The Bible doesn’t tell us what day God created honey bees but their existence and importance does dot the Old Testament in several places. The official Magnolia State insect brings a smile to people in many vocations. Their pollination of row crops, gardens, flowers and more across the world basically keeps the food chain up and running. They are critical in pollinating $19 billion dollars worth of agricultural crops in the United States alone. In Mississippi, beekeepers are spread across the state and many call Madison County home. Walter McKay has been a beekeeper for over four decades and has tended bees in the US and abroad. The civil engineer began his love of beekeeping back in 1972.
“It was by happenstance. I had to get a swarm out of a squirrel box in a tree where I lived,” McKay said. “The whole thing interested me. I took the bees out of the box and put them in a hive I bought from somebody in Clinton.”
McKay has kept up to 18 hives at time but currently he has five.
“It’s due to attrition. You lose some every year due to mites,” McKay said. “It’s always just been a hobby for me. It keeps me in honey and keeps my honey customers stocked up. This past year I averaged about 130 pounds per hive that I took honey off of.”
McKay is a member of the Central Mississippi Beekeepers Association that was formed in 1970. The CMBA “strives to continually educate beekeepers in the day to day operations of running an apiary. With current membership enrollment in excess of 50 active and retired beekeepers, the CMBA is one of the largest and most active beekeeping associations in Mississippi.”
The group meets every third Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Agricultural and Forestry Museum (Heritage Exhibit Center Auditorium next to the rose garden at the top of the hill), at 1150 Lakeland Drive in Jackson. Anyone interested in beekeeping is invited to attend.
The CMBA president, Ben Kern, learned the “hobby” from McKay but since a turn in his work career, Kern has relied on his new skill to pay a few bills.
“Since then I’ve done nothing but raise bees and sell honey,” Kern said. “It’s been about 10 years since I started. He still is my mentor. The first couple of years I didn’t have bees. I just coat tailed him and messed with his bees.”
Kern started with five hives but after his financial firm closed he’s ramped up to sixty hives.
“It doesn’t replace the income of a bond trader but there’s not a lot of stress and so far, it’s been enjoyable,” he said.
And his biggest problem, just as McKay, is keeping bees alive. The CMBA is part of a partnership with the Mississippi Beekeepers Association, Mississippi Farm Bureau® Federation, Mississippi, Agricultural Aviation Association, Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Association, Mississippi Agricultural Industry Council, Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce, and the Mississippi State University Extension Service to communicate and educate and keep more bees alive. Farmers and beekeepers work together so everyone knows where bee hives are located, what crops are being grown and what chemicals are being applied and when. Bee hives are tagged with GPS so crop dusters can spray more effectively and “Bee Aware” flags are flown near hives to alert anyone and everyone.
In Madison County, McKay notes there are “at least twelve that I know of besides myself and there are a lot of beekeepers that have bees that I don’t know. They just keep them in their backyards. There are at least two dozen or more in Madison County.”
When he traveled to Saudi Arabia for his career, McKay kept bees there as well. He worked there for 15 years on infrastructure projects for an Arabian oil company.
“I got local stock to get started and bought queens here in Mississippi and took them back with me over there,” McKay said. “I spread the wealth around. The bees over there were gentle enough but didn’t produce much. They absconded bad and swarmed bad. I took some Mississippi Queen Italian raised over there. I didn’t have but five hives over there.”
Springtime and early summer will be the busy time for beekeepers.
“When they start growing real fast you have to be careful and not let them swarm. You won’t make a honey crop if they swarm. It’s real busy until the end of June. We extract honey in late May and first part of June,” McKay said. “It goes slower and slower through the summer and into the fall. I usually harvest my last honey in October but by then there’s not much honey left.”
Managing the hives includes trying to figure out how much honey the bees will need for themselves over the winter to stay alive.
“Keeping bees is kind of an art. You go with the flow and do what the bees tell you they need,” he said. “I take off 200 to 300 pounds at a time. Some beekeepers just keep putting boxes on their bees and pull all of the honey at one time. But that’s a lot of work.”
Kern sells his product to restaurants and also to local folks.
“I sell to chefs and to individuals. My sister and mom who is retired are in clubs and they call me needing two quarts or a quart or that kind of thing but primarily to restaurants. My label is Lakeside Bee farm. I don’t do comb or flavored honey. I just harvest naturally right out of the comb and put the pure honey in jars or jugs – pints, quarts or gallons.”
For those beginning the trade, Kern advises to start with two hives so the new beekeeper can compare progress to see what’s actually going on.
“Then you can see the problems,” Kern said.
The hobby comes with challenges – the biggest – getting stung.
“They try to teach you to eventually work without gloves – to use your bare hands,” Kern said. “Not show that your macho but you become gentler in handling them. Most of the time you get stung is when the bee feels threatened or you accidentally put your finger on them. Walter McKay works with his bare hands and has been trying to get me to do it. I’ve kept bees for 10 years and I’m still not doing it by hand.”
Madison County beekeepers – keeping honey flowing and crops growing around the Magnolia State and beyond.
