(Above, Chef David Ludwig talks about the rise of beekeeping in Maryland...and gets a little visitor on his shirt when he does!)
Have you heard the buzz?
Beekeeping is steadily gaining popularity in our local DC-Metropolitan area. In 2012, Maryland had 1,200 beekeepers with 12,100 colonies of bees. In Anne Arundel County alone, there are 115 beekeepers with 393 colonies. The question is: why?
Chef David Ludwig, an adjunct professor at Anne Arundel Community College, believes that our renewed emphasis on healthy-eating is responsible for this rising interest.
“Hobbyist interests are up,” said Ludwig. “I think that it’s part of that larger [‘good’] food movement.”
Ludwig is part of AACC’s Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute. A Certified Executive Pastry Chef, he has taught at the college as a full-time Instructional Specialist since 2005. With the help of colleagues like fellow pastry-chef and AACC instructor Virginia Olson, Ludwig began AACC’s beekeeping project on the Arnold campus.
Tucked away out of sight, AACC’s three bee-hives provide a hands-on learning experience for the college’s students.
“Bee Keeping 101”, a day-long class at AACC, uses the hives to demonstrate beekeeping techniques to interested newcomers. According to Ludwig, this class – offered every semester – fills up quickly.
“They are full every single year,” said Ludwig.
Some of Ludwig’s culinary classes also use the hives. Students not only to learn the art of beekeeping, but they use the honey for their course-work as well. That is, they use the honey collected in their food creations. Ludwig was particularly keen on the many flavors honey can possess.
“Natural flavors from the particular pollen [collected by the bees] come through,” said Ludwig. “The honey our bees are producing is really flavorful..[it’s a] nice honey flavor.”
AACC isn’t the only community taking note of this rise in beekeeping. Bob Greenwell, the president of the Bowie-Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association (BUMBA), has also noticed this spike of interest. He attributes it not only to the media coverage of honey-bee population declines, but also to the green movement.
“[The] trend in the last six years is a steady growth of new hobbyists,” said Greenwell. “There’s an awareness of honeybees as a result of coverage in news and magazines…As a result, people want to do something green…there’s a big movement to do something green.”
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which has often been attributed to the collapse of bee populations, is the focal point of the news coverage mentioned by Greenwell. According to Greenwell, our food resources rely very much on pollination by bees. As such, the disorder has sparked interest in beekeeping, as some newcomers are trying to help with the “plight of the honeybee”.
Greenwell believes that CCD has occurred mostly in commercial bee colonies, many of which travel to pollinate monoculture. According to statistics provided by the Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association (AABA), in California alone, about 1.5 million colonies are required for almond pollination. The average hobbyist, Greenwell observed, has typically not seen out-of-the-ordinary spikes in mortality with their hives.
A new report on a possible cause of CCD will be coming out in June from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). This study claims to have found convincing evidence that the disorder is caused by a widely used pesticide. Greenwell isn’t getting too excited about the study.
“I’ve read about six or seven times the reason for CCD,” said Greenwell, regarding the report. “I can point to studies that blow [some] ideas out of the water…there are far more dangerous pesticides out there…I don’t believe [the reason has been] answered yet.”
With so many other opportunities to be “green” in the home…why bees?
“Composting can take more time, space, and effort, as can home-grown vegetable gardening,” said Greenwell. “Not everyone can save the rainforest, but just about anybody with a little yard space can do [beekeeping].”
BUMBA provides an introductory course to beekeeping for new or beginner beekeepers. According to statistics provided by Greenwell, enrollment is up 53 percent since 2010 and since 2005, enrollment has shot up 84 percent.
“We have 64 registered for the class this year,” said Greenwell. “We unfortunately had to turn some away, due to space [restrictions].”
Mitzi Bernard, a BUMBA member and new-beekeeper, signed up for BUMBA’s beekeeping class in March with her husband.
“I was super surprised when in January, I decided to register us for March classes and couldn't find any with any openings,” said Bernard in an email correspondence. “I had no idea that so many people would be interested in these classes.”
Bernard called to various organizations and begged and pleaded to be let into their classes. Luckily, BUMBA president Greenwell helped them get into BUMBA's March and April classes.
“Bob was nice enough to let us in his,” said Bernard.
What sparked Bernard’s interest in beekeeping? Was it the green movement? The “good-food” movement? A call to action for the “plight of the honey bee”? Her answer was a bit more personal.
