By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

COVINGTON, Ind. — They work hard, produce a healthy alternative to sugar and are invaluable to the ecosystem and farmers’ crops. But honeybees face many threats – from humans equipped with insect spray and fire, to the elusive condition called colony collapse disorder.

In Covington, hobby gardener and beekeeper Andy Jones has made it his mission to aid the local honeybee population thrive by raising them in his backyard, and helping others remove them from places where they aren’t welcome.

“I was concerned when I heard about a few swarms getting destroyed, simply because people don’t know any better,” he said. “That alarmed me, so I’m trying to get the awareness out.”

According to the American Beekeepers Assoc., the pollination performed by honeybees adds $14 billion to the value of the U.S. crop production every year. Almonds rely entirely on bees for pollination and crops such as blueberries and cherries are heavily dependent on them. They can also help boost the yield of many common garden crops.

But in urban areas bees and humans are sometimes at odds, the former taking up residence in backyards and building hives in trees, under siding and in other odd cavities. Most unwanted encounters take place in May and June, when the bees swarm and the hives get crowded.

“That’s when people see bees, get their can of insect spray and get rid of them,” Jones said. “The swarms aren’t dangerous, they’re just a sign of the species trying to procreate. But it’s also people’s best opportunity to kill them.”
Instead of spraying or burning bees, he said people who have a bee problem should contact a professional beekeeper, who knows how to remove and relocate the bees in a humane way.

Jones pointed out honeybees are peaceful, but often get mixed up with other, more aggressive flying creatures, such as wasps and hornets. “Honeybees don’t bother anybody. You don’t even notice them unless you go directly in front of their flight path,” he said. “People don’t get stung unless they step on them or try to get into their hive. That’s just a defense mechanism.”

He started researching beekeeping about three years ago and built his first hive last year. The original goal was for the bees to pollinate the crops in his organic heirloom garden and produce some honey for personal use. But his hobby came off to a rough start, as the first three-pound batch of bees that he ordered in the spring of last year flew away and didn’t return.

Instead of ordering more bees, he decided to try to get hold of some locally and found out there was a swarm living inside the porch columns of a house in Fairmount, Ill. The homeowners were remodeling the house and wanted the bees removed, so Jones caught them and moved them to his backyard beehive.
“It kind of snowballed from there,” he said, about doing removals. Since then he’s removed bees from a tree, a landscaping rock and from under the siding of a church.

Darrell Holmes, another Covington beekeeper, has referred several removal jobs to Jones, since he doesn’t do them himself anymore. “It’s an inexpensive way to get bees and a good way to learn,” he said.

Holmes, who has kept bees since 2004 and has advised Jones in his new endeavor, said the awareness of honeybees’ importance to the ecosystem is growing. “I think the word is pretty much out that we need bees, so most people do what they can to avoid killing a colony,” he said.

When Holmes was young, it was common to see beehives scattered all over the countryside. Today they’re rarer, but he sees potential for a beekeeping revival, mainly in urban areas.

“I’d like to see towns become more bee-friendly. Towns are a great place to keep bees because there are things blooming all the time,” Holmes said. “We’re already seeing (beekeeping) increase, but we need more people like Andy.”
Jones too believes small-scale apiaries could be making a comeback, and he’s enthusiastic about providing an urban haven for a species in decline.