the BEACON Newspaper, Indiana Beacon Oct 2017 | Page 5

October 2017
THE BEACON
Page 5
Beekeepers' Mentoring Program Results in Sweet Success
somebody who raises bees
and check it out. “
For more information or
to stock up on local honey,
be sure to stop by the SIBA
booth at the Aurora’s Farmers
Fair during the first weekend
of October.
To get directions to the next
SIBA monthly meeting, and
to learn more about local bee-
keeping, including resources
for swarm removal from your
property, visit the South-
eastern Indiana Beekeepers
Association website at http://
www.indianahoney.org/
To talk about all things
bees, feel free to contact Tom
Clarkston at 765-277-0912
For statewide information:
http://hoosierbuzz.com/
Unrecognizable beneath her gear, Marty Reynolds has been a beekeeper for more than three
years. (photo by Susan Ray)
Marty Reynolds was first
introduced to beekeeping
through her sister and used
this hat and veil when work-
ing with her bees initially.
(photo by Susan Ray) Although relatively new to this
area, Levi Plummer continues
his family’s over one-hundred-
year-old farming tradition,
in part by raising sheep and
keeping bees. (photo by Susan
Ray)
Continued from page 4
the world that will not spoil,
so pasteurization is unneces-
sary. Mr. Clarkston explains
why honey will sometimes
crystallize. ”If the beekeep-
ers have fed their bees corn
syrup or sugar - sometimes
they'll feed them sugar syrup
to boost them, to make them
produce more … sometimes
over time that honey will so-
lidify. That’s what that sugar
does, it solidifies. You can put
the jar in boiling water and
it’ll go back to the way it’s
supposed to be, but it’s a lot
of sugar content. A good natu-
ral honey won’t solidify.”
Harvesting pounds of fresh
honey is just one aspect of
beekeeping, but most keepers
work throughout the year split-
ting hives, watching for any
changes in the health of the
colonies, taking steps to protect
their bees from the elements,
and always learning more.
Flitting from bloom to bloom
or buzzing back and forth
to a hive; warm afternoons
wouldn’t be the same without
honey bees – nor would the
world’s food supply since bees,
bats, and birds are responsible
for more than one-third of the
earth’s crop pollination.
Bees have always been
susceptible to moisture,
cold, drafts, limited food,
and water, as well as natural
predators like skunks, mice,
Robber flies, and dragon-
flies - but they’ve survived.
Today, approximately 30% of
beehives are failing. Some of
the challenges to their sur- vival are mites, neonicotinoid
pesticides, disease, Colony
Collapse Disorder, and fungal
infections. New research
continues to find ways to
safeguard this vital insect,
but there is a lot yet to be
discovered. To encourage the
healthiest bee colonies, keep-
ers will use essential oils, let
the hives fend for themselves
naturally, or they will treat the
hive with mite/disease-spe-
cific medications – and some
keepers use combinations of
all of the above.
The different approaches to
beekeeping range from small
backyard family apiaries of
a few hives, all the way to
the commercial beekeeping
operations of 1,000 or more
traveling colonies. To learn
more about these mesmerizing
insects and the many choices
available to keepers, connect
with a local beekeeper, sign
up for a class, and/or join a
nearby beekeepers club. Mr.
Clarkston says, “Once you put
a veil on and you suit up to
where they can’t get to you,
and you start getting over the
fear of being stung … “Oh
God, all these bees, they’re
going to sting!’ No, they’re
not; it’s all moving slow, us-
ing smoke, treating them as
individuals, respecting them,
cause when you smash one,
you hear a crunch - and they
know it. So use a brush and be
gentle with them. Smoke them
and let them know you’re in
and move slowly. Don’t hurt
them; you won’t get stung. You
might have one that gets a little
mean, that’ ll hit the veil and
buzz around you, so you take a
little smoke and puff - they’ll
leave you alone. But just treat
them with respect. Once you
get into it, it’s second nature
once you do it. It really, truly
is. You’ve just got to learn how
to care for them. That’s the
secret.”
Ms. Reynolds suggests, “If
the only reason you want to
raise bees is for the honey –
go out and buy a jar of honey
from somebody who has bees.
It’s expensive, it takes time,
and you’re going to get stung;
you’re going to get dirty;
you’re going to get hot - it’s
all that stuff.
“But if you like it because
you think they’re fascinating
little insects, which they are,
definitively – I mean they’re
just amazing. The way they
keep themselves alive in the
winter, they’re amazing the
way they have their jobs, they
just take over and do; they’re
just so neat. If you want to do
it because of that, then I’d say
go for it, but if you want to
raise bees because you want
a jar of honey, buy the honey
and spend some time with
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