Urban beekeeping swells in popularity

Raleigh —- On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Elka Harabin, 54, dons her beekeeper’s helmet and veil before checking on one of her honeybee hives nestled in a friend’s backyard.

The hive lives on Swain Street, a mere seven blocks east of Fayetteville Street, downtown Raleigh’s main drag. Her other beehive is about the same distance west of downtown in her own yard in Boylan Heights. Harabin is among a growing number of people taking up beekeeping as a hobby, many in urban settings.

“North Carolina is a real hotbed of hobby beekeepers,” said Gregory Clements, president of the North Carolina Beekeepers Association, the nation’s largest with almost 2,000 members.

This upswing in hobby beekeeping is what David Tarpy, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, calls the “silver lining” on colony collapse disorder, the mysterious disease killing off bee colonies worldwide. CCD’s cause is unknown. In recent years, commercial beekeepers who truck their bees from farm to farm to pollinate crops have discovered their hives decimated. News reports have spread the word about the mystifying affliction that breaks down honeybees’ immune systems.

So why should we care about the health of honeybees? Honeybees account for a third of every bite of food that we eat, said Bruce Wolk, a spokesman for the National Honey Board.

That glass of orange juice you drank with breakfast likely would not be possible without honeybees. “You are hard-pressed to find orange growers who don’t move bees into their orange groves every year,” Wolk said.

Or look at food sources indirectly linked to the honeybee, such as dairy products. Dairy cows eat alfalfa, one of the primary crops pollinated by honeybees.

Cornell University estimates the value of honeybee pollination for American agriculture is $14.6 billion annually.

Beekeeping has become so popular in recent years that several county beekeeping associations have had to turn people away from their annual beekeeping schools. The Buncombe County (N.C.) Beekeepers Association had more than 400 people apply for its school in January —- many likely lured by the 20 hives being given away. But Janet Shisler, the association’s president, said the facility for the school could seat only 310, so more than 100 people were put on a waiting list.

Those who sell beekeeping equipment can barely keep smokers and protective clothing in stock. “There is a tremendous increase in the sale of beekeeping equipment. It’s just staggering,” said Steve Forrest, owner of the Brushy Mountain Bee Farm in Moravian Falls.

“A lot of people are more interested in bees because of colony collapse disorder and the realization that their food doesn’t just come from the grocery store,” said Amie Newsome, an extension agent who helped set up the Johnston County Beekeepers Association two years ago.

In areas where farmers markets thrive and “eat local” is a mantra, a healthy honeybee population is key. “Without bees, you don’t have local food,” Tarpy said.

Tarpy adds that the hives managed by hobby beekeepers have been less affected by CCD than commercial beekeepers’ hives. As a result, hobby beekeepers are trying to preserve the bee population and help farmers.

“We’re going to be the bridge until they figure out what’s going on,” said Harabin, the Boylan Heights beekeeper.

So don’t be surprised if a bee box shows up in your neighbor’s yard. Or two. Or three.

Or 19, if you live near Danny Jaynes, and his wife, Mary, in the Landingham subdivision in Willow Spring.

Jaynes, president of the Wake County Beekeepers Association, and his wife have about 2.5 million bees among their hives here and 30-plus hives elsewhere. They harvest between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds of honey a year. The Jaynes have been beekeepers since 2000, picking up a hobby that Mary Jaynes grew up with because her father had beehives.

The Jayneses sell their Queen Mary’s honey products at the Holly Springs farmers market every third Saturday.

On one of the other Saturdays, Shannon Hughes, 35, and two of his children sell their honey. Hughes, a software engineer at Red Hat, started out with two hives last year at his Fuquay-Varina home. Now they have between 20 and 30 hives at their home and at a nearby farm. His children, ages 4 and 6, help with the beekeeping tasks. “They have their own bee suits,” he said.

Any profit they make from their beekeeping and honey sales goes toward the family’s vacation, which they finally got to take advantage of earlier this month. The family went to Disney World.

TO FIND OUT MORE

Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association

Regular monthly meetings are held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Wednesday with Keith Delaplane, UGA professor of entomology

Oct. 18, Beekeeping Short Course, Reynolds Nature Preserve in Morrow

Oct. 19, Honey Bee Educator Workshop

For details, visit www.metroatlantabeekeepers.org

Beekeeping: Getting Started in Atlanta

Oct. 18

9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

$20-$25

Registration deadline is Oct. 12

To register, call 404-876-5859 Ext. 2555 or e-mail registrar@atlantabotanicalgarden.org