Kevin Tatum, County Extension Coordinator
The annual Beekeeping Essay Contest is an exciting opportunity for 4-H members to showcase their writing skills and learn something new about honeybees and why they are so important to Georgia’s environment. This contest is open to all active Georgia 4-H members in 4th through 12th grade.
This year’s topic is “Immunity: Threats to Bee Colonies and Methods to Defend Against the Threats.” The deadline to submit your essay is Friday, April 2. Cash prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in the state contest; $250 for 1st place, $100 for 2nd place and $50 for 3rd place. The 1st place Georgia essay winner will advance to the national contest and will also be eligible for additional prizes and awards. Winners will be announced by Wednesday, April 14. For more information you can visit the Georgia 4-H website at www.georgia4h.org/beekeeping or contact the Coffee County 4-H office Monday through Friday, 8 AM through 5 PM (closed 12-1 for lunch).
POULTRY JUDGING SIGN UP MEETING
4-H members who want to sign up for the 4‑H Poultry Judging Team need to attend the upcoming sign up meeting. Cloverleaf and Junior 4-H members will meet on Monday, March 15, from 4 to 5 PM in the 4‑H office while Senior 4-H members will meet on Tuesday, March 16, from 4 to 5 PM. Please make arrangements to attend this meeting if you are interested. Practice dates will be given at time of sign up.
In Poultry Judging, you will learn how to compare laying hens to determine the best layer, how to grade eggs by candling, how to judge exterior quality and broken-out eggs, how to grade ready to cook birds, and how to identify different cuts of meat. Practice will be held one to three times a week until the contest date of April 19 in Lyons or April 20 in Tifton. Masks will be required for all meetings.
SIXTH GRADE DPA SIGN UP
All sixth graders who are interested in participating in Junior DPA next year as a seventh grader should visit the Extension office to sign up. We will go over the differences between Cloverleaf DPA and Junior DPA as well as signing you up for a project. Junior DPA (for 7th & 8th graders) is a weekend trip held at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center each year usually in early February. In addition to doing a demonstration at DPA, a Junior 4-H member must also submit a 4-H portfolio of activities they completed throughout 2021. It is important for you to sign up now so that you can be working to build a great portfolio for DPA.
If you would like to learn how you can become more involved with the Coffee County 4-H program, please contact the Coffee County Extension office at (912) 384-1402 or visit our website at http://coffee4h.org.