Bayer CropScience Seeks Nominations for Award Honoring Innovations in the Beekeeping Community

3rd Annual Bayer Bee Care Community Leadership Award Celebrates Individuals with $5,000 in Program Support; Trip to Washington, D.C. During National Pollinator Week

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (Jan. 26, 2015) – Bayer CropScience today announced it is seeking nominations for its third annual Bee Care Community Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual who uses their interest in and commitment to honey bees to benefit the community in which they live.

The award, an initiative of Bayer’s North American Bee Care Program, provides a $5,000 grant to the winner to be used in support of a community beekeeping project. The winner will also receive an all-expense paid trip to a reception in Washington, D.C. during National Pollinator Week.

The criteria to be considered by a panel of four judges for the award include:

• Describing a project that leverages the power of a honey bee hive and beekeeping to benefit a community;
• Answering a set of essay questions on the application form; and
• Submitting a letter of reference from an apiarist, community organization or member of a relevant organization, such as a beekeeping association.

“Honey bees play an important role in supporting our food supply, pollinating as much as a quarter of all plants consumed in the U.S. and $15 billion of American crops,” said Dr. David Fischer, manager of the Bayer North America Bee Care Center. “Beekeepers not only care for these important insects, but also provide a positive influence in their communities by encouraging others to explore innovative ways to incorporate honey bee colonies in their work.”

The past winners of the Bee Care Community Leadership Award exemplify beekeepers who leveraged their passion for honey bees into benefiting their neighbors and communities.

• 2014 winner Herbert Everhart of Kearneysville, West Virginia, created an initiative that is considered the first beekeeping program for veterans in the United States. Sponsored by the West Virginia Beekeepers Association, the Youth and Veteran Beekeeper Programs were designed to educate young people and veterans on all aspects of beekeeping, including establishing hives and marketing their products.
  
  
• 2013 winner Steve McNair of Flanagan, Illinois, is the director of development at Salem4youth, a therapeutic residential program for at-risk men ages 12-18 years old. Through beekeeping, he provided a unique skill set and approach to teaching responsibility and discipline to Salem4youth teens.

“Since we received the award this past summer, we have been able to expand our programs and reach even more veterans by engaging them in the pleasure and responsibilities of beekeeping,” said Everhart. “Bayer’s grant allowed us to tap into the growing interest in beekeeping and help a new generation of beekeepers develop an awareness of the importance of bees and their colonies.”

Jennifer King of Eversweet Apiaries helps two veterans inspect their hives as part of Herb Everhart’s Beekeeping Veteran’s Program

Any beekeeper or individual with a focus on honey bees may apply. Activities the beekeeper or individual may be engaged in include, but are not limited to, the use of beekeeping in therapy, such as with at-risk youth or veterans, bee care education for children or adults and community events that allow non-beekeepers to understand the inner working of a bee hive and more. Individuals interested in applying for the award can obtain an application at www.pollinatorweek.bayer.com. The deadline for submission is April 3, 2015.

The Community Leadership Award is only one of several initiatives celebrated by the Bayer North American Bee Care Program. Others include:

• Partnership with the National FFA Organization to provide grants to inspire interest among America’s youth in agriculture and apiculture professions;
• Donation of $100,000 to Project Apis m. (PAm.) to provide mustard and vetch seed mixes to be planted by almond and other crop growers in California and Washington; and
• The award-winning Bayer Bee Care Tour, which traveled to major agricultural schools and other events in seven states to foster collaboration among beekeepers, growers, researchers and others concerned about bee health.

For more information on Bayer’s bee health initiatives, please visit: http://www.bayercropscience.us/our-commitment/bee-health.

Bayer CropScience Twitter Page:
http://twitter.com/bayer4cropsus
http://twitter.com/bayerbeecare

Bayer CropScience Blog:
http://connect.bayercropscience.us

Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer CropScience representative, or visit Bayer CropScience online at www.bayercropscience.us.

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About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,819 million (2013) and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 22,400 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

Contact:
Bayer CropScience Media Hotline, 1-862-404-5118, or

Beth Roden
Head of Communications & Bayer CropScience NA Coordinator
Bayer CropScience
Tel: (919) 549-2030
Email: beth.roden@bayer.com

Catharine Montgomery
Porter Novelli
Tel: (404) 995-4521
Email: catharine.montgomery@porternovelli.com

Find more information at www.bayercropscience.us.

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