Charlotte Ekker WigginsWhen she first decided to keep honey bees, Charlotte was like many beginning beekeepers scared to death. She wanted bees for pollination. Her initial plan was to settle hives in a back garden corner and coexist. She didn't count on falling in love. Hney bees are the most amazing little creatures and part of the tiny bug world that forms the foundation of our interdependent ecosystems. Their declining numbers, what that means to the world's food supply and what we can all do to help them was the topic of her Missouri S&T TEDx April 11, 2019 Beekeeping; Why Bugs Matter. Charlotte began teaching beginning beekeeping in 2012 at the request of her local Extension Office. In 2014, students from one of her beginning beekeeping classes asked for a local club to support them and the Rolla Bee Club was started. In 2019, Rolla Bee Club officially became an educational non-profit. Charlotte has a master's degree in management from Webster University, St. Louis. In 2019, she was made a Great Plains Certified Master Beekeeping program provisional instructor. She is also a contributing author master gardener representative on Missouri's Master Pollinator Steward Program Steering Committee, developed under the University of Missouri College of Natural Resources. The award-winning program, started in 2016 and launched in 2019, is designed to teach the general public about the value of pollinators and what they can do to help them. https: //bit.ly/MPS-program 2015, Charlotte was awarded a Missouri State Beekeepers Association Beekeeper of the Year award along with a team of other volunteers who changed Missouri's honey labeling laws. In January 2020, she was elected to Missourians for Monarchs Collaborative Steering Committee, a group of more than 100 federal and state organizations focused on planting more flowers for pollinators. Charlotte lives with rescue cats on a one-acre Missouri limestone hillside garden. The garden is a certified wildlife habitat, Monarch Way Station and apiary that inspires her custom gift business Bluebird Gardens. Charlotte frequently lectures on planting for pollinators and how to start a bee club. For more details, check charlotteekkerwiggins.com. Read More Read Less