“My mother grew up on a working farm and making honey was just one of the activities their family did as part of their way of life,” said Bernard. “My mother passed away and in some strange way, it makes me feel closer to her and that side of my family. Makes me feel like I’m continuing a tradition.”
Receiving her bees just last month, Bernard now owns two hives in a rural area on eight acres of land in Friendship, Md.
As her connection to beekeeping is very personal, what about beekeeping does she think spark other people’s interests?
“Some people are interested in making candles or soap from wax too,” said Bernard. “Some people are also interested in raising bees for medicinal purposes of the sting too, saying it reduces the effects of arthritis and other illnesses.”
The beekeeping community in the local area was far more widespread than she expected. Bernard admitted that it was only after receiving the bees that she learned that people she knew were actually beekeepers as well.
“When we first set up our hives and my husband put pictures of them on facebook, a bunch of his friends said they raise bees too,” said Bernard. “We had no idea. One is even a master bee keeper. Go figure.”
Loyd Luna is the president of Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association (AABA), which touts 167 members. He began beekeeping when he moved to Arnold, Md. in 1972. Like Greenwell from BUMBA, Luna has seen quite an increase in his class enrollment too.
“…enrollment has exploded in the past few years,” said Luna in an email correspondence. “This year we graduated 44 new beekeepers from our beginners course – Beekeeping – A Honey of a Hobby.”
Luna attributed the increase in enrollment to the increase in publicity about the “plight of the honey bees”, and its impact on our agriculture. According to AABA, the increased value of crops attributable to honey bees is $14.6 billion.
“Their value is important to the production of food,” said Luna. “One third of all the food you eat is pollinated by honey bees.”
What does he think of CCD?
“There [is] obviously more than one cause, and research needs to continue,” said Luna. “Maryland has lost 50 percent of all its bee colonies for the past three consecutive years.”
What about in urban areas? Has there been a peak of interest in urban beekeeping?
“Tremendously so,” said Greenwell.
People in D.C. have a sparked interest for beekeeping, said Greenwell. Many “rooftop gardens” in cities, including D.C., are springing up beehives. The hives help to pollinate the flowers and plants found on these roofs. For cities who can’t keep livestock, bees are still allowed said Greenwell. This provides an option for animal-husbandry-enthusiasts.
A somewhat subdued issue beekeepers could face is unhappy neighbors. While it is legal to have urban beehives in areas like D.C., space restrictions have come up as potential issue. Greenwell doesn’t believe this has to be an issue.
Regarding the safety of neighbors, Greenwell stated that the honeybee is a very docile creature. Sometimes he works bare-handed within his hive. While certain precautions should be taken to ensure the bees don’t bother your neighbors (high fencing, “high hedge fly-out” or directed brush openings, etc.), there’s no reason not to have them. Just don’t rile them up while wearing black.
“Black, fuzzy clothes look like a bear or something,” chuckled Greenwell.
If wearing white is a requirement for keeping bees, then there’s one house in D.C. that can certainly do the job…and does.
That’s right. The White House has bees. Or, the first lady does anyway.
Michelle Obama has her own line of bees in the garden at the White House. And it’s a trend that’s spreading to other regions of Maryland too.
“We even have a colony of bees at the Governor’s mansion in Annapolis, at Paca house, and at the White House,” said Luna.
The White House hives were cared for by beekeeper Charlie Brandt, who just retired last week after 46 years as a carpenter and as the first lady’s beekeeper. Brandt will be speaking at BUMBA’s meeting in October of this year.
Whether it’s being green, eating good food, or connecting with your past, Maryland residents from all walks of life are dabbling in the art of beekeeping. No matter what their reasons, the novelty and complexity of beekeeping appears to the binding force that attracts Maryland beekeepers.
“It’s super interesting,” said Bernard. “Bees are incredible little creatures…their whole society…is just incredible…Just amazing how it all works.”
Local Beekeeping Organizations:
Bowie-Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association (BUMBA)
Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association (AABA)
Maryland State Beekeepers Association, Inc. (MSBA)
Additional/Recommended Reading:
Baltimore Sun Article - Beekeepers are Increasing Nationally: "Growing interest in home beekeeping sets off Howard zoning dispute"
(David Ludwig and Virginia Olson busy as bees!)
(Me with the AACC beehives!)
