Thursday, April 10, 2008 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Page 3 Beekeeping a sweet diversion for County youth JVHchael Rigert I NORTH COUNTY STAFF I ' err. Wt WW es - ... r 3 A. 0 MARK JOHNSTON, Daily Herald Ian Curtis center of Eagle Mountain, holds onto his prize that he won in the Bee a Beekeeper essay competition as others applaud the winners, April 4. There's a bit of buzz around the valley about a youth program pro-gram of the Utah County Beekeepers Bee-keepers Association that provides pro-vides kids with the know-how and honeybees to run their own beekeeping operation. Just ask the three Evans children chil-dren who recently completed the Bee A Beekeeper program and were selected as three of the four grand prize winners at the organization's Friday meeting in Orem. Dalian Evans, 14, his sister, Sierra Evans, 13, and their brother Samuel Evans, 11, who live in Lehi, are some of the county's proudest new beekeepers. All three participated par-ticipated in Bee a Beekeeper, which included submitting a 500-word essay, making progress prog-ress reports and attending a Beekeeping 101 course and chapter meetings. Each will receive bees, a hive, licensing and safety equipment from association sponsors for their own personal apiary. "I think it's awesome," said Sierra Evans, who aspires to one day turn her liquid gold hobby into greenback-producing enterprise. "It taught me a lot more than I knew." Samuel Evans said he was interested in beekeeping as a means to better pollinate the family's vegetable garden. He also learned about critters that might want to horde in on his hive. "Mice will chew through the wood to get the bees," the 1 1-year-old said. Neil Shelley, president of Utah County Beekeepers Association, Asso-ciation, said this is the second year the group has offered the Bee A Beekeeper program to youth ages 10 to 18. After recognizing that the growing organization's membership needed a youth movement to recruit a new generation of beekeeper hobbyists, Shelley and others took a page out of the Future Farmers of America playbook and patterned their program after the concept of the Catch a Calf introductory bovine program. Last year three kids participated par-ticipated in Bee A Beekeeper and this year 14 enrolled. All participants received bees, portions por-tions of hive and equipment to get started, he said. "It's a fun time for them," he said. Shelley said the beauty of the beekeeping hobby is that it's low maintenance, high reward. The Utah County average aver-age for per hive honey extraction extrac-tion is 45 pounds annually. A " typical family consumes about 15 pounds of honey a year. Many in the organization sell their harvest for extra income or. use the honey as a dependable depend-able source of food and for food storage. "Utah is the largest consumer con-sumer of honey in the nation," he said. Beekeepers in Utah must be licensed and Shelley recommends recom-mends new beekeepers check with their city before setting up a hive. Though each hive can house up to 80,000 bees, he said, even in a neighborhood setting, it doesn't seem like there's any more bees than a standard garden would attract. "They're generally 15 feet over your head," he said. Lanita Evans, mother of the three Bee A Beekeeper grand prize winners, said the pro gram has been a thrilling experience ex-perience for her kids. She said they spent a whole week just crafting their essays and have been busy as, well, their bees, ever since. "This is something they've wanted to do and now they have some help," she said. "I think it's fantastic ..." Lanita Evans said there too many kids these days who don't want to work and beekeeping bee-keeping teaches children and adults that if you're willing to put forth some effort, it can be rewarding. "Then, to have a few that won't stop working, it's kind of exciting," she said. For more information about beekeeping, Utah County Beekeepers Bee-keepers Association or its Bee A Beekeeper youth program, go online to www.utahcounty-beekeepers.org www.utahcounty-beekeepers.org or contact Neil Shelley at 8224114. I II - 1 i :J, Everything 1 rW'-A Real E I I .,'. .'.,3 Presented I by Mike and Julie Pierce FIRST-TIME BUYERS The current real estate market climate presents many potential first-time buyers with a real opportunity. If you are looking for your first home, chances are that you have searched the Internet as your first step. In fact, one survey sur-vey shows that more than half of first-time buyers who utilised the Internet for their home searches made their way onto a Multiple Listing Services (MLS) website. After Af-ter taking this initial step, first-time buyers then turn to the experience and expertise of a real estate professional to buy the homes they want. 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