Paulding County Beekeepers Club members receive Certified Beekeeper Status Eight Members of the Paulding County Beekeepers Club attended the 25 th annual Young Harris College / University of Georgia Beekeeping Institute and earned the status of “Certified Beekeeper.”
The UGA Honey Bee Program offers an annual Georgia beekeeping event in cooperation with Young Harris College. This event provides a vast amount of information in the form of lectures, workshops & demonstrations from esteemed local, regional, national and international beekeeping practitioners, authors, & researchers. The event also features hands-on training classes, beekeeping and honey judging certification programs, a distinguished regional honey show, multiple awards programs, and a renowned dinner party, and many other educational opportunities. Since 1992, the University of Georgia & Young Harris Beekeeping Institute (YHBI) has been the single most comprehensive opportunity in the Southeast for concentrated training in all aspects of practical beekeeping.
Held on the campus of Young Harris College, situated in the heart of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, the Beekeeping Institute is a four-day event with separate curricula for beginners and more experienced beekeepers. As of 2013, 419 beekeepers have participated in this program, 363 achieving the Certified level, 22 Journeyman, 33 Master, and 1 Master Craftsman. Honey bees have been the Official State Insect of Georgia since 1975, and a subject of teaching and inquiry at the University of Georgia for decades. These marvelous insects are manageable and are used to produce honey and pollinate crops. They are practical models of biological organization and social behavior.
Apiculture is an 80 million dollar industry in Georgia, including honey, hive products and pollination. Pollination by Georgia bees helps ensure a bountiful harvest of the state's 700 million dollar fruit and vegetable crop. Through their work as lecturers, TV and radio guests, newspaper and magazine article authors and local authorities, Georgia Master Beekeepers remain the public educators and ambassadors that keep beekeeping at center stage of public discourse and policy.
For more information on how to become a beekeeper, contact the Paulding County Beekeepers Club or your local Extension Office.

Picture: Those receiving the Certified Beekeeper status include (left to right): John Foran, Douglasville; Greg Nix, Dallas; Angela Evans, Rydal; Pam Jones, Dallas; Keith Raines, Dallas; Brian Easterwood, Dallas; Weyman Cowan, Dallas; Jim Moudry, Dallas.