By: Stephanie Meyers
Student (left) Nicholas Wise, brother (center) and mentor Mike Swett (right) examining a hive. Photo credit to Elizabeth Wise.
A problem. A plan. A legacy. These three things describe the Iowa Honey Producers Association (IHPA) Youth Scholarship Program. This program, over the course of the last 16 years, has fundamentally changed the organization for the better.
Teresa Brandenburg had a wild idea after being active in the Iowa Honey Producers Association (IHPA) for a couple of years. While serving as the American Honey Princess in 2006 and after completing her one year reign as the Iowa Honey Queen in 2005, she attended all IHPA board meetings. During these years, the IHPA Board was concerned about the future of beekeeping in Iowa as current members were aging and membership overall was decreasing. The board desired involvement from young people but was unsure how to achieve that idea.
While Teresa was traveling around the United States as American Honey Princess, she attended several conventions, always having the aging beekeeper population in the back of her mind. At the American Beekeeping Federation annual conference in Texas, she learned about the Texas youth program, spending a large amount of time gleaning information from those involved. She was inspired to take what she learned while traveling and design a program to assist with the problem the IHPA was facing. She took all the information from what was working and had worked for Texas, along with her background in education, 4H and FFA, and designed a proposal for the IHPA board. The ultimate goal of the program was to allow young people the opportunity to learn about beekeeping and get into the industry regardless of financial means. She understood the need for a mentor, as beekeeping is something that is challenging to do alone.
Teresa’s time and passion paid off as a plan was developed. In 2006, with the assistance of Mike and Donna Brahms, Lee Heine and the IHPA board, the Youth Scholarship Program launched. The IHPA board agreed to providing a free membership to the IHPA to all students who were selected. Lee Heine agreed to help with the rest of the funding for the program. Teresa built the scholarship package, wrote the applications for both students and mentors and worked to carry out the program, with the assistance of Mike and Donna Brahms.
Mentor (left) Angie Croll and student (right) Zane Wihlm doing a hive check. Photo credit to Tammy Wihlm.
Approximately eight students applied that first year, according to Teresa. She, along with Lee Heine, sat down and interviewed each student at the annual conference. At the end of the interviews, Mr. Heine looked at Teresa and stated that he didn’t want to decide so they were going to give all the applicants a scholarship. Prior to interviews, they had planned to give out only four or five scholarships. Teresa’s plan was launched in a big way. She managed the program for that year and helped to interview the second year, in 2007. Then, she got married and moved to Kansas. Mike and Donna Brahms continued the program for a few years before handing it off to other individuals to coordinate.
A legacy was created with the launching of this program. When the current program was described to Teresa, she said that it basically still looks the same. Currently, students are required to fill out and submit an application to the current coordinator postmarked by September 15th including a summary of involvement in activities (school, community, church and other youth or civic organizations) as well as two letters of recommendation. In order to apply, students must be between the ages of 13 and 16 by November 1st of the current year. The scholarship coordinator reads through the applications and extends an interview to students who meet the requirements. Interviews are held in October either over the phone or in person. A recommendation is put together and submitted to the IHPA board for approval. Students are then notified of acceptance. Those accepted into the program are invited to that year’s annual meeting and required to attend Saturday’s activities to begin learning about bees and talking with other beekeepers. Besides attendance at the annual conference, students receive one complete hive consisting of two standard hive deeps and two medium honey supers, all frames and foundation, a bottom board, inner cover, top cover, feeder and one 3-lb package of bees with a queen. Protective equipment is also included – a smoker, hive tool, beekeeping jacket/suit and gloves. The benefits do not stop with equipment! Students receive a one year membership to the IHPA including The Buzz publication and registration fees and educational supplies for beginning beekeeping classes.
The best part of the program is the mentoring component, according to past students. Each current student is assigned a mentor who will assist them one on one throughout the year. Mentors have at least three years of experience and are dedicated to teaching and working with students with a commitment of one year. Mentors assist students with assembling equipment, installing bees, examining hives, harvesting honey and anything and everything that comes up in-between. Mentors and students, many times, develop a relationship that spans years. Many past students still contact their mentors for questions and concerns. The mentoring component helps to alleviate failure and frustration as students are getting involved in beekeeping.
Scholarship students are expected to complete some tasks throughout the year. Students must attend and successfully complete a beginning beekeeping class. They must also maintain a bee colony throughout the year and contact with the scholarship coordinator and their mentor. Students are required to attend the IHPA annual meeting after their year of beekeeping and give a final report to the coordinator. This report includes their successes and mishaps through the year, some of what they learned and goals for the future. We encourage students to keep a journal or written record of their year along with photos.
Student (left) Nicholas Wise, mentor (center) Mike Swett and student (right)
Noah DeSotel sporting beekeeping shirts at annual conference. Photo
credit to Lynn DeSotel.
The IHPA continues to look for ways to improve the program. Bee Camp, in its second year in 2023, is a two day intensive camp all about bees. Students work with beekeepers getting hands-on experiences in an overnight camp experience. The topics presented last year included basic hive inspections, queen rearing and marketing techniques. Scholarship students have the opportunity to attend free of charge. The camp will also be open to the public this year to involve other youth interested in or getting started in beekeeping. Other opportunities for scholarship students include attending Iowa Honey Bee Day at the Capitol, Summer Field Day and giving back to the organization through volunteering at the Iowa State Fair Parade and booth.
Teresa saw a problem, created a plan and left a legacy. After hearing about 16 years of a successful Youth Scholarship Program, Teresa is beyond grateful that her idea and dream was still being carried out today. When asked about her words of advice to others, she said, “You can never go wrong with getting young people engaged in something. If you have something you are passionate about and can help young people get passionate about it as well, that is how you create change!”
Personally, the IHPA Youth Scholarship Program changed our family. Our oldest daughter was a 2020 scholarship recipient. Due to the strange year, we worked with many beekeepers in our area as mentors and became involved in the IHPA. Interest was sparked in each of our children with each one being involved in different ways, from marketing to education to assisting hands-on. This program was not just about bees, it assisted our children in public speaking, relationship development, communication skills, general confidence, time management and even business skills. Other past scholarship students and families also share these positive outcomes.
Young people are the future and voice of beekeeping for generations to come. If you would like more information on the Iowa program, please do not hesitate to reach out via e-mail at sonshinefarmsia@gmail.com.
A problem was noticed. A plan was created. A legacy was left. Here is to the future of beekeeping!
Stephanie Meyers
Current IHPA Youth Scholarship
Coordinator
