UGA Cooperative Extension

Towns County Extension Office:
Agriculture & Natural Resources | Robert N. Brewer, Jr.

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Robert Brewer has been a beekeeper since 1991 and an Extension agent for 25 years. He is a career educator with a strong background in diverse areas of agriculture, community development and administration. He is an experienced beekeeper and also teaches beekeeping through various education programs and associations.

As a Certified International Honey Judge and cofounder of the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute, he is a nationally and internationally recognized honey show judge. He traveled to Wales to become the first American to judge their National Honey Show, and is now the only Senior Welsh Judge outside of the UK. He will sit for both British and Irish Judges Certification within the next two years.

Robert is also responsible for coordinating the instruction and testing of candidates for the Georgia Master Beekeeper Program. He lectures each year to professional beekeeping groups, youth groups, civic and special interest groups.

Beekeeper Links and News

• Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers. Bee Maladies article authored by Robert N. Brewer, Jr., Hiawassee, Georgia, U.S.A.
• Eastern Apicultural Society of North America, Inc. 2009 annual conference will be held at Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville, NY.
• Georgia Beekeepers Association
• Georgia Master Beekeeper Program
  Contact state director, Robert N. Brewer, Jr.
• University of Georgia Honey Bee Program
• American Beekeeping Federation
• Beekeeping for beginners classes start Dec. 6 in Athens, October 9, 2008, Georgia FACES.
• Georgia Magazine "A honey of a hobby," August 2008
• UGA given $4.1 million to study disappearing bees, June 6, 2008, Georgia FACES.

Facts About Honey Bees

• Bees have five eyes.
• Bees fly about 20 mph.
• Bees are insects, so they have six legs.
• Male bees in the hive are called drones.
• Female bees in the hive (except the queen) are called worker bees.
• Losing its stinger will cause a bee to die.
• Bees carry pollen on their hind legs called a pollen basket or corbicula.
• An average beehive can hold around 50,000 bees.
• Foragers must collect nectar from about 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey.
• The average forager makes about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
• Average per-capita honey consumption in the U.S. is 1.3 pounds.
• Bees have two pairs of wings.
• The principal form of communication among honey bees is through chemicals called pheromones.
• Bees are important because they pollinate approximately 130 agricultural crops in the U.S. including fruit, fiber, nut and vegetable crops. Bee pollination adds approximately $14 billion annually to improved crop yield and quality.