“People don’t realize how important they are” Beekeeping duo helps pollinators thrive
By Meghan Danahey
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MADISON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — Lowell Merrill has been beekeeping for over 60 years. He picked it up from a neighbor when he was in his 20s.
Most of what he learned over the years came from beekeeping magazines he ordered. Now his grandson is following in his footsteps and they can both learn more about the hobby online!
Lowell saw the need for a contraption to make his beekeeping process easier, so he created a toolbox.
“It’s a toolbox that you can put a swarm in.” He asked me, “you know what a swarm is?” then he chuckled when I said I did not. “That’s how they divide. The queen will leave the hive with a bunch of workers and they make a new colony somewhere and we interrupt that and put them in a hive.” His toolbox holds five key beekeeping tools and he says, “they’re all right there, handy if you need them.”
J.D. says it’s a hobby they both enjoy. However, Lowell and J.D. have come to appreciate just how important the honey bee is to our human existence.
Lowell says, “I think it’s 73% of the food we eat is pollinated by bees. People don’t realize how important they are.” J.D. adds, “They pollinate everything we eat and without them we’re not going to be around much longer either.”
There can be up to 60,000 bees per hive. They are all female worker bees, a few male drones and one queen. The queen can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day.
J.D. takes us deeper into a working hive, a honey bee’s pollination range and why different kinds of honey taste and look the way they do.
Lowell and J.D. say the worker honey bees will come back to the hive after they’ve found a good pollen source and do a “honey dance.”
Each perfect little hexagonal cell on each frame in the beehive is built out with bee’s wax and filled with honey. Lowell and J.D. can extract that honey. They bottle it up and give it to neighbors as gifts mostly. They don’t make enough to sell much because they always leave more than enough for the bees to eat and ride out the winter months. They’re beekeepers because they both love the bees and find them so fascinating!
Lowell says, “the more you study them the more you realize how smart they really are. It’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever studied.” He adds, “I’m tickled to death that J.D. picked it up.
Lowell and J.D. are members of the Madison County Beekeeper’s Association. They always welcome newcomers and are happy to help new beekeepers get started. Most counties in the area have beekeeper’s associations if you are interested in learning more.
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