Exeter – When Maria , mother of Kirill and Oskar Grechkin, brought home a beehive in 2022 she had no idea of the journey it would inspire in her son Oskar. Now at 13, Oskar has won 2^nd place at the New York State fair for honey.

Among the many animals Maria added to her farm, the journey began one night in 2022 with the purchase of a beehive. At first the purchase went smoothly but when it came to unloading the bees, a dropped medium led to several dozen stings. That’s where Oskar took over.

Unafraid of the thousands of bees he took up the care of the stinging insects, documenting his journey on his facebook page ‘Oskar the Beekeeper.’

The Bee yard has since grown to 7 hives and the facebook page has received much attention from the viewing public, with many of his reels having over 100,000 views.

However, when the 2023 State Fair rolled around, he had not planned to enter the honey competition. That was Maria’s idea.

“I entered him for the experience. We didn’t expect to win anything, it was just for learning.” Maria said.

“It was only 2 weeks to the competition. I would have wanted 4 if I knew I was going to enter so the air bubbles in the honey would have a chance to rise to the surface and out of the honey.” Oskar said.

Oskar took on the challenge with gusto, getting his honey ready in time and helping at the honey exhibit at the fair.

And his hard work paid off.  

The time has come. We’ve inspected the hives, fenced out the bears, endured the hot days, and now the season has arrived.

Learn all about the honey harvest with the Leatherstocking Beekeepers.’ Find out how much should be left, what equipment is needed, and how to market the honey to the non-beekeeper consumers of honey.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 28, at The Farmers’ Museum, 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown. Everyone is welcome.