4-H Entomology in Mississippi

Bee Essay Contest

TOPIC for 2008:
The Results of Honey Bee Pollination in My Community

State Deadline: January 15, 2008

The results of honey bee pollination are many and varied. Essayists are encouraged to become familiar with these pollination activities and, then, survey their communities to see what examples they can find. Some of these will be obvious, i.e., apples on sale at the supermarket. Others may be less obvious, i.e., milk from cows that are fed alfalfa hay with honey bees used to pollinate the original seed from which the alfalfa is grown.

Essayists should not overlook the benefit to farmers who are able to produce more or higher value crops as a result of pollination nor the benefits to the local population from the varied diet to which honey bee pollination contributes.

Two good internet resources are "McGregor's Handbook of Pollination" found at http://beeculture.com/content/pollination_handbook/index.cfm and "The Value of Honey Bees as Pollinators of U.S. Crops in 2000" which can be found at http://www.masterbeekeeper.org/pdf/pollination.pdf. There are links to additional beekeeping websites at the Foundation's website (http://www.honeybeepreservation.org) where the winning essays from previous years may also be found.

The scope of the research is an essential judging criterion, accounting for 40% of your score. The number of sources consulted, the authority of the sources, and the variety of the sources are all evaluated.

Personal interviews with beekeepers and others familiar with bees and beekeeping activities are valued sources of information and should be documented. Sources that are not cited in the endnotes should be listed in a "Resources" or "Bibliography" list.

Note that honey bee is properly spelled as two words, even though many otherwise authoritative references spell it as one word.

  RULES:

1. Contest is open to active 4-H Club members only. 4-H'ers who have previously placed first, second, or third at the national level are not eligible; other state winners are eligible to re-enter.

2. Requirements ( failure to meet any one disqualifies)

Preparation for Judging:

Typewritten, double-spaced, on one side of the paper following standard manuscript format.

Length: 750 to 1000 words long.

Write on the designated subject only.

All factual statements must be referenced with bibliographical style endnotes.

A brief biographical sketch of the essayist, including date of birth, gender, complete mailing address, county and telephone number, must accompany the essay.

The word limit does not include the references, endnotes or the essayist's biographical sketch.

3. Essays will be judged on

(a) scope of research - 40%;

(b) accuracy - 30%;

(c) creativity - 10%;

(d) conciseness - 10%; and

(e) logical development of the topic - 10%.

4. Essayists should forward essays to the Dr. Clarence Collison, Entomology and Plant Pathology Department, Box 9775, Mississippi State, MS, 39762-9775 postmarked no later than 15 January 2008.

State judging will be completed and the winning state essay will be mailed to the ABF office before March 1, 2007. No essay received after January 15 will be considered.

5. We encourage ALL 4-Hers to submit an essay! Only one state essay will go to the national contest. The Mississippi Beekeeper' s Essay Committee will judge the state entries and all decisions are final. The state winners will be announced the first week in March 20087.

6. Final judging and selection of the National Winner will be made by the Foundation's Essay Committee, whose decision is final. The National Winner will be announced by May 1, 2008.

7. All entries become the property of the Beekeeping Federation, Inc. and may be published or used as it sees fit. No essay will be returned.

8. Deadline for entry in the MISSISSIPPI CONTEST is January 15, 2008.