BSA recently announced its response to Christopher’s request, and the news is mostly good. While BSA is not agreeing to reinstate the Beekeeping Merit Badge, it is agreeing to incorporate beekeeping activities into several different existing merit badges.
Emphasis of the importance of bees and beekeeping will be added to or enhanced in eight existing merit badge pamphlets: Bird Study, Forestry, Gardening, Nature, Plant Science, Pulp and Paper, Environmental Science, and Insect Study. All of this will be accomplished by the end of 2015. One of those badges, Environmental Science, is needed for a scout to attain Eagle rank. Although the BSA is not reinstating a merit badge specific to beekeeping, it is making changes that provide opportunities to expose over 100,000 boys a year to the joys of beekeeping.

Beekeeping projects, such as working with a colony or harvesting honey, will be considered for addition to one or more of those merit badges so that interested scouts can earn advancement recognition for their beekeeping activities. The BSA believes this will increase the awareness of honeybees and their critical impact on our environment, and training America’s young people about caring for this important natural resource.

HOWEVER WE AS BEEKEEPERS NEED TO SUPPORT THIS EFFORT!

BSA does not currently know how many people will be willing to act as mentors for scouts who want to learn more about beekeeping. BSA may be reluctant to include a great deal of beekeeping activities as options for earning the merit badges unless the beekeeping community demonstrates that it will provide mentors to boys who want to learn about beekeeping.

RIGHT NOW, there are three things that you can do to help.

First, BSA has invited all associations and experts in the beekeeping community who are interested in helping with this project to e-mail us at merit.badge@scouting.org. Please put “bees” in the subject line.

Second, if you are interested in serving as a merit badge counselor, contact your BSA local council to initiate the process.

Finally, if you are willing to be a mentor, please contact BSA directly and let them know you are willing to be a mentor. BSA has requested that interested beekeepers e-mail them at: merit.badge@scouting.org and please put “Honey Bees” in the heading. Just write a few words letting them know that you are willing to act as a mentor, and please give BSA a way to contact you and let them know what states and counties you are willing to mentor in.
Just write a few words letting them know you are willing to mentor. Give them a way to contact you and let them know the areas of your state/county wher you are willing to act as a mentor.

After retirement from a long career of Public Service, in Dade County, Florida, Grace moved to North Florida where she farms a small citrus grove, where she grows tangerines and red navel oranges. She also maintains a small garden of Native plants, Florida friendly plants and also Wild Flowers. Through the extension office where she volunteers as a Master Gardener, she met Santiago Wallace of Wallace Family Apiary, now in addition to her chickens and wild turkeys, she also host some of Wallace’s Apiary Bees. In order to maintain a safe environment the use of chemicals is very minimum in her grove. In the garden adjacent to her home, she has no turf, thus saving precious water and totally eliminating the need for chemicals and/or fertilizers. She believes that with some planning, it’s possible to maintain an attractive landscape without the use of harmful chemicals and fertilizers.

- Listen now

Recordings of other beekeeping podcasts can be found here.

My son just bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts this past February, and imagine my disappointment when I discovered the beekeeping merit badge had been discontinued. Along comes Christopher Stowell, a Boy Scout in Troop 250, Skiatook, OK who has taken on the mission to get the beekeeping merit badge reinstated. Here is a young man taking on the task of getting more youth involved in beekeeping, something that we as a beekeeping community should have been years ago. I’m sure this has been and will continue to be a positive life changing event for Christopher’s which is one of the great aspects of Scouting. It is so refreshing to see a young man take on what could be seen as a momentous task for more than just self-gratification. Especially in these times where society is all about entitlements.

It took a young man to start this ball rolling. Now it is our turn, as beekeepers, to help him make it happen. Everyone that is reading this can make a difference. I have been fortunate to connect up Neil Van Dalsem, a beekeeper and neighbor of Christopher Stowell, who has made available some petitions and letters that can be used to show our support. Christopher has set a goal of July 15, 2010 to approach the Council with his proposal, so we must work fast.

What we need to do!

Everyone needs to sign the Online Petition at a minimum, but please try to do more as suggested below.

