We also have honey bees here on the farm, which play an important role in the pollination of crops. When the alfalfa and clover begins blooming in the spring they are “abuzz” with activity. They also help our garden to produce a more bountiful crop. Our reward is their sweet honey to enjoy throughout the year. Robin Paul Bowie and James Boyd Bowie used to keep bees at the farm many years ago. Today, Jamie Dudiak, Robin Paul’s daughter, has revived that tradition with some help from her great-uncle, James Boyd Bowie.

 

Jamie has been a hobbyist beekeeper with one colony for several years. This spring she and her husband, Wally, are expanding the apiary. After attending a UT Extension Beginner Beekeeping Course in Franklin County, Tennessee, Jamie and Wally were ready to expand from one colony to several. They were ready to order package of bees to start new colonies when they found their one colony had swarmed.

 

“We had one bee colony, but wanted more so I had ordered new hive boxes and had them ready to order packages of bees. I was out walking in the yard one afternoon and heard buzzing overhead. Looking up, I spotted my first swarm of bees! They were clustered on a tree limb in a bunch. I immediately started scurrying around getting my bee supplies ready and consulted my bee books for the best way to capture them - FREE BEES! Wally arrived home in the middle of my frenzy and I went to get my great-uncle, James Boyd Bowie, who had kept bees. Lucky for us, he knew what he was doing! We set up two stepladders in the back of the truck with a board between them to set the hive directly under the swarm. The bees continued hanging out while all of this was going on under them. With much trepidation, I climbed up the ladder and began brushing them with a soft long-bristled brush into the open hive body. A large cluster of them dropped into the hive and a bunch started buzzing around us excitedly. The key to capturing the swarm is to get the queen to go in and the rest will follow her. After brushing all of the bees off the tree limb that I could, we put the lid on the hive and left it there overnight for the rest to make their way into their new home. We moved them to their new spot next to our first colony at dawn, before they woke up and started flying. Three days later I spotted another swarm in the cedar tree over the mailbox. This one was a bit more complicated to reach. We had to pull up the mailbox and use our skid-steer loader to reach them, but it was a success. Both new colonies seem to have approved of their new homes and are busy at work.”

                                              

                                                                                                                                        Jamie Dudiak