3rd International Meeting of Young Beekeepers

July 9 – 12, 2012  |  Prague, Czech Republic

Participating countries:

Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Wales.

Competition:

  • Written academic knowledge test
  • Botany test
  • Microscopy
  • Practical bee handling
  • Recognition of different beekeeping tools
  • Recognition of different sorts of honey
  • Other tasks (e.g. gingerbread decorating)

Winners

Individuals:

1st place:              Veronika Šebková (Czech Republic)

2nd place:             Marie Machačová (Czech Republic)

3rd place:             Manfred Gschwentner (Austria)
Countries:

1st place:              Czech Republic

2nd place:             Austria

3rd place:             Poland

The International Meeting of Young Beekeepers 2012 was after two years held again in the Czech Republic, the country where this international event was set up in 2010. This time the event took place in its capital city – Prague. The organizers did a truly great job and prepared a brilliant event with a very intense and diverse programme.

On the first day, all the participants were welcomed and accommodated in a hotel and took part in several social and sport games to get to know each other. Afterwards, there was a first part of presentations during which half of the delegations had an opportunity to present a five to ten minute cultural flavour of their country. This evening programme was a warm mixture of singing, dancing and interesting talking which offered a lot of entertainment but also intriguing facts about each country.

On the second day, the whole group of participants travelled through the city centre straight to the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic located in Wallenstein Palace, one of the most expressive buildings of the early Bohemian Baroque period. There the official opening by Deputy Ministers was held in the main hall which nowadays houses the senate debating chamber. The opening ceremony was held in three languages Czech, German and English, all of the participating nations´ flags were represented behind the senate table and the atmosphere was warm, sincere and also respectable towards the visitors. There was also a proposal made by the Czech Union of beekeepers to declare the month of May to be the international month of Beekeeping and May the 20th to be the international Day of Bees and Beekeepers which was passed unanimously by all present. After the official opening, there was a guided tour in the city centre including the Tuscany Palace, St Vitus´s Cathedral and Prague castle, Malostranske Square, the Charles Bridge and also the Old Town Square where the group witnessed the chiming of the Astronomic clock. In the evening, there was a three hour leisurely river cruise along the river Vltava with honey mead for the adults and disco for the young participants.

On the third day the students departed early for the Czech National Bee Research Institute at Dol where the competition took place with many different disciplines as listed above and they could also learn about the tasks of the institute and the Carnica bee. Meanwhile, the leaders (who were not allowed to assist their teams during the competition) were treated a guided tour at the Prague Castle which included also the Masaryk Apiary. Later on, they joined the young beekeepers in the bee institute and followed an educational programme. All delegates then returned by coach to Prague for dinner and the final night where the remaining half of the countries presented their nations, followed by the awards ceremony and social programme. It was a great evening, where after the presentations countries also exchanged gifts with each other and enriched by new experiences and friendships closed the event of IMYB 2012.

For more photos, visit our gallery.