South-Carolina
BOMMER’S BEES: The South Carolina State Fair has come and gone
The South Carolina State Fair has come and gone. The hive products have been judged and there are no numbers as to when the queen was located. The normally healthy people feasted on all sorts of fried foods. Now we just need to sit back and wait for next year.
A common question at this time of the year is how one gets started in beekeeping. This time of the year, clubs are starting to have signup sheets for those interested in becoming a beekeeper. To locate your local club, go to the South Carolina Beekeepers Association website and choose a club close to you, then make contact with them where they will explain the details. Refrain from purchasing equipment until you are enrolled in the class as there are a lot of gadgets that look good but aren’t needed to begin. There are local vendors in the Williston area who would be willing to assist you with your real needs.
Recently some information has appeared on Facebook with people removing Africanized bees. Africanized bees were named by the press as killer bees. Killer bees is a comedy act. The original entry of these bees was from Brazil accidentally. They migrated into the United States located in the western states. Two other points of entry in later years were from the east coast in Florida. They have not migrated out of Florida and have only gone part way down into the Everglades. Florida has instituted a number of rules to contain them, so the answer is that they are not located in South Carolina. The bees that we manage generally are very docile. We educate to have people have their smokers and eye protection ready when working with the bees. If we get a hive which is particularly aggressive, we generally requeen the hive and that generally eliminates the problem.
Every year we cover yellow jackets at this time of the year. They are not honeybees, but are instead protein eaters and have been enjoying spiders and aphids and now the food supply is declining and their numbers are up, and when they get hungry they become aggressive. Your sandwich, barbecue and soda containers invite them to come to your deck. If a honeybee stings you one time, it will sting you one time and leave the stinger behind; whereas the yellow jacket and other wasps have a smooth stinger and drag it along and sting you multiple times. From my own personal experience, honeybee stings annoy me; whereas yellow jackets hurt.
What is going on at Allendale Correctional with their bees? With some creative and split management, we have gone from six to twelve hives. With honey production off of the cotton was very productive, but doe to Hurricane Helene we were unable to make the management practices, but at this time the bees have been treated for mites and are tucked in for winter.
New details have emerged in an officer-involved shooting that left one dead and a deputy injured in Anderson County on Monday.
A deputy with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) initiated a traffic stop outside of Townville, SC, on I-85 Northbound near Mile Marker 11 for a traffic violation, according to a release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
The deputy requested back-up and spoke to 32-year-old Austin Derrell Robertson, of Pennsylvania, in his patrol vehicle. Once the other deputy arrived, Robertson got out of the vehicle and “a physical altercation involving him and the two deputies” occured, according to SLED.
SC deputy critically injured after shooting during traffic stop, suspect killed
While deputies attempted to tase Robertson, officials said he grabbed a firearm from his vehicle and shot one of the deputies.
Both deputies then shot back at Roberston, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
SLED said the deputy was airlifted to the hospital and remains there for treatment at this time.
The incident remains under investigation by SLED, as requested by the ACSO.
NOTE: The above video is a livestream of WIS featuring current newscasts, Soda City Living and Gray Media’s Local News Live.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. André Bauer has been nominated for a position in foreign diplomacy.
The White House on Tuesday listed Bauer as a nominee to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Belize, a Central American country bordering Guatemala.
It’s unclear when a confirmation hearing will take place. WIS has reached out to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee for more information.
Bauer was South Carolina’s lieutenant governor from 2003-2011, serving under then-Gov. Mark Sanford. Before that, he served terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate.
More recently, Bauer entered the race for U.S. Senate in July 2025, looking to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary. He ended his campaign the following month.
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Six Republican candidates vying to become South Carolina’s next governor met in downtown Charleston for a wide-ranging debate that put abortion, infrastructure and the future of data centers at the center of the race.
The forum was held at the Sottile Theatre, where Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy and Attorney General Alan Wilson took the stage.
Questions included whether they would support a state hate crime law, how they would address concerns about growth and infrastructure, how to navigate collaboration, abortion and the future of data centers in the state.
One issue that drew near-unanimous opposition was state Senate Bill 1095, a proposed total abortion ban that passed out of committee earlier in the day. All of the candidates opposed the bill, but they differed on what they would do if it reached the governor’s desk.
READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum
Norman said he would sign it.
“You know, this is an emotional issue, but I will tell you if this bill came to my desk as governor. If it passed the House and the Senate, I would sign it,” Norman said.
All of the other candidates on stage said they would veto the bill if it came across their desk as governor, with Reddy arguing the question should be decided by voters.
“The Supreme Court did not say the loudest voice in the ruling class prevails. It said it’s up to the people in the state, so let’s put it to a referendum,” Reddy said.
On infrastructure, candidates discussed reforming the South Carolina Department of Transportation and allowing private-sector involvement to help pay for improvements.
Wilson outlined ideas that included leasing interstate easements and expanding private express lanes.
“We privatized that grass between the interstates. We turn it into private express lanes that can be told we leased the easements on the sides of interstates to telecommunication companies and energy companies, and charge them for natural gas line and fiber optic fiber optic cables,” Wilson said.
Evette also pointed to public-private partnerships and the possibility of fast-pass lanes.
READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum
“We want to make sure that we’re innovative public private partnerships coming in and creating fast pass lanes to allow people that are in a hurry to be able to utilize that,” Evette said.
The final question focused on data centers, with candidates agreeing corporations should “pay their way.”
“They should pay for their water. They should pay for their infrastructure, any roads around it, and we should look at what Governor Ron DeSantis has done in Florida with the large data centers that are coming to Florida. That should be the model in South Carolina and everywhere,” Mace said.
Kimbrell said the state should set limits to protect natural resources and guard against higher power costs for residents.
“Put parameters around data centers to ensure that the water consumption does not impact places like the ACE Basin,” Kimbrell said. “Ensuring that the Public Service Commission makes absolutely sure nobody’s power rate goes up and we try to get behind the meter energy grids in place so they can be self-sufficient.”
Two more debates are planned ahead of the primaries on June 9.
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