American Honey Princess has sweet message at Farm Tech Days

By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com

Date Modified: 08/09/2010 3:27 PM

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RIVER FALLS, Wis.— According to American Honey Princess Amy Roden, approximately one-third of people's diets are somehow connected to honeybee pollination.

Roden was in the Country Mercantile of the Arts and Crafts Tent July 21 at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.

She works with American Honey Queen, Lisa Schluttenhofer of Indiana, to promote honey and honeybees.

Roden lives on her family's 400-cow dairy farm in West Bend, but has also tried her hand at beekeeping. She used to have three hives, but thanks to a run-in with a bear, her hive count is down to one.

Living on a farm has helped her understand how important honeybees are to food production. They help the yield of many crops, such as alfalfa, used as feed for livestock.

Since honeybees help feed livestock, they can also be credited to making it possible for people to have livestock products, such as milk and cheese, she said.

Her time at the show was spent talking with people and selling honey-related products. Three-thousand varieties of honey exist worldwide, the U.S. has 300 and her booth at the show had four.

She was also selling honey products including lotions, lip balms and beeswax candles.

When she is not wearing her crown, sash and honeybee pin, Roden is a senior at the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay, studying organizational communications.