Insider Info

Ellie Conlon and her husband Steve operate a farm that has over 500 hives. And they don't just produce honey. They also make a host of bee-related products.

"I help create new products using honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, etc.," says Conlon. "We have an FDA [Food and Drug Administration]-approved kitchen where we 'concoct' our products, such as Creamy Cranberry Honey, or Vitamin E Beeswax Skin Cream. We also make pure beeswax candles and ornaments."

These items are sold in a gift shop and at fairs and festivals throughout the region.

"It is not a lucrative job, money-wise, but enough to enjoy life," she says.

How does someone know if they're cut out to be a beekeeper? Conlon puts it this way:

"Anyone who likes to work outside, doesn't mind getting stung or sticky, is physically strong, finds insects' role in agriculture exciting, and is creative will enjoy beekeeping as a hobby or as a career," she says.

An early fascination with bees is common among beekeepers.

When he was a boy, John Iannuzzi found himself looking out of classroom windows instead of paying attention to his lessons. He was intent on watching insects fly in and out of white boxes. "I learned later that they were honeybees kept by the Capuchin Franciscan friars for their honey," he says. "That piqued my interest."

A few years later Iannuzzi answered a newspaper ad that announced a beekeeper was selling a hive for $5. He decided to buy. Not knowing the first thing about bees, he asked for her advice. "She said, 'Just pop off the top, stick your hand in and scoop out the honey.'" It wasn't great advice.

"I soon learned that only a nincompoop would do that," says Iannuzzi. "When I opened the hive top for the first time I had to run for my life."

But Iannuzzi weathered the storm, learned how to keep bees and has since kept a watchful eye on cycles and seasons involved in producing honey.

What is honey anyway? Honey is mostly made up of simple sugars (fructose and glucose) and water. It also contains other sugars, and very small amounts of enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids.

The color and flavor of honey differ depending on what flower nectars the bees are using. There are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in North America. Usually, light-colored honey is milder in flavor than dark honey.

Bees have a reputation for being hard workers. This is especially true for commercial bees, which are moved around to make the best use of their special talents.

Many beekeepers move their bees to different locations so bees are working at either pollinating or making honey. Beekeepers may keep their bees in California or Florida in the winter, and move north as summer approaches.

"In the early spring, beekeepers in California move truckloads of hives into almond groves, where grove owners pay the beekeepers for the use of the bees," explains Ron Miksha. The bees pollinate the almonds and ensure a good crop of nuts for the farmers.

This can be a pretty complicated procedure. In order to get from the bee farm to the almond groves, several million bees tucked inside their hives have to be hoisted onto a truck and sent to the orchard.

"The logistics are very important as the bees must be at the right populations, the trucks must be ready and provisioned, the orchard grower must have the trees at the right stages of blossoming. The bees mustn't be kept on the trucks for too many hours or they may perish," says Miksha.

When the blossom petals begin to fall and the pollinating is done, the bees are sent north to cattle ranches in Montana or Wyoming, where thousands of acres of clover and alfalfa bloom. There isn't a moment to spare in preparations. "At this time of the year, the beekeeper is much like a general, massing troops and preparing a well-planned military operation."

Once summer approaches, the bees are on the fields to collect nectar to produce honey. The beekeeper flits from field to field with honey boxes. "These boxes are manually placed on top of each hive, and as the summer progresses, the boxes fill with honey," says Miksha.

The heavy boxes are taken back to the warehouse where centrifuges, melters and pumps are used to remove wax from the honey. Finally, the yellow syrup is dumped into large steel barrels. This whirlwind of honey collecting continues until the nights begin to cool and the bees have to be transported back to warmer climes.

After the honey is collected, the keeper usually spends the fall selling honey to brokers and food processing companies. "If you decide the prices being offered are too low, the honey may be held for a few months with the hope that the price will improve, though it may actually drop," says Miksha.

In the winter, the beekeeper is back at the hives producing new queens and strengthening the colony. "You're much like a scientist, carefully monitoring and measuring, and doing delicate work to produce the new queens."

As the cycle turns, keepers encounter all kinds of different situations. For example, Miksha is sometimes called in to capture bee swarms. "On this occasion, the farm family was very much afraid of bees and stayed inside while I worked," says Miksha.

They didn't know swarming bees seldom sting. Working without gloves or veil, Miksha reached inside the bush. "I felt around the bees with bare hands, searching for the queen," he says. When he found her, Miksha gently lowered the queen into a box, and the rest of the swarm followed her. "The folks who were watching through the window thought I performed some sort of magic. They treated me like a wizard after that."

Beekeepers also exhibit their magic by entering their bees and honey into competitions. Going to the honey exhibitions is a family affair for the Iannuzzis. John, his wife and daughter enter the honey competitions -- many times with success. "I have tons of blue ribbons coming out of my ears. I have 15 silver platters and two silver bowls."

While the prizes are nice, they are not what make beekeeping so enjoyable, beekeepers agree.

"The chance to work out-of-doors, and the closeness of working with the seasons and with nature are also very pleasant qualities in this profession," says Miksha.