Kentucky Ag News

Horn hopes EAS conference is the first of many

 

Kentucky Agricultural News staff report

 

Kentucky State Apiarist Dr. Tammy Horn is president of the Eastern Apiculture Society (EAS), which will hold its annual conference July 28-Aug. 1 at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.

 

“It’s quite a privilege for Kentucky to host this conference for the second time in its 59-year history,” Horn said, noting it was held in Murray in 2008. “It’s never been in this [eastern] part of the state.”

 

The EAS is the largest non-commercial beekeeping organization in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world with 26 member states and provinces in the eastern U.S. and Canada.

 

As state apiarist, Horn would like to help Kentucky, with its central location, host more national conferences like the EAS event.

 

“Geographically, our state is perfect to attract big-time bee conferences,” she said.

 

Horn said Kentucky was a huge honey-producing state in the late 19th and early 20th century before tobacco took over.

 

“We’re never going to compete with North Dakota, which is now the nation’s top honey producer because of all the alfalfa grown there,” Horn added. “But as state apiarist, I would like us to position ourselves as a top state for bee conferences.”

 

For more information about EAS and its upcoming conference, visit www.easternapiculture.org.