“ABAC’s Beekeeper’s Association was founded in 2016 by Cade Houston with the goal of educating others about the importance of beekeeping in agriculture and how best to support an industry that was in crisis at that time,” said Savannah Eastall, the current President of the ABAC Beekeeper’s Association.
Eastall is a senior Agriculture Major in Livestock Production from Lilburn, Georgia. She joined the Beekeeper’s Association her freshman year because a friend of hers who was a member knew she liked bees and invited her to join.
She has represented the Beekeeper’s Association as an Interclub Council (ICC) representative, a School of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SANR) leader, and a Miss ABAC Pageant contestant.
When she first attended a meeting, “It was Cade Houston (the founder), two guys from the wildlife society, and myself,” said Eastall.
In 2019, Houston stepped down as president. Chasity Denmark, who joined in 2018, was elected president, and Eastall was elected vice president. After being elected, the two of them worked tirelessly to grow the club, as well as working establish a new hive on campus because Houston took their old hive off campus.
“I never thought I would be president of the ABAC Beekeepers, especially not following Cade and Chasity’s wonderful leadership and experience. Everything I’ve learned was taught to me by them, but it is something I am so passionate about and hope to never stop learning about,” Eastall said.
Denmark stepped down as president in 2020 because she was unable to continue her duties while completing her student teaching spring Semester. Eastall has since stepped up as president.
“We have attended Stallion Days, Club Rush, Ag Awareness Day, Miss ABAC, and we have donated a hive to the Georgia Museum of Agriculture for their observation hive,” she said.
“Our goal this year is has been to bring a new hive on campus and we are hoping to partner with RHA and their community garden to install the hive near the garden to help pollinate what students plant there.” They are installing a new hive in late April or early May. They will also be holding a Turkey Call Contest in sometime in March. Meetings are the first and third Tuesday of every month at 6 P.M. in the Horticulture Building, Room 109.
“My hope for this club is that it will continue after I am gone, that the hive we bring in this semester will thrive and be taken care of for years to come, and that people will continue to care about a very important part of the agriculture industry that is so often overlooked and underappreciated,” she said.
