4-H Beekeeping Essay Contest
- Deadline Feb 1, 2009
Cash Prizes to 3 Top Winners:
1st Place $250.00, 2nd Place $100.00,
3rd Place $50.00
Each State Winner, including the national winners,
receives an appropriate book about honey bees, beekeeping,
or honey.
TOPIC: For the 2009 essay
contest, the essay topic is:
“The
Dance Language of Bees”
Honey bees posses the ability
to communicate the distance and direction of resources
to their nest-mates. They employ a symbolic dance
language in which the position of the sun is symbolically
represented by gravity, and a trained observer
can watch their dances and predict where they
are foraging. The use of symbolic language by
an insect has made them one of the most studied
animals. This year’s essay contest invites
participants to learn about the honey bee’s
dance language, how it was discovered, how it
works and how it provides colonies the ability
to find and exploit floral resources.
SOURCES:
Karl von Frisch was awarded
the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his work with insect
communication. His classic text is The Dance Language
and Orientation of Bees (1967) Harvard University
Press. Not all scientists agree with von Frisch's
findings. See Anatomy of a Controversy: The Question
of a "Language" Among Bees (1990) by
Adrian Wenner and Patrick Wells, Columbia University
Press. The results of scout bees leading nest-mates
back to a new food source can be demonstrated
easily by a beekeeper.
The scope of the research is an
essential judging criterion, accounting for 40%
of your score. The number of sources consulted,
the authority of the sources, and the variety
of the sources are all evaluated.
Personal interviews with beekeepers
and others familiar with bees and beekeeping activities
are valued sources of information and should be
documented. Sources which are not cited in the
endnotes should be listed as "Resources"
or "Bibliography" list.
Note that "honey bee"
is properly spelled as two words, even though
many otherwise authoritative references spell
it as one word.
(see over for Rules)
ESSAY CONTEST RULES:
1. Contest is open
to active 4-H members only. 4-H'ers who have previously
placed first, second, or third at the National
level are not eligible to re-enter.
2. Requirements (failure
to meet any one disqualifies the essay) -
* Preparation for National Judging: Typewritten
or computer-generated, double-spaced, 12-pt. "Times"
or similar type style, on one side of white paper
following standard manuscript format.
* Length - the essay proper: 750 to 1000 words.
The word limit does not include the endnotes,
the bibliography references or the essayist's
biographical sketch.
* Write on the designated subject only.
* All factual statements must be referenced with
bibliographical-style endnotes.
* A brief biographical sketch of the essayist,
including date-of-birth, gender, complete mailing
address, and telephone number, must accompany
the essay.
3. Essays will be
judged on a) scope of research - 40%; b) accuracy
- 30%; c) creativity - 10%; d) conciseness - 10%;
and e) logical development for the topic - 10%.
4. Essays must be
received by February 1, 2009. Essayists should
mail their entry (or have their county agent mail
entry) to: Carolyn Klass, Department of Entomology,
4140 Comstock Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY 14853-2601
5. Judging and selection
of the National Winner will be made by the Foundation's
Essay Committee, whose decision is final.
6. Each state may
submit only one (1) entry.
7. National Winner
will be announced May 1, 2009.
8. All National entries
become the property of the Foundation for the
Preservation of Honey Bees, Inc, and may be published
or used as it sees fit. No essay will be returned.
If you have read
all these rules, read them again. After you have
written your essay, read them once more just before
mailing the essay. Did you write on the topic?
(Agents or Leaders, please check the essay for
adherence to the rules.) And lastly, follow the
rules. If you have questions,
please contact Carolyn
Klass or phone 607-255-3144
