The Minnesota Honey Queen Program
The Minnesota Honey Queen (MHQ) is the chief promoter of honey products and the beekeeping industry in Minnesota. It is a yearlong position, beginning with coronation at the Minnesota Honey Producers Association (MHPA) Winter Meeting and ending with the coronation of a new Queen at the same event one year later. When a young woman enters the MHQ competition, it is an affirmation of her commitment of time and effort to the position of MHQ.
These guidelines are meant to serve as a rule-of-thumb as to what is expected by both the Honey Queen and the Minnesota Honey Queen Program Co-Chairpersons (Kaye Olson & Angie Lundeen). The MHQ program is under the direction of the Minnesota Honey Producers Association. The program is governed by the Minnesota Honey Queen Program Co-Chairpersons.
The MHPA is proud to introduce the 2009-2010 MN Honey Queen, Alexa Sorenson. Alexa's vision of her role is to "bring the best of myself as a representative of the beekeepers as a spokesperson for the beekeeping industry".
Alexandra's Short Biography
Alexandra Justine Sorenson is a 20 yr old college student, currently attending Bethel University for Business Management and Marketing, with a minor in Sales and heavy concentration in economics and philosophy. Her goal is to own her own business. To her vision of living on a farm someday, she has added beekeeping!
Alexa is a working full-time student. With a future in business management in mind, she’s chosen to develop a strong retail expertise where she consistently excels at outstanding customer satisfaction, and individual promotion of credit cards – no small feat in this credit-crunched economy. She reaches sales goals by actively listening to her customers and tailoring the store’s promotions to customer concerns and questions. A natural people person, these work experiences have added substance to her qualities of persuasion, communication, and thinking on her feet to work with people.
Alexa currently lives in her childhood home in Corcoran with her mom. She graduated from nearby Rockford High School, where she managed the wrestling team and was a percussionist in marching band. Alexa plays the drums and piano. She loves to be outdoors, especially fishing, camping, and outdoor sports with friends and family. Alexa loves to cook and bake – makes her own lefse, and created new coffee recipes while working at her nearby Caribou.
p.s. Her great-grandmother’s name was Honeybee!
Alexandra's Honey Queen Application
Like many people, I used to be terrified of honeybees! But, upon closer look, I have a newfound appreciation for these bee-ings. The honeybee is a fascinating creature and they help the human race in more ways than I could have imagined.
I recently attended the beekeeping short course at the University of Minnesota. This is where my fear and curiosity turned into a new passion and respect.
I learned that my fear of honeybees was irrational. Honeybees are not naturally aggressive, and will only sting if they are protecting their hive or are feeling threatened themselves. Bees lead complicated lives, from the inner workings of the hive, their lifecycle, their annual honey production, and their winterizing behaviors. The term “busy as a bee,” holds much truth. The honeybees are extremely organized, and work together to ensure the most efficient production possible. Each bee throughout the hive has its own role, and each of these roles works together to keep a healthy and honey rich hive. During the winter, honeybees become mostly inactive as their main goal is to stay alive during the cold winter months and can keep the hive heated to around ninety degrees! Beekeeping itself is a practice that even dates back to the stone-age, which was illustrated by cave paintings.
My main goal, if I was the Honey Queen, would be to promote the realization that on this planet, we’re all in this together! We need bees to feed our many billions of people, and we need to stop harming bees with chemicals and mis-use of habitats if we ourselves are to survive. Honeybees and humans interact on a regular basis, and we have become quite dependent on these “busy bees,” which is why I feel it is important for people to be educated about the many stages in which honeybees influence our lives, and more importantly, how we influence their lives. Beekeeping is a green industry, but it has long been recognized by industrial agriculture as an essential element of their profitability.
The survival of honeybees has become at risk with the rapid and unexplained spread of Hive Collapse Syndrome. In France, so many food products were at risk that pesticides were banned, and this was been found to stabilize the widespread death of the hives.
I believe beekeeping is a valuable human pursuit in a world where the survival of bees and humans is increasingly threatened, and inter-connected. Beekeeping is something that many of us can do to help the earth maintain its balance. I truly honor the many wonderful qualities of bees themselves, their industriousness, their commitment to their community, and their unique and widespread contribution on our beautiful planet. And, I’ve realized that humans, often selfishly self-absorbed, would be wise to take the humble honeybee as heroes to work together toward the survival and good of our global community.
Fomer Minnesota Honey Queens
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2006 Kelly Tjepkes 2001 Maritina Carlson 2000 Chan da (Bordelon) Hassemer 1999 Angie (Olson) Lundeen 1995 Allyson (Nordwall) Ellingson 1993 Lisa (Terry) Moorhouse 1992 Carolyn Kochis 1991 Jennifer (Grissom) Beckerman |
1988 Mary (Mauson) Hodson 1986 Lisa (Smith) Dreyer 1985 Chris (Madson) Warner 1984 Lori Brekke 1983 Jennifer (Riedel) Pauly, Queen 1983 Brenda (Berg) Johnson, Princess 1982 Perian (Norskov) Stavrum 1981 Kari (Olson) Boyce 1980 Mary Rumppe |
MN Honey Queen Program Information
• Brochure
• Application
• Overview
• American Honey Queen Contest Rules
