New Jersey Honey Queen
Each year a Honey Queen is selected to become a spokesperson for the New Jersey Beekeepers Association. The Honey Queen travels throughout the state speaking at schools, fairs, festivals, beekeeping meetings, etc. She participates in media interviews and is always ready to promote the beekeeping and honey industries. The central focus of the Honey Queen program is education; feel free to invite her to give a presentation at your event.
The 2023 NJ Honey Queen: Kaitlyn Culbert
The 2023 New Jersey Honey Queen is Kaitlyn Culbert. She is the 16-year-old daughter of Steven and Christina Culbert. Katie attends Toms River High School North (TRN) in Toms River, NJ. Kaitlyn first became interested in bees through a research contest sponsored by the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) regarding pollinators. Her research involves the mist diffusion of thymol-based essential oils against the #1 killer of honey bees, the Varroa mite. Katie was a finalist at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS). Her research is published in the Journal of Research High School (ebf144_5f49548d89244495a74b16b6810479e7.pdf (journalresearchhs.org).
Equally important to Katie is her commitment to community outreach. She secured land at Jakes Branch County Park as well as donations for beehives, equipment, and honey bees. Kaitlyn founded the Ocean County 4-H Busy Bees Beekeeping Club to teach young people about the world’s most important pollinator. To reach the greater public, she started her own Instagram @kt.bees and YouTube channel, Katie’s Adventures in Beekeeping (Katie's Adventures in Beekeeping - YouTube) and her essay entitled Varroa, American Foulbrood and the Amazing Honey Bee is published in ABF Quarterly (Kaitlyn Culbert - Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees.) As a Rutgers 4-H Pollinator Habitat Ambassador, Kaitlyn secured a grant from the Xerces Society and coordinated the planting of a 2,500 square foot pollinator garden consisting of 600 native plants that are endemic to NJ. Most recently, Kaitlyn received the NJ Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for her honey bee research and community activism. When not involved with bees, Katie is also a competitive swimmer. She is actively involved in her high school and serves as the Class of 2024 Treasurer, President of Current Events Club, Co-President of Community Service Leaders, and Captain of the TRN swim team.
Click below to watch the CBS News segment about Katie:
New Jersey "Bee Girl" Kaitlyn Culbert honored with Environmental Excellence Award - CBS New York (cbsnews.com)
Passionate about sharing information about Honey Bees and the Honey industry, especially to children, Katie recommends the following educational worksheets (Grades 2-4) available from the National Honey Board. https://honey.com/bees-sustainability/educational-materials
For more information about native pollinators, Katie recommends X Kids (Grades 3-5) from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. https://xerces.org/xkids?fbclid=IwAR0v2gHJ3BuF9_XnrRUrnUQrQnSyCuMr0G7CX2H6ZI5sUdjaMWyp9pAxauI
An enthusiastic advocate for Pollinator Gardens, Katie recommends the following brochure on NJ Native Plants for Pollinator Gardens available from the Barnegat Bay Partnership: BBP_Native-Plant-brochure-May2012_six-pgs85x11-forWeb.pdf (barnegatbaypartnership.org)
To schedule a visit with Katie or for more information about the NJ Honey Queen Program, please contact:
Nicole Medina
NJ Honey Queen Coordinator
njhoneyqueen@outlook.com