Honey Queen Program

Each year a Honey Queen is selected to become the main promoter of Pennsylvania's beekeeping industry. The Honey Queen travels throughout the state speaking at schools, fairs, festivals, beekeeping meetings, etc. She participates in media interviews and is always ready to promote the beekeeping and honey industries. The main focus of the Honey Queen program is education; feel free to invite her to give a presentation at your event. The PA Honey Queen also represents Pennsylvania in the competition for the American Honey Queen title in Galveston, Texas.

2012 Honey Queen

Jessica Long
2012 PA Honey Queen

We are looking forward to another successful promotion year with 2012 PA Honey Queen Jessica Long.

Jessica, 20, is the daughter of Gary and Jennifer Long from Tyrone. She has an Associate's Degree in Business Administration, with a focus on Marketing. Jessica's family is new to beekeeping and has thoroughly enjoyed learning about the industry. She is looking forward to working for the PSBA for this coming year.

The time has come to start planning your 2012 promotions. Because the PSBA has only one representative this year, requests will be given out on a first come basis. The Honey Queen is available to attend schools, libraries, fairs, farmers markets or any other event where the message of beekeeping should be shared. The Queen is trained in giving presentations to all age levels and can also provide cooking demonstrations when requested.

To schedule a promotion with 2012 Pennsylvania Honey Queen Jessica Long, or for more information on being a host family for the Honey Queen, contact Rachel Bryson at brysonrachel@yahoo.com or 717-643-0010.

2012 PA Honey Queen Report
by Jessica Long - 2012 PA Honey Queen

Hello everyone! My name is Jessica Long and on November 11, 2011 during the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association's Convention, I was crowned your 2012 Pennsylvania Honey Queen. After talking to Alyssa Fine and Teresa Bryson, both past PA and now American Honey Queens, I am looking forward to the experience of attending fairs, schools, civic meetings, and many other events this year to promote the beekeeping industry.

Jessica at PA Farm Show Learning Center

Even though my reign didn't officially begin until February 1st, I was given the opportunity to attend the 96th annual Pennsylvania State Farm Show in Harrisburg for five days. During my time at the Farm Show, I spent time working in the three PSBA's booths. I enjoyed selling honey from all around Pennsylvania in the Market Place and in the Food Court. Also in the Food Court, I helped sell and serve our famous honey waffles and honey ice cream. Even though I think it was the coldest place in the whole complex, everyone volunteering made it the warmest environment to be in. I really enjoyed showing the unmarked queen and talking about what was going on in one of the two beautiful observation hives that were located in the Learning Center. By Friday I had no voice at all from talking about honey, honeybees and why they are so important, but it was all worth it to have the opportunity to educate a large number of people in one week. During the slow times at the farm show I passed out honey recipe brochures and answered many different types of questions, including "What are the honeybees doing in the observation hive" to "How can I start beekeeping."

Jessica with Pat Toomey

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to meet with Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and although he was on a tight schedule, he made time to capture a quick photo with me. Thursday afternoon, the PSBA's daily honey extraction demonstration was televised on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). During the broadcast, I had the opportunity to introduce myself, invited the public to our three locations throughout the complex, explain the products of the hive, and help answer audience questions. Throughout the one hour live broadcast, we were able to increase the public reached during the Farm Show by an estimated 2 million people, which is the viewership of PCN.

Jessica's Home School Presentation

On January 25, I traveled to the Hollidaysburg Area Library for a local Home School group presentation on the different types of honeybees and beekeeping. There were 25 children and 15 adults at the presentation, who were all interested and excited to learn about beekeeping and the products of the hive. The children were interested in learning how the bees work inside of the hive while the parents were more interested in learning how honey can be used to sooth a sore throat instead of using medicines.

I am excited to begin my year as your Honey Queen and traveling the state to educate the public, but I need your help to make this year all that it can be. When you know of an event going on or have a school in your area that you would like me to speak at, please contact Rachel Bryson at 717-643-0010 or brysonrachel@yahoo.com. Please let her know as soon as you can so we can book the date for your event.

I look forward to representing an industry that we all care dearly about throughout the year and will bee seeing you!

From the Honey Queen
by Alyssa Fine - 2011 PA Honey Queen

Greetings, beekeepers! It is not without bittersweet emotion that I am writing this final article. It has been an incredible year, but now it has drawn to a close. I'd like to recount my final month as your 2011 Pennsylvania Honey Queen, and to thank you for the opportunity that you've given me to represent the beekeeping industry throughout Pennsylvania.

January is a special month for the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association. At the Pennsylvania Farm Show, we are able to showcase honey bees for what they truly are - the backbone of agriculture in much of this state. I was fortunate enough to attend the Farm Show for four days this year. Along with 2011 American Honey Queen Teresa Bryson, I was present at Governor Tom Corbett's Reception on January 5th and I was able to spend time with all of the great folks who contribute to the Farm Show each year.

Farm Country Radio

2011 Queen Alyssa with 1966 Pennsylvania Honey Queen Judith Sitlinger

The following day, Queen Teresa and I judged apiary products alongside PSBA's own Lee Miller and Jim Thompson, who quite literally wrote the book on honey judging. Saturday morning, we presented a gift basket filled with honey and beeswax products to Secretary of Agriculture George Greig, on behalf of Governor Corbett. We then attended the Farm Show Opening Ceremonies and took part in the second annual Parade of Agriculture in the arena. I was fortunate enough to have a brief conversation with Governor Corbett behind the scenes of this event. I spent the rest of Saturday and most of the day Sunday walking the grounds and talking to people. On Sunday, I gave a 5 minute radio interview with Dave Williams of PA Farm Country Radio which has the potential to reach 1.5 million people in the mid-Atlantic region! I spent a lot of time in the three PSBA-sponsored booths throughout the complex, including the learning center where I answered questions about honey bees and beekeeping. New to the learning center this year was a large split fly cage to allow two observation hives to be attached. This cage was built for us by an Eagle Scout as a community service project. It really helped to draw a considerable crowd! On average, approximately 400,000 people find their way through the Farm Show during its 8-day run, so this is an incredibly large event, and one which can potentially reach hundreds of thousands of people. Sometimes a few people in the crowd are more memorable than others. I had the pleasure of meeting 1966 Pennsylvania Honey Queen Judith Sitlinger. It's incredible to meet past Honey Queens and to hear how the program has grown and developed over the years.

