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Author Topic: Award Winning Essay (HoneyBee Related)  (Read 1798 times)

Offline Apis629

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Award Winning Essay (HoneyBee Related)
« on: April 01, 2006, 12:51:11 pm »
In January, the Stavros Center was having a contest for an economic essay.  I, of cource, chose to write it on beekeeping in the "Southern States" ranging from Georgia, south to Florida, and west to southern California.  Appearantly, they liked it given I won 1st PLACE!  As a side note, the Stavros center does this sort of thing every year and has verious "educational institutions for the teaching of Economics" or something like that.  Anyways, here's the essay that got me $200.00 (you can guess where I'm going to spend it...Dadant!) , free trip to Disney World (just 3 hours away by car, and dinner with the govenor and other 1st place winners for the elementary schools and middle schools also involved.  Finally, here it is.
Quote

The magazine published would be honeybee related.  It will appeal to a wide consumer base by providing information on what’s blooming at that given time of the year, national honey prices from the National Honey Board, a question and answer column for anything “bee” related, and, of course, info on how to keep bees in a warm, southern climate.  
   Beekeepers in the southern U.S. from Southern California to Florida, and north to Georgia, are all given unique situations and circumstances, that a magazine intended for a temperate climate would be of no help at all and in some cases would be a complete hindrance.  In the southern U.S. the situations and circumstances include the Africanized honeybee, Small Hive Beetles, Varroa mites and the overheating of colonies.  By providing information geared towards southern beekeepers, I exploit a mostly untapped resource that is rapidly growing as a hobby.
   Southern beekeepers would be readily connected to advertisers in their area, as well as other beekeepers trying to sell honey, pollen, queens or hive parts in a wanted/for sale column.  Commercial advertisers would include Dadant (which has several branch locations), various family owned, private manufactures of beekeeping equipment, honey packers, wax renderers, cosmetic manufacturers offering to purchase common cosmetic ingredients (propolis and beeswax),Queen Breeder and Package bee Producers, and companies such as ADM, which can provide truckloads (literally) of corn syrup for hive feedings; a common practice in any apiary.  This magazine would be valuable to all these people because it provides reading material for beekeepers and connects companies to where their customers are.  
   The competitors for this magazine include the American Bee Journal; published by Dadant, and Bee Culture; published by A.I. Root and sons.  These magazines publish mostly or entirely on northern issues such as tracheal mites, the greater wax moth, preparing hives for months of snow and freezing temperatures as well as plants that provide nectar and pollen and are only prominent in northern localities.
   This magazine will be profitable by providing plenty of advertising space and developing a wide consumer base.  The information provided in the articles could be useful in all warm climates.  It only makes sense that beekeepers in the southern U.S. need a magazine geared to the essential functions and tools to keep bees successfully.
   While avoidance of being offensive in quite difficult, it will best be done by not putting anything in a religious, sexist or racist context.  While this is a given, close scrutiny will be given to comments, advertisements and articles on this magazine.
   In all these ways, this magazine will be successful, become a valuable resource of the Apicultural, Agricultural and cosmetic industries.


I put it in quotes to sepparate it from the other text.  As one can guess, I was surprised that I won given it was such a...."unique" responce to the essay topic.  May 19th shall be a great day!

Offline Summerbee

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Award Winning Essay (HoneyBee Related)
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2006, 10:17:49 am »
Congrats!  I've entered a couple essay contests but never thought to use bees, hmm.  :D
People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first.
- David H. Comins

http://imabkpr.blogspot.com

Offline Horns Pure Honey

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Award Winning Essay (HoneyBee Related)
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2006, 06:09:27 pm »
Congrats!!!! :D  :D  :D
Ryan Horn

Offline Apis629

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Award Winning Essay (HoneyBee Related)
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2006, 12:29:50 am »
Thanks.