The buzz
Beckmann stung with beekeeping bug

GUILDERLAND — Ten-year-old Ben Beckmann says he’s not afraid of bees. And that’s a good thing since he’s about to become a beekeeper.

The Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association is giving Beckman the $450 worth of equipment he needs to start the hobby, including a hive, bees, protective gear, training, and more.

He earned the 2006 Wolf/Lounsbury Youth Beekeeper Award by writing a winning essay on why he wants to be a beekeeper.
"We want to get young people into beekeeping," said Anne Frey, president of the Ballston Spa-based group. "Quite often, the cost would stop them."
She went on, "It’s a hobby that has lots of adults in it. It involves a lot of heavy lifting," she said, so the ranks are thinning. "When a young person gets into it, their family gets involved, too, and it keeps it alive."

This is the third year for the contest and Beckmann is the fourth winner; last year, two winners were chosen.

Frey herself has been a beekeeper since 1989.
"I’m addicted to it. They’re just really cool," she said of bees.
Beckmann shares her enthusiasm. "I like animals and I like to garden," said the Lynnwood Elementary School fifth-grader. "The bees will pollinate the stuff in your garden."

Beckmann gardens on his family’s five acres on West Old State Road in Guilderland.

He’s wanted to be a beekeeper since the first time he went to the Saratoga County Fair when he was 6 years old and saw a hive there.

He then learned more about bees at the Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center on Thompsons Lake.
"When a new bee comes out of the hive, about five other ones clean it and help it," he said. "I saw that myself."
He concluded, "I like how the bees work together and stuff."
But doesn’t he worry about getting stung"

Heck no.
"I was stung right in the hand by a hornet," said Beckmann. "And I was stung in the foot by a bumblebee and by a dying hornet. I’m not scared of ’em."

Beckmann will receive his equipment and award at the association’s Nov. 20 meeting, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Cornell Cooperative Extension offices at 50 West High Street in Ballston Spa.
"Everyone’s welcome," said Frey. "They don’t have to be a member. They can just come to learn about beekeeping."