Organization taking orders for Italian honeybees

At least 2 million bees will make their hive in McDowell this spring.

The “swarm” will arrive in April by way of Alvin Searcy, co-founder and member of the local McDowell Honeybee Chapter.

Searcy is taking orders for Italian honeybees through the group, which belongs to the N.C. State Beekeepers Association.

“We’ve placed 200 orders for 3-pound packages and need to get them filled,” he said.

Each package contains anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 worker and drone bees and includes one queen. Searcy drives to Gardner’s Apiaries in Baxley, Ga. to pick them up. This will be his sixth year making the trip.

                “We get our bees from Georgia because spring is very mild there, and they’ll be ready to go in time for the May tulip season here,” he said.

An avid beekeeper himself, Searcy recommends Italian honeybees because they are a gentler breed. They are a subspecies of the Western honeybee and originated from Italy.

“They are definitely calmer, but folks still need to be careful when handling them,” he said. “If you go around their hives slap-happy, they’ll eat you up!”

He adds to his Italian bee collection each year, which began in 1978, and is now up to 50 hives. That is equivalent to 80,000 bees (give or take a few).

Currently, his insects are hibernating or as the beekeeper calls it, “clustering.” This leaves him little to do with his colony at the moment, other than checking on them periodically.

“They’re pacified right now,” he said. “I fed them a 3-gallon sugar and water mixture in the fall, which should get them through to spring.”

                Anyone who would like to place an order through Searcy is asked to call 738-8533. The cost for a 3-pound package is $71.

                Inexperienced beekeepers who are interested in the hobby can take a class through the Honeybee Chapter next month, and still have time to place an order for spring. A free beginners’ course will be offered on Feb. 11, 18 and 25 at McDowell Technical Community College. Attendees can take one class or several to receive the knowledge they need to start up their own hive. Classes run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will cover beekeeping, the lifecycle of the honeybee, how to make honey and more.    

So why raise bees?

“It’s a wonderful hobby,” said Searcy. “I’ve really enjoyed raising and studying them.”

Searcy also runs a small honey production business out of an old farmhouse he converted. He sells jars of the sweet stuff for $10 and $15 and wax at $5 per pound.

“It doesn’t bring a whole lot of money in, but it definitely helps,” he said.

The main reason however, is due to the drastic decrease in the bee population over the past five years. Bees are vital in the production of vegetables, flowers and fruits due to pollination. They account for nearly one-third of the U.S. food supply. Because of colony collapse (attributed to many factors that include overuse of chemicals, various mites, satellite communications, etc.,), the honeybee population has reduced in size at an alarming rate of 30 percent since 2006. Small bee farms can assist in raising that rate along with pollination and food supply. (Crops frequented by honeybees produce more fruits and veggies.) 

Searcy said he hasn’t had trouble with colony collapse, but medicates his bees regularly to ward off any threats and has his own theories about the disorder.

For more information on upcoming bee courses, visit www.mcdowellhoneybees.org.