There was something new buzzing at the Van Buren County Fairgrounds last week.
For the first time in the history of the Ag Awareness Days program, a beekeeper was invited to talk to children about the importance of pollinators.
Dave Hunter and his wife Kelly Vander Kley own Black Stripe Apiary in Mattawan. They also manage Hunter Family Farms, a small livestock farm with ducks, turkeys and chickens.
Last Wednesday, Dave spoke to Van Buren County second-graders about bees and their role as pollinators of plants and fruit crops. He said the lifespan of a single bee is just 28 days, and during this time they produce only a single drop of honey. The queen, on the other hand, lives between three and five years and is the focus of the bee hive.
The queen is surrounded by worker bees, which are all female. Their main purposes are to gather nectar and pollen and to protect the queen. Bees can travel up to five miles to collect pollen.
"They are amazing little creatures," he told a group from Lawrence.
Male bees are known as drones. They do not have stingers and do not collect pollen. The drone's primary job is to mate with a fertile queen.
Most children, even some adults, are afraid of being stung by bees, but Hunter said bees do this only as a last resort.
"They don't want to sting you," he said.
Bees can sting only once during their short lifetime, and they die soon after doing so. Hornets, which look like bees, can sting multiple times.
As Hunter spoke, a carpenter bee circled the group and made his presence known. Spotting the invader, the beekeeper told the children that carpenter bees do not produce honey but are pollinators, nonetheless.
Hunter and his wife are members of the Kalamazoo Area Beekeepers Club. The organization assists property owners whenever they spot a swarm of bees and don't know what to do. The club calls one of its beekeepers, who comes to the property and removes the swarm.
He said the area needs more beekeepers, and that he hopes some of the students who attended the two-day program will grow up to fill that need.
In addition to being a beekeeper, Hunter works full-time as a public safety officer with the Kalamazoo Fire Department.
Last week's Ag Awareness Days were organized by the Van Buren County Tech Center. Ten school districts with a total of 850 students passed through the exhibits over the two days. Members of the tech center's FFA program served as educators for the day, teaching students about beef, pigs, dairy calves, fruit and other agricultural topics.