Tag Archives: Journeyman Beekeepers

Stafford Creek bee program teaches itself

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Text and photos by Joslyn Rose Trivett, SPP Education & Outreach Manager

In early July 2020, Apprentice beekeeping student DeShan and Journeyman beekeeper Charles Roark check the health of a hive in the Stafford Creek Corrections Center program.

When the pandemic made it impossible for expert beekeepers from the outside community to visit, the program at Stafford Creek Corrections Center found a way to teach itself.

For a few years, the beekeeping program has been well-supported by a visiting expert who could deliver Washington State Beekeepers Association’s courses and certifications. From late in 2017 to summer 2019, beekeeper Duane McBride awarded Beginner certificates to 4 staff members and 76 incarcerated individuals and Apprentice certificates to 8 staff and 58 incarcerated beekeepers!

Stafford Creek’s bee club moved the hives to a warmer, drier site that easily can be seen by all visitors to the main prison campus.

During the past winter, building on that impressive foundation, the Stafford Creek program formed its own bee club and made plans to relocate their hives to a warmer, drier site.

At the same time, they gained a resident Journeyman beekeeper, Charles Roark; he had just transferred from Airway Heights Corrections Center (home of another amazing bee program). Apprentice beekeeper Rory had served as an assistant instructor in Duane’s last class. Supported by Bee Program Liaison Kelly Peterson, Charles and Rory joined forces to continue the education and certification program.

Apprentice students David Duhaime and David Lewis study and admire a worker bee perched on Lewis’ glove.

Together, they mentored Apprentice students in small groups, repeating each class three times so that every student could learn the same content and practice hands-on, all while keeping socially distanced. It was wonderful to hear that all partners — instructors, students, and the bees — thrived in the program. At the end of one session, a student said that it was his best day ever at the prison.

That magic was still alive when I visited the program in early July. Rory introduced the program by saying, “May I brag about our beekeeping program?” I was so glad he did! He was hardly the only one; there was a lot to be proud of. Ms. Peterson told us, “I don’t have to stress about this program…you guys are so good at it.”

I found many honeybees in the nearby garden beds — see that worker bee in the center of a big daisy?

They started the flight season with only two hives and had quickly grown the population to fill seven! The beekeepers told me about the character and quality of each queen and her hive and shared all kinds of observations. I was so pleased to see them in their element, showing the teamwork, creativity, and gentle respect that are the best parts of SPP’s bee programs.

On a frame of healthy bees,, you can see many different colors of flower pollen stored in the cells; these food stores are called “bee bread.”

To learn more about bee programs that endure during the pandemic, I recommend these articles:
Like honeybees, we are working together

Welcoming the bees back to WCC

The The Buzz About Honey Bees

Another Stellar Year for the Legendary Penitentiary Bee Program

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in Biology collaboration Community Organizations

Text by Bethany Shepler, Green Track Program Coordinator
Photos by Jonathan Fischer, Beekeeping Liaison and Classification Counselor at Washington State Penitentiary

Ryder Chronic, a Journeyman beekeeper, inspects a frame.

The Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) hosts one of the oldest and best-established beekeeping programs in Washington State Department of Corrections. They have built a professional-size apiary, certified 44 incarcerated men as beekeepers, participated in a National Honey Bee Pest Survey by the USDA, hosted a professional beekeeper (Mona Chambers, founder of See the Bees), and—in general— have established themselves as a leader in prison beekeeping.

They are about to finish a Journeyman Beekeeper course, putting them on the path to classes led by incarcerated beekeepers!

Below are some photos from the last day of a recent Beginner class, when students and staff sponsors left the classroom to inspect some of the many hives that WSP keeps.

A beekeeper is inspecting this hive frame to see what the bees are doing – are they making honey, storing pollen, or caring for baby bees? Can you tell?
A beekeeper holds a frame full of bees. A healthy hive at the peak of the season can have 60,000 – 80,000 bees in it!
Hives are inspected a few times a month to make sure that the queen and hive are healthy. During this inspection, beekeepers added honey supers to catch honey the bees produce.

Jonathan Fischer, the beekeeping liaison, had this to say about the program “we had a stellar year, with 8 honey supers ready for harvest. These 8 boxes will produce about 270-300 pounds of honey.”

Learning about gentleness from honeybees

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Text by Bethany J. Shepler, Green Track Program Coordinator

Journeyman Beekeepers at AHCC pose in front of their hives. Photo courtesy of AHCC staff.

Last month, I had the privilege of attending a celebration for the Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC)  beekeeping club. At the ceremony, Travis—a Journeyman Beekeeper—shared an analogy about bees we all found rather striking. He told us, “Before I took the class, I always looked at them as the enemy.” Like everyone, he saw bees as pests. He reminded us: “Think about barbeques or picnics— you’re there with your family and friends and everyone is having a good time and sharing food and fun. Then, bees show up and start buzzing around your food. Maybe someone gets stung. Pretty soon these tiny creatures have ruined the picnic.”

