Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) presented Reg Wilbanks its 2024 GFB Commodity Award during the annual GFB Commodity Conference held Aug. 8 at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center.

Wilbanks, a fourth-generation beekeeper, served as president of Wilbanks Apiaries in Claxton for 44 years before retiring. He held leadership roles in numerous Georgia and national beekeeping organizations, advocating for research and policy to protect honeybees from harmful pests and diseases. Wilbanks collaborated with state legislators in the 1970s to have the honeybee designated Georgia’s official state insect.

The GFB Commodity Award, one of the organization’s highest honors, is given to individuals who have supported and promoted Georgia agriculture. The GFB Board of Directors selects the award recipient from nominees submitted by the organization’s commodity advisory committees. The GFB Honeybee Committee nominated Wilbanks for the award. “Honeybees play a vital role in agriculture by pollinating the fruit, vegetables, pecans and many other crops grown in our state. Reg has spent his life not only keeping bees that were shipped across the country to pollinate crops but also serving as an advocate for his industry,” GFB President Tom McCall said. “Reg has probably done more for the honeybee industry than anyone.”

According to the USDA, more than 2.5 million pounds of honey were produced in Georgia in 2023. Honey and honeybees had a farm gate value (FGV) of over $78 million in 2022 according to the UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. A recent UGA CAES study shows the 2021 FGV of Georgia crops that depend on pollination was $4.4 billion.

A native of Claxton, Wilbanks is a 1972 graduate of Georgia Southern University. After graduating from GSU, he returned home to work at Wilbanks Apiaries, started by his father, Warren, and grandfather, Guy. The Wilbanks transformed the queen and package bee business, creating an innovative winter-feeding system still widely used by beekeepers.

The Wilbanks’ operation flourished under Reg’s leadership reaching a peak of more than 7,000 bee colonies and supplying 60,000 queens and 20,000 package bees to farms across the U.S. growing crops that depend on pollination.

I would like to thank Georgia Farm Bureau for this prestigious award, and I’d like to thank Farm Bureau for the work they’ve done representing farmers in Atlanta and D.C.,” Wilbanks said.

Reg’s two sons are continuing the family’s beekeeping legacy. Patrick owns and operates Wilbanks Apiaries in Claxton. Tim owns and operates Heritage Honeybee in Sullivan, Wis.

Wilbanks is a past president of the Georgia Beekeepers Association, the American Bee Breeders Association and the American Beekeeping Federation. He served on the National Honey Board for six years.

During his career, Wilbanks served on numerous research advisory committees. In 1988, then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Richard Lyng appointed Wilbanks to serve on a USDA committee focused on controlling the Varroa mite, which has devastated bee populations worldwide. He chaired the research advisory committee for the USDA Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Ariz. He also chaired the UGA CAES Research Advisory Council and championed the establishment of a new UGA beekeeping lab.

As a longtime Farm Bureau member, Wilbanks chaired the GFB Honeybee Committee for many years and served on the American Farm Bureau Honeybee Committee. He is a past president of the Evans County Farm Bureau.

Reg resides in Pearson, where his wife, Dr. Melissa Wilbanks, is the Atkinson County school superintendent.