2007 Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service and Outreach

Keith S. Delaplane

Keith S. Delaplane, professor and extension entomologist, is a world-renowned expert in beekeeping, an industry that contributes more than $75 million to Georgia’s economy annually. He has developed integrated pest management strategies that address diseases, pests and other factors that threaten to destroy or impair bee colonies. His methods have been adopted by the beekeeping industry at home and abroad to control major honeybee pests.

In 1992, Delaplane co-founded the Young Harris College Beekeeping Institute, which has become a nationally prominent venue for workshops, lectures, and demonstrations in basic and advanced beekeeping. Today the Institute is home to the Georgia Master Beekeeping Program and a honey judge certification program offered in cooperation with the Welsh (UK) Beekeepers Association.

Delaplane is the author, narrator and on-screen host for Honeybees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary, an award-winning series of television documentaries covering all aspects of beginning beekeeping, aired annually on Georgia Public Broadcasting and national PBS affiliates.

In cooperation with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, he developed a state-wide plan in 2005 to prepare Georgia’s emergency responders, beekeepers, and citizens for the arrival of Africanized bees.

He has managed statewide 4-H entomology programming, which includes helping youth prepare 4-H projects, arranging judging at district and state-level competitions, and creating new sponsorships.

He also has improved public awareness of apiculture and its important role in agriculture and the environment by volunteering as a beekeeping consultant across the nation and in places such as Albania, Nepal, Belize, Australia, New Zealand, Azerbaijan, and most recently, Honduras.

An author of more than 200 publications, Delaplane was recently honored with the task of rewriting First Lessons in Beekeeping, a popular beekeeping book in continuous print since 1917.