A bee collects pollen from a flower growing by a housing unit at AHCC. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Then Travis described learning about honeybees, and how his perspective started to shift. When AHCC’s hives were delivered, he was part of the team that kept those bees alive and even thriving. He came to see this responsibility as a force for “good” in his life. He needed to change to care for those bees, and he noticed how that change lined up with the “theme of change” throughout the facility. He told us: “In my change, the hive is my focus. The center of my change.” Then, he went back to the earlier metaphor and brought it full circle:

He realized that society thinks he is going to ruin the picnic, too; criminals and incarcerated people are regarded as the pests of society. He wanted us to understand that, like the bees they care for, incarcerated individuals aren’t trying to ruin things for everyone else. Just like anyone, they’re there to spend time with their loved ones and enjoy the day. “We’re not here to ruin the picnic or barbeque, and through programs like this one we learn positive change.”

The bee hives at AHCC have their own yard, called the “honeybee yard.” Photo courtesy of SPP staff.

First Journeyman Beekeepers Have Graduated From AHCC!

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in Education Outreach Partners

Text by Kay Heinrich, Associate Superintendent, Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC)
Photo by AHCC staff.

Graduating class from AHCC.

Airway Heights Apiculture is Preparing Apprentice Beekeepers to Become Journeyman and to Raise Queen Honeybees!

About fifty inmates at the Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC) have successfully completed an apprentice course and are certified Apprentice Beekeepers through the Washington State Beekeepers Association (WASBA). Of those, approximately fifteen are on their way to becoming Journeyman-level Beekeepers through the WASBA Master Beekeepers program. The inmates who are pursuing Journeyman status have formed a beekeeping club named Airway Heights Apiculture (AHA). This is possible because of the administration’s support and expert tutelage of Master Beekeeper Jim Miller. Also, the class of students itself has helped to develop test and training materials, creating a training curriculum that fits the needs of a corrections environment (more about that from club members, below). The AHA club is a subsidiary of the West Plains Beekeepers Association, a nonprofit organization.

On 2/15/2018, the Bee class graduated its first Journeyman Beekeeping class. We had a celebration for the gentlemen who graduated to celebrate their hard work that was well attended.

Behind The Scenes: Writing from members of AHA

After several months of club meetings, serious discussions began to take place regarding the future of the beekeeping program and possible means to advance educational and organizational objectives. Jim mentioned that he would like to replace the existing Journeyman Beekeeper training manual currently in use in the beekeeping community. Would the AHA club be up for the challenge of expanding on Jim’s outline for a new journeyman manual and developing an entire training curriculum to be implemented at AHCC?

Beekeepers at AHCC check on a hive. Photo by DOC staff.

Of course! The club members had wanted to do something meaningful and have a lasting positive impact; their creation would be greater than themselves and would survive long after their release back into the community.

The project was simple enough: ten chapters based on a pre-existing outline by Jim, 20 questions for each chapter, and PowerPoint presentations for each of the lessons. Ten club members accepted the challenge. Following several weeks of writing, revising, and debate over the details of educational objectives, the booklet was finally complete. Club members worked together well and overcame apprehension and doubt. Now they can see the results of their hard work. A few weeks later they finished development of PowerPoint presentations and the first Journeyman class was ready to begin.

Hives next to the prisons largest garden. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Roughly 15 eager and enthusiastic students signed up – all graduates from the first three Apprentice classes. The aspiring Journeyman who developed the presentations did an excellent job facilitating the classes and helped set the standard for future classes. Students will have to pass a test spanning 100 questions. They must also pass a practical field exam to show their knowledge of beekeeping by demonstrating setting up hives, using hive tools, and inspecting frames. Students who graduate will be that much closer to their goal of becoming a Journeyman Beekeeper. Each student will still have to serve as an apprentice for three years, earn 30 service points, maintain a hive journal for a year, and mentor a new beekeeper.

Queen-Rearing: A Crowning Achievement!

Another exciting stage of progress is coming to AHCC – queen-rearing is about to be implemented by AHA and the time couldn’t be better! One of the long term goals which stated by administration is to advance sustainable beekeeping to other institutions in Washington. Queen-rearing at AHCC would help to provide queen bees to the various beekeeping programs throughout the state. This will advance beekeeping efforts to be self-sustaining and would provide additional education to inmates aspiring towards the level of Master Beekeeper. In addition to facilitating training for new apprentice and journeyman beekeepers, inmate beekeepers would be responsible for maintaining the activities of the queen-rearing program with the continued assistance of community sponsors and the support of administration.

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For further reading, see a related article from Sue Box, Library Associate at the Airway Heights Corrections Center: https://blogs.sos.wa.gov/library/index.php/2018/02/beekeepers-at-the-airway-heights-corrections-center/