General Public

If your not a beekeeper or a scout, but are a concerned citizen and want to help out, please print out the following petition, get as many friends and family to sign it and mail it to Christopher Stowell. Remember, his goal is July 15th, so please allow time for the postal system and for Christopher to manage the incoming mail.

General Petition (26.4 KB) (Downloads - 356)

Scouts

If you are a Scout, please print out the following petition and get as many of your fellow scouts that would be interested in earning the beekeeping merit badge to sign it. This is very important. The BSA wants to be assured that there is sufficient interest for the merit badge before they will reinstate it. Oh yea, if your up for it and want to really support your fellow scout, Chirstopher, print out the previous petition as well and get all your non-scout friends to sign that.

Scout Petition (26.84 KB) (Downloads - 342)

Beekeepers

If your a beekeeper, you are where the rubber needs to meet the road. One of the bigger concerns that the BSA has is merit badge councilors. It seems that one of the reasons the Beekeeping merit badge was discontinued was due to the lack of merit badge councilors. For the BSA to reinstate the beekeeping merit badge we need to demonstrate that we, the beekeeping community, will support it. I can’t think of a better way to get youth involved in beekeeping, then a nationally, well defined program. Let’s all take the effort to make this happen.

If you are aware of any beekeeping clubs in your area, print out the first file and approach the club to commit to supporting any scout in the area that would be interested in earning the Beekeeping merit badge. Next, print out the second file and get as many of your beekeeping friends to commit to be a Beekeeping merit badge council. Those two steps are the most important, but if your still up for more, contact your local BSA council to get the word out and get a scout interest petition going in your area.

Club Support (27.43 KB) (Downloads - 282)

Beekeeper Support (17.55 KB) (Downloads - 362)

Updates

Latest update – HERE

Christopher was our special guest on the May WpN Beekeeping Podcast. We had a great conversation with Christopher and got an update on how the campaign is going. I strongly recommend listening to the recorded podcast below. It is very reassuring to see such a determined young man of 13 and the dedication and effort he is putting forth. He has definitely grown and matured, and will continue to do so, through this effort and will make a great leader some day.
- Listen now

I have created a forum at Beemaster dedicated to this effort -> BSA Beekeeping Merit Badge Forum

Coverage of Christopher’s Effort

• Häagen-Dazs® – helpthehoneybees.com
• Online Petition – experienceproject.com
• Busy Bee – TulsaWorld.com
• Boy Scout Merit Badge Project – Beesource Forum

Janet Brisson and her husband Mike have been a self-sufficient family and organic farmers for over 30 years. In 1995 they were forced to become hobbyist beekeepers due to lack of pollination as bees were loosing their fight against the insidious Varroa mites. Horrified to discover that even the most organic-minded beekeepers were driven to use some type of chemical to save their bees, the Brisson’ researched and started building and using screened bottom boards along with intensive drone brood management to reduce their chemical use. After 10 years and various adaptations of SBB’s, they re-discovered using powdered sugar as an effective way of detaching Varroa mites and have been chemical free since the beginning of 2005. One final modification of their screened bottom board to make using powdered sugar easy, the Brisson’ developed their product, the Country Rubes Combo Screened Bottom Board, that has become nationally available to beekeepers. Janet’s program “Healthy Bees & Environmentally Friendly Varroa Control” discusses how to monitor and manage your hives, bees and varroa mites using screened bottom boards, powdered sugar, and drone brood manipulations has been given at Conferences and clubs throughout the United States

- Listen now

Recordings of other beekeeping podcasts can be found here.

David and Sheri began keeping bees in 1994 in Ohio and the hobby went wild in 2004, 10 years later. For the last 5 years, they have ventured into every aspect of beekeeping. First, it was honey, then beekeeping equipment, then packages and queens, then classes and the list keeps growing. They have 6 children and 4 are involved in their bee business.

They maintain around 100 colonies a year and produce and sell hundreds of queens each year. They also sell 500 packages a year along with nucs. David is currently serving as president of our 70 member bee club, Central Eastern Illinois Beekeepers Assoc., and Central Director of the Illinois State Beekeeper’s Assoc. Presently they are the only large scale queen producer in Illinois. David is also serving as a lead member in the Illinois Queen Initiative, an effort underwritten by a SARE grant to produce a better queen for beekeepers.

- Listen now

Recordings of other beekeeping podcasts can be found here.