Married to Gov. Nathan Deal, first lady Sandra Deal reflects on growing up in Gainesville, the daughter of George Dunagan, an avid beekeeper. She also discusses the two beehives recently installed on the Governor’s Mansion grounds, which are home to 40,000 honeybees.
My daddy was a schoolteacher in North Georgia. All throughout my childhood, he always had a big garden; it was enough to feed us and all the neighbors, too. Of course, bees were important to have for the garden, and he kept bees all along when I was growing up. From the time I was 10 or 12, we had beehives.
After he retired, it became such a hobby that people would call him and say, “We’ve got a beehive in the corner of our house,” or “We’ve got a beehive in a tree that’s in a bad place, would you come see if you can get them?” And he would go get them.
Growing up with a beekeeper: When I was young, I would help him when he would go out to “raid” the bees, to check on them. You would put on these white suits that covered you up, gloves and a hat with a protective veil.
Daddy had a little smoker that looked like a little tin coffeepot. He would burn some paper in it so it would make smoke, to calm the bees. Then he would very gently and quietly walk over and lift the top. I would hold the top of the smoker and do whatever he needed me to do. He would reach in and check the honey to see if it was ready. There were little slips of wood, the frames, that went down in the hive, and the bees would make their honey on those frames.
The sting of keeping bees: There is only one time I’m aware that he got stung bad. He was getting a little too cocky and he went out to check the beehives without putting on all his equipment. For some reason that day, the bees were angry and upset; I don’t know if he didn’t use the smoker or what. He got stung. I saw him run through the yard. I went running to see what was the matter and he said, “Don’t come near me; the bees are mad!”
Eventually, he just leaned up into a cedar tree and stood still: Because it was a cedar tree it had lots of branches and places for the bees to crawl. And after 10 or 15 minutes, they crawled off him. He had quite a few stings that we doctored. I think he was about 75 years old at the time.
I have been stung. But wasps and yellow jackets are more likely to sting you. I’m pretty comfortable around bees. I know that you have to be calm and quiet and not make a big stir around them.
On eating Georgia honey: I don’t eat much honey. The governor loves it. He will make peanut butter-and-honey sandwiches. Daddy loved sorghum syrup and honey. Nathan loves cane syrup and honey because he grew up in South Georgia. Daddy grew up in North Georgia and it was sorghum syrup. Sorghum’s a little deeper, richer and a stronger flavor than cane syrup.
Bringing beehives to the Governor’s Mansion? Putting the beehives at the Governor’s Mansion was an idea that Nathan’s staff at the Capitol had. Some of the guys had beehives at home and were interested in learning about them. They said, “You have so many flowers at the mansion, it would be great to put a couple of boxes out there.”
We’ve had them for [several] weeks. We have to keep them a little way away from the garden because we had to consider the safety of the people who cut the grass, and any visitors who might be allergic.
On working with the mansion’s bees: I won’t be donning a suit and working with the hives any time soon, if I can help it. It’s hot and it’s a good bit of work. The hives are heavy to lift and manage. I’ll leave it to the guys that are young and healthy to lift those hives. We will help in the kitchen, though, when they are ready to spin out the honey.
Of course, having the hives here is a connection to the past for me. I know the value of bees to keep things beautiful. They pollinate the flowers. They pollinate the garden. We even had a neighbor who called and said she really appreciated the fact that we had the bees over here because her flowers had never been more beautiful.
As told to Tom Sabulis tsabulis@ajc.com.
