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.