1999 4-H Beekeeping Essay Contest Announcement and Rules

Awards:

Cash Prizes to 3 Top Winners:
1st Place .........$250.00
2nd Place .........$100.00
3rd Place .........$50.00

Each State Winner, including the national winners, receives an appropriate book about honey bees, beekeeping, or honey.

Topic: The assignment for the 1999 Essay will be to create a Lesson Plan and Activity Sheet to teach 3rd Grade elementary school students about bees and beekeeping.

The Lesson Plan should cover the roles of the three cases of honey bees in the colony and one other aspect of bees and beekeeping, such as, but not limited to, pollination, honey production, uses of honey, or apitherapy. The Activity Sheet could be in the form of a crossword puzzle, a word-search puzzle, a drawing on which students label a bee's body parts, a connect the dots puzzle, etc. The Activity Sheet must be the entrant's original work, and it must be suitable for photocopying, since the ABF hopes to be able to share these with teachers on request.

Sources: Good leads for your research include your school and public libraries, local beekeepers, your county Extension agent, your local or state beekeepers association, the beekeeping professor at your state's agricultural college. The ABF website, www.abfnet.org, has links to other beekeeping sites. The 1998 winning essays are also on abfnet.

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 values sources of information and should be documented. Sources which 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.

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 reenter.

2. Requirements (failure to meet any one disqualifies)
   • Preparation for National-Judging; Typewritten, double spaced, on one side of the paper following standard manuscript format.
   • Length: 750 to 1000 words long, plus the Activity Sheet.
   • 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 and telephone number must accompany the essay.
   • The word count does not include the Activity Sheet, the endnotes, the bibliography or references, nor the essayist's biographical sketceh.

3. Essays will be judged on
   1. scope of research - 40%
   2. accuracy - 30%
   3. creativity - 10%
   4. conciseness - 10%
   5. logical developrnent of the topic - l0%

4. Essayist should not forward essays directly to the American Beekeeping Federation office. Each state 4-H Office is responsible for selecting the state's winner and should set its deadline so state judging can be completed at the state level in time for the winning state essay to be mailed to the ABF office before March 1, 1999. No essay received after March 1 will be considered. The Texas ABF essays are due no later than 5:00pm on February 15, 1999 in the office of:
   Dr. Rodney L. Holloway
   Extension Apiculturist, Rm. 101 B, Agr. FL
   Texas A&M University
   College Station, TX 77843-2488
   (409/845-3849) (409/845-6251 FAX)

5. Each state may submit only one entry.

6. Final judging and selection of the National Winner will be made by the ABF's Essay Committee, whose decision is final.

7. The National Winner will be announced by May 1, 1999.

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

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