FAIRBURY - Southeast Nebraska was buzzing with excitement at the decidedly bee-themed Jefferson County Fair this weekend.

“We’re always looking at how we can improve, how we can get more people down here, how we can showcase what these kids have done, whether it’s the livestock, animals, the clothing, their baking, things like that...we want to showcase what they’ve done all year long,” said Amy Nippert, a third-generation member of the board that organizes the annual event. 

Amidst some county fair staples like rides and face painting and a guest appearance from a clown, the Jefferson County fair also featured live bands, a hypnotist, a rock wall, and their version of the television program “Antiques Roadshow,” where a couple of appraisers from Lincoln came by to put a price tag on different items.  

“Our fair, we like the hometown feeling, and we try to build off of that around here,” Nippert said. “I think it depends on what you’re into. We try to highlight a little bit of everything and make sure it’s fun for everybody.” 

And plenty of people fully leaned into this year’s theme, “Make a Bee Line to the Jefferson County Fair.”  

New county commissioner Danielle Schwab crafted her own replica bee boxes where fair visitors can pull back the layers to see all the different people that make county government’s many different departments function at an interactive display she titled “County government: working hard bee-hind the scenes.” 

And bringing an actual beehive to the proceedings was Bill Glenn, who’s turned a hobby he’s cultivated since grade school, when he ordered his first bees through a Sears-Roebuck catalog and got them delivered to his home through the mail, into a second career as a beekeeper close to Fairbury.  

“When I graduated college I went on to other careers, other interests in life, and a lot of my beehives went into my folks’ barn for 32 years when I was in another career in another state, in Wyoming,” he said. “And then in 1998 I came back here, got the bee boxes back out of the barn, and now it’s been more than 25 years that I’ve been back doing beekeeping, for a second time in my life.” 

Bill and his wife Mary, a staple of the Fairbury farmer’s market where she sells some of the honey Bill’s bees produce, drew a large crowd of captivated fairgoers who felt a sting of excitement when they got a first-hand look at thousands of worker bees accompanying Glenn’s presentation, which was largely focused on educating people about the craft and inspiring others to take it on – which can be difficult thanks to a disease that’s spread over the last few decades, making it harder for fledgling beekeepers to get off the ground. 

“It’s difficult to keep beehives alive, and to even get going into beekeeping. A lot of people will try it for awhile, and it’s very difficult, and they’ll perhaps drop out. So I try to pass on information to help some people stay with it,” Glenn said. “I have these combs that are totally drawn out, extracted from past hives, and that makes it easier for me to restart hives. Folks that start over new have to start with building new combs. It’s a slow process, difficult for a beginner, especially with the disease problem.” 

Bees aren’t the only animals to take center stage at this event. Reflecting how critical agriculture is to the Jefferson County economy, the fair hosts livestock exhibits and rodeos, and local kids show different kind of animals throughout the week, ending with a premium auction on Sunday that provides some of the money the kids can use to fund their livestock projects next year. 

“It’s neat to see the bonding of all these different schools, these different kids,” Nippert said. “It doesn’t make any difference [where they’re from] - they come here, they’re Jefferson County. They’re all one, and they’re out there having fun, playing together, showing against each other, having a great time for this week.” 

And outside the barn, as some classic fair rides whirred, it sure sounded like a swarm of bees was buzzing as high-octane racing action heated up inside the Jefferson County Speedway for one of the fair’s main attractions, the USAC Midwest Midget Racing National Championship, a series of 40-lap sprints around the muddy speedway track, with the winner taking home a $10,000 payout. Cameron McIntosh of Oklahoma was crowned this year's winner on Saturday night.

Though this year’s fair wrapped up on Sunday evening, there’s little rest for the organizers: the fair officially opened on Wednesday, but Nippert said the board met last Monday, already evaluating other fairs and examining schedules to begin to put together their plans for the 2026 edition of the Jefferson County Fair.