Fest aims for sweet times ahead

Saturday will be sweet and buzz-worthy at the fourth annual Arkansas Honey Festival, a celebration of all things honey hosted by Bemis Honey Bee Farm.

Jeremy Bemis, the farm's owner, says this year's festival will broaden its scope when it comes to education.

"In the past we've always had more on beekeeping versus honey," he says. "This year we're more heavily into honey talk and what you can do with honey."

There will be multiple talks every hour on the hour on topics including making mead -- an alcoholic drink from fermented honey -- and honey beer. There will be talks on creamed honey, how bees actually produce honey and different colors of honey.

Not that the bees and their role will be ignored. Interested guests can attend beekeeping demonstrations and talks at the beehives.

Sponsor Flyway Brewing will not only present some talks, it will also sponsor the music stage.

For children, the kids area will feature bounce houses, arts and crafts, a petting zoo and hayrides.

A tie-dyed T-shirt section gives visitors a chance to buy and personalize their own Honey Festival shirt and there will be vendors selling different honeys and bee products. There will also be food trucks.

Honey producers from all over central Arkansas and a few from Fort Smith will compete in the honey contest and attendees can taste and vote on their favorites in various categories.

Those attending the demonstrations at the beehives should wear protective clothing -- long-sleeve shirts and pants tucked in with cuffs, no bright floral colors, no perfume -- but the main festival is about 1/4 mile from the hives, a safe distance.

"It won't be any different as far as your general concern of getting stung as it would be being in your own yard," Bemis says.

The festival is a prime opportunity to learn a little more about bees and the sweet efforts of their labors, he says: "It's about the only one like it in the state. It's not just about coming out and having something to do on a Saturday. It's a chance to come out and learn a few things."

Weekend on 10/04/2018