I saw that Bakers has a scholarship program with her association, and I also have a similar program going on with our association.
I'm interested to see what others do.
We are very similar with some fine tuning that has developed over the years.
Applicants are limited to age 11-15. There were concerns about 17-18 year old students going off to college, busy with other activities, and so forth. There cannot be another immediate family member already in beekeeping.
Applicants and a parent are interviewed by a committee. Sometimes we find the parent is more interested than the child. When a mentor visits the hive, a parent must be present. CYA
The wooden ware consists of 2 brood boxes, bottom board, inner and outer lids, queen excluder, 2 supers and all the frames and foundation necessary for the equipment. Also included is bee suit, gloves, hive tool, smoker, smoker fuel, hive top feeder, and bee brush. Mentors are chosen based upon skill level and proximity to the student. If something happens to the queen the club sees that the student receives another.
In the first 2 years, if the mentor decides that the student is not following up with the project, the club has the right to remove the equipment.
Each student has to attend our beginning beekeeping class, our big Funday in June, at least 8 club meetings, keep notes and pictures, and at the end of the first year, do a presentation to the club about their experience. They also do 2 service projects during that first year and submit an entry to the state of county fair.
The last couple of years, the chairperson arranged for all scholarship students, a parent, and the mentor to get all together in a group and assemble equipment. The student takes home a finished hive that they paint. It's an opportunity for all to meet and then we know frames are assembled correctly.
I am very lucky. My student's mother teaches entomology at a nearby college. One of our monthly meetings was about studying pollen under the microscope and that peaked her interest.
