WATERTOWN, Conn. — Devon Zapatka is a senior at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury who has added a lot of field work to his classwork. Zapatka is part of the agriculture curriculum at school and for his “SAE” – or Supervised Agricultural Experience.
Garnering credits along the way, Zapatka works at the Humble Bee Honey Company – a shop and apiary dedicated to Beekeeping. Zapatka said, “These bees support our plants, our animals, our ecosystem,” and added, “I’m the only one in my agriculture program that does this.”
Zapatka is involved in numerous duties at Humble Bee from picking up frames of nectar, to tending to hives, to jarring the premium honey they make. For Cathy Wolko, the owner of the Humble Bee Honey Company, she is hoping that more high school Ag students will follow Devon’s lead and get involved in beekeeping.
She said, “Our beekeepers and our knowledge is aging out, and we need to work with the young people and get them involved in agriculture and beekeeping because our bees hold a snapshot of our ecosystem now.”
Zapatka said he will continue to get his hands dirty in college. In the fall he is going to attend SUNY Cobleskill outside of Albany to study hydroponics and aquaculture and also play for the soccer team at the school.
“This really enthuses me,” he said, adding, “I’m hoping to continue this (beekeeping) in the future, it helps with pollination with all sorts of farms.”
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Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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