Plight of the Honeybees
Jerry Apple of Jasper, Ind., has been looking after honeybees for 50 years. With the increasing occurance of Colony Collapse Disorder, Apple is afraid his black and yellow charges may be losing their fight for survival.
Beekeeper Jerry Apple uses a smoker to calm down the bees in one of his hives in order to check on their honey-making progress in June. The bees become more docile and crawl deeper into the hive when the puffs of pine needle smoke is used.
Fourth-graders from North Daviess School learn about "the amazing honey bee" from Jerry Apple at the Daviess County Soil & Water Conservation District's 4th Grade Farm Fair in August. Apple is a regular presenter at the annual fair and hopes to interest a younger generation in the hobby of beekeeping.
Two honey bees from one of Jerry Apple's 54 colonies rest at the top of a frame in their hive as it is checked in March. Some colonies don't make it through the winter. If the colony perishes, Apple orders a 4-pound box of bees and a queen to re-colonate the hive.
Freshly painted supers in Jerry Apple's backyard are ready to replace honey-filled supers. July was a busy month for Apple and his bees and he collected a many pounds of the sticky stuff.
Cloudy days are not kind to beekeepers since bees seem to get irritated from the lack of the sun's rays. Jerry Apple tries to stay away from the hives during these days, but will don a beekeeping suit when he can't put off working with the ill-tempered insects.
Jerry Apple feels his way into the hollow part of a catalpa tree in search of the queen bee. If he would have been able to capture the queen, the rest of the swarming colony would have followed, and he would have been able to introduce them into one of his many hives. "I can do this today," Apple said, "but tomorrow this will be their home. They'll be the boss then."
Hard working honey bees continued their comb building and honey making onto the tops of the frames of this colony. Comb honey is the most popular (and tasty) honey product Jerry Apple sells.
A slow day at the Jasper Farmers Market ends with Jerry Apple packing up his honey, pollen and honey candy for the trip home. Alice, Jerry's wife, bakes cakes, pies and bread to sell... all loaded with Jerry's homegrown honey.