It’s great to see youth innovation in agriculture. Bayer is happy to see it, too. Meet 14-year-old Jake Reisdorf of Carmel, California. He has won Bayer’s Community Leadership Award annually to recognize people who are championing bee health on a grassroots level.
Jake, the first-ever beekeeper under 18 years of age to receive this award, has worked hard to spearhead local awareness and involvement on honey bees and other pollinators’ importance to our food chain. He will win $1,000.
“It is so cool to receive the Bayer Bee Care Community Leadership Award for my efforts to educate the world about the honey bee,” said Jake, owner of the Carmel Honey Company. “With the money I’ve been awarded, I’d like to fulfill my dream of building an educational center called Pollination World to teach people about all types of pollinators including bees, bats, birds and butterflies.”
Jake’s passion for bees originated after completing a beekeeping course with his father when he was in fifth grade. Today, he has nearly 100 hives throughout Monterey County, California. He sells pure, raw, premium honey and honeycombs to specialty food stores and restaurant chefs; places hives on residential and commercial properties for people who want to support the bees but don’t have the time or resources to be beekeepers; and gives educational presentations at schools and local organizations focusing on the importance of bees in the food chain.
In addition to Jake, beekeeping pair Kirk and Heidi Tubbs of Tubbs Berry Farm were also honored for their work with the local pest abatement district in Twin Falls, Idaho, to ensure mosquito control methods used do not negatively impact honey bees. Selected for a $5,000 Community Leadership Award, Kirk and Heidi plan to continue working with members of their community to explore the effects insect controllers may have on bees.
