Local beekeepers are striving hard to keep hives alive and productive
Right before leaving office, the Obama administration placed the rusty patch bumblebee on the endangered species list. But on January 20th, the Trump administration placed an “immediate regulatory freeze” on all business so his staff could review all legislation before it was enacted as law.
While attorneys for the National Resource Defense Council are already mounting their challenge in court, the bee hangs in the balance between some farmers who are for the postponement and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service which lists the famous black and white pollinator being in peril.
Pollinator decline is a global trend. Last year, the United Nations sponsored a study that suggests about 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator species, like bees and butterflies, are facing extinction. Since some 75 percent of food crops rely at least partially on pollinators, that raises serious concerns about the future of the global food supply.
“Farmers need to be more understanding about the way they spray,” says Derick Forester of Forester Farms and Apiary. “We live in a chemical world, but there’s a national practice, and safe ways to spray.”
Forester, a third-generation beekeeper, understands wild pollinators’ role in fruits and vegetables. Founded in 1868 in Rising Fawn, Georgia, the farm started by growing corn, wheat, potatoes and hay, along with raising livestock. Forester’s grandfather and uncle kept bees on the side and he always had an interest in the practice during his career in law enforcement.
In 2010 the farm reorganized and began specializing in building custom bee hive wooden ware, square foot garden frames, custom saw milling, and honey production. Forester still does a little farming, but only uses organic pest control.
Forrest frequents festivals and conventions around Northwest Georgia, including attending Northwest Georgia Beekeeping Association meetings. These clubs and associations are perhaps the best ways for an aspiring hobbyist beekeeper to get involved.
Amanda Turner, president of the Tennessee Valley Beekeeping Association, recommends getting to know bees and other wild pollinators. “People need to understand that insects are far more than pests,” she says. “Aside from pollination, they help a bunch of other ecosystem services. Plus, they are food for the young of most birds and many adult birds.”
Turner became interested in saving the bee after studying Ecological and Conversation Biology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A big part of her motivation is to help propagate the species after the discovery of Colony Collapse Disorder in 2006. In the beginning, scientists struggled to find the trigger for CCD, which has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, worth around $2 billion, since 2007.
Scientist have concluded pesticides, disease-bearing parasites and pathogens, poor nutrition, lack of genetic diversity, and habitat loss can weaken or kill honeybee colonies.
So, if honeybees did disappear for good, humans would probably not go extinct from lack of some fruits or vegetables, but our diets would still suffer tremendously. The variety of foods available would diminish, and the cost of certain products would surge.
The California Almond Board, for example, has been campaigning to save bees for years. Without bees, almonds “simply wouldn’t exist,” says the group.
We’d still have coffee without bees, but it would become expensive and rare. The coffee flower is only open for pollination for three or four days. If no insect happens by in that short window, the plant won’t be pollinated. We would be left with corn, flour, and other self-pollinating crops. Also, say goodbye to livestock and any precious daily items associated with them.
The state of Tennessee is doing its part and has made the honey bee the official state agricultural insect. Many species of plant in our state require honey bees to perform pollination that is essential to their propagation. The TVBA and the NWGA Beekeepers Associations are perfect places for anyone to get involved.
Just like any subject, reading is probably the best way to start to explore beekeeping, suggests Lori Jackson of Pigeon Mountain Trading Company. Started in 1966 as a feed and seed company in Lafayette, GA, the company’s owner always had a fondness for bees and slowly began to transition the grounds into a fully functioning apiary. Here, in what they call the Honey House, professionals and hobbyist can get the honey in their hives extracted and packaged.
But for the uninitiated, we are getting ahead of ourselves. This may be a good time for a little Beekeeping 101.
First off, beekeeping is a year-round task. Beehives require management and good stewardship. General maintenance requires periodic inspections during the warm months to make sure your queen is laying eggs, your workers are building up honey stores, and your colony has enough space to expand.
In the cold months, the colony clusters and eats through their honey stores, only emerging when the temperature is above freezing to eliminate waste. Inspections are discouraged during this time to keep from releasing precious heat from the hive.
All beekeepers get stung at some point. Only one out of every thousand people is allergic to bee stings. Honeybees are mostly very docile, and stinging is a last resort. Once they sting, they die.
Honeybees have three social castes: the queen, worker bees and drones.
Each hive will have one queen bee who is the only reproductive individual in the colony. She leaves the hive under two circumstances: as a virgin queen to mate, and in some cases, as an experienced queen with a swarm. On mating flights, the queen locates a “drone congregation area” to mate with up to 80 drones before returning to the hive.
She will store all this sperm for the rest of her life. The queen only reproduces. She does not feed or clean herself. The queen will lay all of the eggs for the colony.
“The queen can also make another queen,” says Jackson. “You can start to see where a lot of these queen bee stereotypes come from.”
Worker bees are sterile females who do all of the foraging, feeding of young, honey production and storage, wax production, cleaning, and defending the hive against intruders.
“Each worker bee will do a variety of jobs in her lifetime, which can last about four to six weeks, “says Jackson. “As they age, their duties will become riskier, and require venturing further from the hive.”
Finally, come the drones. Drones are male and like the queen they only reproduce. Their sole purpose is to spread the genetics of the colony by mating with virgin queens from other colonies. Once they mate, they die successful bees. Unsuccessful drones return to the hive to eat honey and pollen. Once swarm season is over, drones become a drain on resources inside the hive, and are evicted by workers.
“A strong hive really is a matter of chance,” adds Jackson. “So what beekeepers have come to do is add vitamins to the hive to insure its success.”
Jackson adds that people’s initial reaction is to be scared of bees. “Honeybees are really more in danger from us than we are from them. They are not naturally aggressive. Unless you threaten their hive or swat at them you are not likely to be stung.”
Turner also wants to emphasize not to kill bees if you happen upon them. “We get calls all the times about clusters or swarms that can be the size of a grapefruit or basketball,” she adds. “This is definitely where you need a veil, gloves, and heavy clothing and use your bee brush to knock them into a box.” Also be sure to wear white clothing instead of dark. It’s believed bees don’t like dark clothing because they think it’s a bear.
Hobbyist Martin Kotar is relatively new to beekeeping and moved from the upper peninsula of Michigan.
“Up north, there are too many bears,” jokes Kotar. “Plus, there is such a short season so it’s much better to live in the south for longer, warm harvesting periods.”
Kotar admits he was scared the first time he opened a hive. “Each time you interact with the bees, you learn something new,” he says. “They are agitated by vibration and quick movements. Just keep your motions slow and even, and never flick or swat.”
Kotar saw his first good harvest last year after picking up the hobby three years ago. He was able to extract 13 gallons of honey from six hives.
“Your first year you shouldn’t take any honey,” he advises. “Bees need about 50 to 60 pounds of food to make it through the winter. My motto is stay ahead of the bees.”
It is also critical to understand honeybees communicate via smell. The smell of bananas is the scent they use to signal danger and attack. Don’t eat one on your way to the hive and avoid perfumes.
“Really, it’s our job to be stewards,” Forrester adds. “They mention bees in the Bible. I think every beekeeper I’ve known has the motivation to help people understand the importance of bees. It’s amazing to watch them work. But we need to do our part because they need all the help they can get.”