How South Carolina farmers are helping to save honey bees
Honey bees are responsible for the pollination of about one third of the food crops we eat — from peaches and berries to tomatoes, cucumbers and squash.
According to the South Carolina Beekeepers Association, the annual value of farm cash receipts from agricultural crops in South Carolina that require bee pollination is more than $25 million. And while the honey bee may not be close to extinction, the number of managed honey bee colonies in the United States has dropped by half over the past 60 years, to less than 2.4 million colonies today.
“Nowadays, versus 50 to 75 years ago, food crops were dependent on pollination by feral bees, wasps and such,” said Danny Cannon, owner of Bee Trail Farm in Lexington and president of the South Carolina Mid-State Beekeepers Association. “We lost a lot of natural pollinators to pesticides and disease. Now the weight of pollination falls to the honey bees, which are raised and trucked to farms across the country to pollinate crops.”
So the South Carolina Beekeepers Association, an umbrella group with 24 local affiliates statewide, offers beekeeping classes every year, from January through late March, on keeping healthy colonies of honey bees.
The classes are offered for a range of skill levels, from beginner sessions to continuing education for those already working with colonies.
Luckily, interest in beekeeping has become more popular over the past few years.
“There’s so much to learn about bees,” said Cannon. “Honey bees are fascinating. Some people will take a lawn chair and sit next to a hive and just watch all day long. It’s like a grown- up ant farm.”
Cannon didn’t always keep bees. His father and grandfather had honey bees and, a decade after his grandfather’s death, Cannon came across a still thriving colony that his grandfather had kept near the woods on his family’s land. After inadvertently running the honey bees out of the hive “because I didn’t know what I was doing,” Cannon said the bees eventu- ally returned.
He was hooked. Cannon’s Bee Trail Farm was launched in January 2012, and last year Cannon’s 300 hives produced about 10,000 pounds of honey.
If you’re thinking of establishing a honey bee colony, Cannon said now is the time to do it. “Usually (beekeeping) is a planned out event. Starter colonies of bees go for sale early in the year,” he said. Springtime is a critical time for foraging by honey bees as everything is coming into bloom, and a starter colony should be in place before blossoms appear.
Honey bees range three to five miles a day foraging away from the hive, so the size of your lot — be it a back yard or open field — does not really matter.
“If honey bees are properly managed, they won’t be a nuisance,” Cannon said. His 300 hives range from 10,00015,000 honey bees in fall and winter to 50,000-60,000 honey bees in spring and summer.
Marty Derrick, whose son Scott owns Blythewood Bee Co. and has kept bees for more than 13 years, said a starter beekeeping kit — with protective clothing, gloves, the wooden hive, brood chamber, smoker, feeder jar, copy of Beekeeping for Dummies and more — goes for $295. A NUC, or hive nucleus consisting of a queen and worker bees ready to be transferred into a larger frame hive, sells for $195.
If the idea of thousands of bees in close proximity to you just isn’t for you, think about planting a small garden or a few pots of flowers to attract these beneficial insects.
Some flowers that bees love include alyssum, aster, echinacea, geranium, cone flower, bee balm (mondara), poppies, rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan) and clover. You could also plant some of these vegetables and flowering herbs and reap the rewards of the tiny pollinators: cucumber, pumpkin, corn, sage, mustard, cowpeas, mint, and sunflowers.
Honey bees also need a lot of water, so fill an empty birdbath or leave an outdoor faucet on a slow drip.
For those who want to pursue beekeeping as a hobby or profession, there are three different levels of beekeeper certification offered by the South Carolina Beekeepers Association:
Certified Beekeeper — Entry level of the Master Beekeeper Program; usually a minimum of one season of experience and must pass written and practical tests.
Journeyman Beekeeper — At least two seasons of beekeeping; must pass written and practical tests and complete public service work related to beekeeping.
Master and Master Certified Beekeeper — Must have achieved Journeyman status. Able to function as a sideline or commercial beekeeper; have demonstrable knowledge of bee biology, behavior and the business of beekeeping; and must pass written and practical tests. Additional public service work in beekeeping.