LDAF is now accepting applications for the Apprenticeship Project for Growing Beekeepers and Honey Producers in Louisiana
For immediate release: November 12, 2024
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) announces the opportunity to participate in the Apprenticeship Project for Growing Beekeepers and Honey Producers in Louisiana. The LDAF will work in partnership with high school agriculture teachers to offer a beekeeping apprenticeship project to high school agriculture students.
The window to apply is now through November 22, 2024. The application and application guidelines for the Apprenticeship Project for Growing Beekeepers and Honey Producers in Louisiana are now available at https://www.ldaf.la.gov/animals/bees . Applicants are encouraged to review the guidelines and gather the documentation necessary for submission.
“Bee farming is vital to agriculture and substantially contributes to our economy,” said LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain, DVM. “Honey bees are important pollinators that help sustain the environment, and furthering education around their vital role is imperative for continued preservation. This will be our third year of implementing this project in high schools throughout the state, and we are excited to see the interest continue to grow.”
Through the Apprenticeship Project for Growing Beekeepers and Honey Producers in Louisiana, LDAF will sponsor four high school agriculture programs and/or educators with up to $10,000 in beehive and beekeeping resources to establish, with the help of students, an apiary (bee yard) of up to five beehives at their schools. Each school will also receive the equipment and supplies needed to produce and package honey.
Over the course of two years, each of the participating educators and/or programs will teach a class of students annually, through classroom instruction and hands-on experiences in the school bee yard, about basic beekeeping, including what goes into starting a beekeeping enterprise and maintaining successful hives.
Each educator and/or program will also select up to five outstanding youth from their classes of students with an interest in beekeeping for a year-long intense supervised agricultural experience (apprenticeship) in beekeeping and honey production. Each apprentice will be responsible for the success of one hive in the school bee yard for a 12-month period and learn the skills necessary to become honey production entrepreneurs.
This program is designed to address the loss of small producer-operated beehives in Louisiana due to beekeeper aging and the need for a new generation of beekeepers to maintain the industry. It will also benefit overall specialty crop production in Louisiana.
For questions regarding the program or application, please contact Mark Earl at 318-487-5089 or mearl@ldaf.state.la.us .
For more information on the Apprenticeship Project for Growing New Beekeepers in Louisiana, visit https://www.ldaf.la.gov/animals/bees .
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For more information regarding the press release, please contact LDAFCommunications@ldaf.state.la.us .
For interview requests, please contact PressSecretary@ldaf.state.la.us .