Honey Bee Jubilee celebrates beauty of nature

The Honey Bee Jubilee has been held at the St. John’s Lutheran Church grounds, and it was started by Gerri Hanten and Karen Dormois in 2019.

“It was two local gals who were with the Chamber of Commerce, and they had a passion for the honeybee,” President of the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce and the Committe Chairman of this year’s Honey Bee Jubilee Tom Shaughnessy said. “They thought, what better thing can we do as a local community to celebrate the honeybee than to put on a festival.”

As far as how the festival got its name Shaughnessy said there was a naming competition where people submitted potential names for the festival.

“There was a naming competition and that’s how we came up with the name Honey Bee Jubilee by drawings. People would put their suggestions in the boxes at the local stores,” Shaughnessy said.

The event was made to celebrate the honeybee, but despite the name of the event it is also an event to celebrate the beauty of nature.

“The New Ulm Chamber of Commerce puts on the Honey Bee Jubilee every year and our goal is trying to create a vibe around honeybees and the nature that surrounds them,” Shaughnessy said. “Vendors at the festival will have fresh local honey, honeybee t-shirts and we have educational booths, the non-profits, the NGOs like the Master Nationalist, the Native Prairie Association, the Central Texas Beekeepers Association even the Texas Forestry Service is here. If you look around at everything everyone is displaying the one common thread is that is has to do with nature and honeybees.”

The vibe that was created at the Honey Bee Jubilee was a great one as several local honeybee farmers came out to sell their honey and candles made from bee’s wax. There was also a display of bees making their own honeycomb in a glass case as part of the educational booths Shaughnessy mentioned.

People were encouraged to ask questions because they wanted people to take an interest in beekeeping. It’s good for the environment because they can pollinate plants to help grow essential plants as well as some crops.

On top of that bees make sweet, delicious honey, which everyone loves having honey with their biscuits in the morning so that’s easily one of the biggest benefits of having a bee farm. There were plenty of bee boxes as well as honeycomb frames and smokers on sale at the Honey Bee Jubilee for anyone looking to start their own bee farm.

The Honey Bee Jubilee is always on the first week in May and at the grounds of St. John Lutheran Church.

“We love the festival grounds, and we are thankful for St. John’s Lutheran for letting us come out,” Shaughnessy said.

So, make sure to check out the Honey Bee Jubilee next year on the first weekend of May to learn something new about honeybees and pick up some local honey in the process.