COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today was the first day of the "Ready Set Grow" SC State Beekeepers Association Summer Conference.
The conference will last through Saturday. Today, the program focused on providing information to beginner beekeepers. The next two days will feature keynote speakers and will be designed for more experienced beekeepers.
Danny Cannon is the SCBA president. He says this is the first time ever the conference has been hosted in Columbia. In previous years, it's been hosted twice a year in either upstate or coastal South Carolina.
"You know when you travel one end of the state to another, it can be a 5, 6-hour haul," Cannon said. "So we figured we would get good attendance by central locating in Columbia. All the pieces fell into place to have it here. So it’s a good win-win for everybody."
Beekeeper Orvel Michael has been a beekeeper for six years. He came to the conference to learn even more. He says there are different ranks of beekeepers.
"There’s several levels of beekeeping: beginner beekeeping, certified beekeeper, journeyman beekeeper, master beekeeper, and master craftsman beekeeper," Michael said.
At the conference, all experience levels are welcome. In particular, Cannon says today they wanted to focus on beginners because it can be hard to break into the hobby without having help.
"It's not like at the corner convenience store you just pick up a brochure or something," he said. "So this is kind of a way to provide an avenue for people who want to be more informed about beekeeping, maybe want to think about keeping bees, maybe they just want to learn a little bit about it for their personal education."
This is the first time they’ve offered programming for kids. Cannon says SCBA has received multiple calls from parents expressing interested in a youth-oriented program.
"If people are calling us and asking, it sounds like something we need to be doing," he said.
15-year-old Mya Chapman is a 4-H pollinator ambassador. She is at the conference to help out with the youth programs. She says it’s important for kids to have guidance and experienced mentors when they start out.
"It’s a scary thing to jump into," she said. "You really think about it and all you see are these bees swarming you when you go out into new hives, so I'm just here to say its not as scary as it looks. It’s actually really fun and sort of addicting because I only have two hives right now and I want more."
Cannon says the SCBA is there to provide that guidance.
"One thing about beekeepers: we’re always willing to help folks. Particularly ones that want to get into beekeeping," he said. "So show up and we’ll figure out something."
9-year-old Logan Murphy showed up at the conference today. His grandpa and uncle own bees, so he said he wanted to learn more about them.
"I love animals and bees are insects and there are a bunch of different insects in the world and I want to learn more about them."
When it comes down to it, beekeeper Michael said the message behind beekeeping is simple: "Bees are important for us. We’ve got to take care of them because they take care of us."
Today, it was free to stop in to the conference. While there is a registration fee for Friday and Saturday, Cannon says if beginners looking for more information on how to get started can feel free to buzz on by.