Young Beekeeper Shines at 4-H National Achievement Expo

Seventeen-year-old Khimali Johnson was surprised but elated when his name was announced as the winner of the beekeeping competition at the 2023 Jamaica 4-H Clubs’ National Achievement Exposition held recently at the Denbigh Showground in Clarendon.

He tells JIS News that during the judging “there were confident participants and it kind of lowered my confidence,” but he kept his composure.

The Manchester native and Bellefield High School head boy, who was new to beekeeping, says he came to the expo “not expecting much, but I did not let that show. I am very elated with the announcement that I won. I really could not believe it.”

Khimali, who was encouraged by his agriculture teacher to enter the competition, is proof of the value and impact of young people involved in agriculture in influencing others to join the sector.

“To be honest, I did not want to do it, but my teacher said that this is the best thing for me because it is technical and she trusts me with this, so I said I will go with it. Also, my brother does bee keeping, so he helped me in a way, not exactly [hands on] but I was watching him and learning from a distance,” he relates.

Agriculture teacher at Bellefield High and 2022 National Farm Queen, Sutanya Ellington, tells JIS News that she identified Khimali’s potential and encouraged and nurtured him to victory in the Jamaica 4-H Clubs’ national competition.

“I knew he was a student with potential, so I asked him to enter. He developed a liking for it and at the parish level he won and started his own little bee farm. I arranged for him to get external training and we went together, and he loved it.

“I took him to a bee farm in Manchester and he got the opportunity to smoke a hive, observe the queen and all of that,” shares Ms. Ellington.

With the additional training and knowledge of best practices in beekeeping, Miss Ellington felt her student was ready for the national competition and was not surprised that he won.

Along with a certificate and first-place trophy for beekeeping, Khimali also received two hive bodies, a veil, bee brush and toolbox to assist him on his farm.

This win, on such a grand scale, has encouraged the young beekeeper to have his business registered in the very near future and seriously pursue apiculture as a business.

Beyond hoping to be an inspiration for other youngsters, Khimali plans to pay it forward, by assisting youth from the parish of Manchester to enter 4-H competitions.

The Bellefield High head boy is also desirous of seeing more youth involved in agriculture to reduce the average age in the sector.

He is encouraging his peers to “be creative. You are not limited in what you can do in agriculture. You can have your own way of doing your thing. Do what you like and do what makes you happy”.