey, which is very versatile. So I tell people about all the benefits of bees: honey for cooking and baking, but also as an antibacterial, the wax they produce—how bees play a role in our everyday lives. But they need our help, too. When America is hungry, it’s the honeybees that provide (food) through pollination, so just be aware of bees around you and how they contribute to your everyday life.

Kester urges parents to start teaching kids early about honeybees and beekeeping by visiting http://www.buzzingacrossamerica.com.

American Honey Queen Kim Kester (Photo submitted)