On Tuesday, January 10th, I boarded a flight bound for Las Vegas, Nevada and the North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow, hosted by the American Beekeeping Federation. Although there were many great seminars to attend and much to learn about the modern beekeeping industry, I was there for a slightly different reason - to compete for the American Honey Queen or Princess title!

American Honey Queen Candidates

Kids and Bees day

During the five-day event, I worked alongside five amazing young women as we each tried to best represent our home state and earn the much coveted national titles. The candidates included: Jayla Gillaspie representing Florida, Lacy Dooley representing Indiana, Lillian-Grace Misko representing Missouri, Kaylynn Mansker representing Texas, and Danielle Dale representing Wisconsin. Getting to know each of these young ladies was truly a wonderful experience. Not only did they have a busy year promoting the beekeeping and honey industries in their home states, but they also lead very active lives at home, and it was a pleasure to learn more about them. The Honey Queen competition itself consists of a 300 word essay on the general topic of honey; a three minute marketing presentation, this year on beeswax; and an interview with the panel of judges. Aside from these formal requirements, there are many activities throughout the week which help the judges determine the Queen and Princess. The Quiz Bowl is an event in which the candidates answer trivia about honey bees and beekeeping. This year, the format was modeled after the game Taboo, and aptly named "Tabee." The candidates were given a phrase and they were instructed to give clues to their teammates to help them guess the phrase. The catch? Each phrase was accompanied by 5 descriptive words which were "taboo," or not allowed to be used. Another great event was the annual Kids and Bees day. On Friday morning, more than 400 local school children and their parents came to the convention to learn about honey bees. Each candidate chose a station such as pollination, products of the hive, or even honey tasting, and the visitors went to each station to learn more about an aspect of beekeeping.

Throughout the week as I sold raffle tickets and was able to speak with many of the beekeepers, the overwhelming sentiment was, "I'd hate to have to be one of the judges this week." Certainly the panel of judges had a very difficult decision to make because only two of the candidates could be crowned.

I had been a ball of nerves the entire week, but on the evening of the coronation I was calm knowing that I had done my best to represent Pennsylvania, the final decision was already made, and it was out of my hands. We six candidates stood at the front of the banquet hall waiting for the results. Lillian-Grace Misko from Missouri was selected as the alternate in case anything was to happen to the Queen or Princess. Danielle Dale from Wisconsin was crowned 2012 American Honey Princess. And finally… From the state of… Pennsylvania… I was crowned as the 2012 American Honey Queen. All I could do was smile! What an honor!

I had such an incredible year as your Pennsylvania Honey Queen, and I'm looking forward to another exciting year representing the beekeeping industry throughout the United States! I just want to thank everyone at PSBA for supporting me along the way. Without your help, I would never have had the opportunity to reach so many people throughout Pennsylvania, and now beyond. Thanks are also due to the Chair of the Queen program, Rachel Bryson. She is a wonderful advisor, a mentor, and a friend. She has guided me on this journey and for that I'm forever grateful.

Even though most of my efforts will be concentrated throughout the United States, I am still available for promotions in Pennsylvania as well. If you'd like to schedule a visit from the 2012 American Honey Queen or Princess, please visit the American Beekeeping Federation website at http://abfnet.org and fill out the request form.

Keep in mind that next year's North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow will take place in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is an amazing opportunity to attend a national convention, filled with excellent speakers and networking opportunities'. And if you'd like to learn more about the American Honey Queen Program, this is the event to attend.

I'd like to extend my best wishes to 2012 Pennsylvania Honey Queen Jessica Long as she travels throughout the state promoting the beekeeping and honey industries. She's going to do a fabulous job representing the PSBA. If you'd like to schedule a visit from Queen Jessica, contact Rachel Bryson at brysonrachel@yahoo.com or call (747) 643-0010.

4 Generations of Honey Queens Present at PSBA Picnic

(Left to right) Rachael Bryson, 2008 Honey Queen; Maya Althouse, 2009 Honey Queen; Teresa Bryson, 2010 Honey Queen; Alyssa Fine, 2011 Honey Queen; Emily Bruckart, 2011 Honey Princess

Pennsylvania Reigns at American Honey Queen Competition!

Alyssa Fine, 2011 Pennsylvania Honey Queen, was selected as the 2012 American Honey Queen on Saturday, January 14 during the American Beekeeping Federation Conference and Tradeshow in Las Vegas, NV. Danielle Dale, 2011 Wisconsin Honey Queen, was selected as the 2012 American Honey Princess.

Alyssa and Danielle, along with four other state queens representing Missouri, Texas, Indiana and Florida, did a fantastic job throughout the five day convention. Each contestant participating in the Honey Queen Reception and Quiz Bowl, gave a marketing presentation on Beeswax, educated the public during the ever popular Kids ‘n Bees event, participated in an interview, assisted with several auctions, and spoke with the many attendees at the convention.

As the American Honey Queen, Alyssa will travel throughout the United States promoting the beekeeping and honey industries by attending schools, fairs, festivals and participating in media interviews. Congratulations Alyssa!