DOVER, DELAWARE (1/7/2015) A Marine Corps veteran from the Wilmington area has been selected for a new venture to learn beekeeping skills and pass them along to fellow veterans, state officials announced.
Ronnie J. Hazlett II of Wilmington will be the first participant in the apiculture project dubbed Planting Hope with Honey Bees.
Managed honeybee populations have been declining, according to the state Department of Agriculture, and this has been a concern of scientists and farmers since bees are needed to pollinate many fruit and vegetable crops.
Hazlett will receive training, mentoring, supplies and equipment this spring to maintain two honeybee hives at the Planting Hope in Delaware Urban Farm near New Castle. The farm is on the grounds of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services’ Herman Holloway Campus off U.S. 13.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to learn about beekeeping and eventually pass the knowledge on to fellow veterans,” Hazlett said in a statement released by the Delaware Department of Agriculture. “I’ve been interested in having my own hives ever since I was a kid. What really got me interested was receiving a huge hunk of honeycomb filled with honey from a local farmer. Maybe one day I’ll hand my child or grandchild a piece of honeycomb and give them that same memory.”
The project, announced in September, is a joint venture between the Delaware Beekeepers Association, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and the Delaware Department of Agriculture. Supplies were donated by Brushy Mountain Bee Farm and Mann Lake.
Hazlett, born in Kentucky, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1998. He served as a marksmanship instructor and after leaving the Corps, he enrolled at the University of Kentucky in 2003. He moved to the Wilmington area in 2010.