This engineer began beekeeping by accident. Now he’s one of biggest beekeepers in Indiana

Joe Bastin studied to be a civil engineer. He graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, one of the top schools in the country for graduates entering the field. 

After graduating, he put that degree to use, working at an industrial construction company. But that’s not what he does anymore. 

“I’ve jumped ship about as far as one can jump,” said Bastin, 42.

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But maybe not quite as far as he thinks. He still is planning, designing and building infrastructure and communities every day — just not for people. Now, Bastin does that for bees. 

What started as an accident turned into a hobby and now is a full-time commercial operation that’s one of the largest in the state. In other words, Bastin caught the beekeeping bug, and caught it bad. 

He doesn’t regret it for one second, he said, and now he can’t imagine doing anything else. 

Bastin helps run Bastin Honey Bee Farm with his father, Ron, in Knightstown, about 45 miles east of Indianapolis. The business began in 2008 and they now have around 1,000 hives across various pieces of property in the area. 

During the summer, which is peak bee season, each hive can have as many as 75,000 bees, Bastin said. That means they are caring for close to 75 million bees each year. 

Humble beginnings

It wasn’t always that way, however. The Bastins had much more humble beginnings. In fact, it was Ron Bastin who first took the leap into beekeeping. 

Ron and his wife had recently moved to the Knightstown area from Westfield, and had a little bit of land, so they decided to start growing blackberries and grapes — “We thought we would try to make a little wine,” said Joe Bastin, who lived not too far away. Then a friend suggested they have some bees to go with the blackberries. 

That was 2004, and they got their first few hives. 

“We were the hobbyists,” Joe Bastin said. 

And like many hobbyists, they struggled at times to keep the hives going. Still, they were fascinated by the bees and a few hives turned into a few more. Before long, they had a couple dozen. 

That’s when Joe Bastin started to get more involved, helping out on the weekends to take care of the bees. As they started to get bigger, the Bastins would get calls from nearby hobbyists or other members of the bee clubs they belonged to asking if they had extra equipment they could sell. 

That was a bit of an accident, too, Joe Bastin said. What began as a shelf or two in their out building with equipment for others to buy has now turned into the largest beekeeping supply retail store in the state.

They sell everything from the equipment for wooden hives, protective gear, tools for managing the bees, equipment for extracting and bottling honey and more. 

“We have everything from beginning to end. We take people from ‘I’ve been thinking about this for years’ to actually getting them up and going,” Joe Bastin said. “That’s one of the parts we most enjoy.” 

Typical beekeeping day 

One of Joe Bastin’s most favorite things that they sell at the store is bees. They sell small nucleus colonies they split off from their own hives to help get hobbyists started. More than just a colony, every hive needs a queen. They sell those, too. 

The process for producing those is a little bit more complicated, but Joe Bastin said it’s worth it when he’s able to see the surprised looks on people’s faces when he pulls a box of queens out and onto the counter. They will move through as many as 100 queens every week during the springtime, he said. 

Joe Bastin and his father don’t really have a typical day in beekeeping — their daily duties differ depending on the time of year. 

In the early spring, they are building up their hives again after winter, splitting hives and raising queens. Then they’ll move the hives out into their “yards” that are scattered on farms and other land across the area — “you can’t have 1,000 hives in just one spot,” Joe Bastin said. 

For the summer, Joe and Ron Bastin try to get back to all their various yards as often as they can — about once every two weeks — to check on how they’re doing and make sure they are healthy. That might mean replacing a queen or helping to rid of some other pests that are infiltrating the hive. 

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Once August hits, they start collecting the honey. It’s arguably their busiest time of year, Joe Bastin said, but it’s also the time he looks forward to the most. Not because he likes the taste of honey, but he enjoys seeing all the fruits of their — and the bees’ — labor. 

“We were almost three-quarters of the way through the harvest season last year before I tasted ours,” Joe Bastin said. He enjoys seeing how the flavor differs depending on what pollination source the bees were going to, “but honey in general just isn’t that high on my list.” 

That’s OK, more for everyone else. 

After the honey harvest, Joe Bastin and his father ready the bees for the winter. The cold season can be really hard on bees, which is why they don’t stay in Indiana. In previous years, the Bastins’ bees have gone out to California to help pollinate almonds, along with roughly 2 million other bees from across the country. 

This year, Joe Bastin is trying something new. Instead, they are going to a farm the Bastins are setting up in Mississippi. The roughly 1,000 hives will be moved on a flatbed truck this fall and then will come back to Indiana in the spring. 

Joe Bastin loves continuing to try new things and to be a better beekeeper. 

“Beekeeping is one of those things that’s truly interesting and always changing and there is always more to learn,” Joe Bastin said. “It’s an odd and evolving thing, the more hives you get then the more opportunities it opens up.” 

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Opportunities abound at the Bastin Family Honey Farm. They have been able to partner with a variety of organizations to help raise awareness about bees and their importance. 

Their latest project is working with a nearby solar farm to produce what they’re calling solar-grown honey. That means having native pollinator flowers amongst the solar panels and then have several hives of bees at the solar farm. 

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The Bastins also have given presentations at schools with students of all different ages. They have met with farmers and other conservationists in the area about bees and the use of different chemicals. They have worked with groups of veterans to come out and work with the bees. 

Joe Bastin said many of the veterans find comfort in working with the bees. He feels the same. While many might find the buzz to be unnerving, Joe Bastin said he finds peace in their humming. 

Still, Joe Bastin said he’s had his fair number of stings — when working with millions of bees on a daily basis, he added, it’s bound to happen. 

The bees aren’t there to sting someone, Ron Bastin said. Stings usually happen only when a bee is in a pant leg or a shirt and the material rubs against them or they get sat on, he said. Joe and Ron Bastin wear suits when working with the bees, but they can still sneak under clothes from time to time.

“It would be hard to put a number on the number of stings,” Joe Bastin said. “But every once in a while, a good sting in the knee or hand will ease the arthritis for a while.”

The stings, the busy (buzzy?) days, it’s all worth it, Joe Bastin said. Not only because he absolutely loves what he does and is fascinated by bees, but he’s also drawn to the mission.  

Joe Bastin said he has gained an appreciation over the years for the role of bees in nature and beyond. They pollinate fruits and vegetables. They help increase yields across the vast acres of Indiana’s soybeans. They pollinate clover that makes up pastures for livestock. 

“If bees disappear, one out of every three bites of food is gone just in the immediacy. In a decade, it’s basically every bite,” Joe Bastin said. “Honeybees are truly fascinating creatures, I could talk about them all day long.”

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.