Wednesday, September 9, 2009

2010 Beekeeping Essay Contest

For official rules for this contest, please go to the travis4h.com website and look under the "upcoming events" tab.

TOPIC:
For the 2010 essay contest, the essay topic is:

“Is My Community Honey Bee-Friendly?”
Honey bees and other pollinators have been in the news lately. Many beekeepers have experienced colony losses to the yet unexplained Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. These unexplained losses have caused some people to wonder: What can I do to help? For this essay, you should survey your community to see what is being done, or could be done to help
honey bees. Perhaps there are classes to attract new beekeepers – or laws that prohibit beekeeping. Does your community allow roadsides and open land to grow up in blooming plants in the spring – or not? Are there resources to help home gardeners make bee-friendly choices? When insecticides are required for pests (for example, mosquito control), are the insecticides chosen or applied with bee protection in mind? Include your state in your survey if there is some reason; for example, your state may have declared the honey bee your state insect, or your state highway department may have a wildflower seeding program. The scope of the research is an essential judging criterion, accounting for 40% of your score. The number of sources consulted, the authority of the sources, and the variety of the sources are all evaluated. Personal interviews with beekeepers and others familiar with the subject are valued sources of information and should be documented. Sources, which are not cited in the endnotes, should be listed in a “Resources” or “Bibliography” list. Note that “honey bee” is properly spelled as two words, even though many otherwise authoritative references spell it as one word.

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