2 minute read

For the love OF BEEKEEPING

from The Pledge - Spring 2023

from The Pledge - Spring 2023, page 10

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Gift ...

BY MARIA CHILDS, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

When Rogan Tokach was 11 years old, he attended the Dickinson County fair where he discovered his curiosity of beekeeping.

“Every day, I would go back to the fair and look at the observation hive and try to find the queen bee,” he said. “I’m a very competitive person so I tried to make it a game to find the queen. I thought it was fascinating.”

The next step was convincing his mom, Lisa, that he was serious about this project.

“She bought me the book ‘Beekeeping for Dummies’ and told me that she would know I was serious if I read it from cover to cover,” he said, with a laugh.

Now 13 years later, Rogan is earning his doctorate degree in entomology from Auburn University. He is focusing on honeybee research and honeybee health including the impact that pesticides have on honeybee health.

Rogan began 4-H as a 5-year-old Cloverbud and finished the program as a senior in high school. He went on to attend Kansas State University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy, with a minor in entomology. He completed his master’s degree in entomology at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska.

Lisa jokingly says she is a reluctant beekeeper because they had so many other 4-H projects when Rogan and his sister discovered beekeeping. While Rogan is completing his doctorate, his mom, Lisa is looking after the bee colonies at home.

Looking back, Lisa enrolled all three of her children in Dickinson County 4-H so they would gain public speaking skills and stand apart from their peers.

“That was the one extracurricular activity they all had in common,” she said. “I really like the life lessons that 4-H teaches. One of the nice things about 4-H is that you have a variety of ages from the cloverbuds all the way through the seniors. It really teaches the older kids leadership skills because they have to help the younger ones.”

Rogan found his love of beekeeping through the selfdetermined 4-H project. The family also was involved in the horse, goats, quilting, photography, and rocketry projects.

Lisa is a veterinarian in Abilene, Kansas, and works at a mixed animal practice where she does mostly swine work. She is also voluntarily working with the Rock Springs Ranch team to establish beehives on the campgrounds. Historically, Rock Springs Ranch has had three beehives, but due to storms and other natural causes, Rock Springs has lost two of those hives.

Within the last five years, Rock Springs Ranch received a specialty crop grant through the Kansas Department of Agriculture to grow blackberries and produce honey with bee hives, which aligns with one of Rock Springs Ranch’s three Centers of Excellence in Conservation.

The blossoms of the blackberry bushes—along with local wildflowers and trees—provide the pollen and nectar that honeybees need to build their hives. In turn, the blackberry bushes are pollinated by visiting bees, and pollination makes it possible for these plants to produce viable seeds.

“Dr. Tokach has been a huge help with the planning and actual operation for getting our bee program back on its feet,” said Steve Maynard, executive director at Rock Springs Ranch. “She is a wellspring of practical bee wisdom and has been so generous with her knowledge, supplies and resources that we can’t thank her enough.”

Kansas farmer and rancher members asked for an affordable solution for health coverage.