Jarrell enjoys sweet pastime

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Above, Billy Jarrell displays some of the honey his bees have produced since he started a new hobby about a year ago. Right, the bees get stirred up as Jarrell checks on one of nine hives while wearing protective gear. (Amy Satterwhite photos)

The simplest way of describing what’s going on behind Billy and Linda Jarrell’s home on Smithville Highway is that thousands of bees live there.

Billy Jarrell, disabled after a stroke in 1995, picked up the hobby after inquiring about a friend’s honey bees. He said he initially wanted them for pollination for blooms and when a friend with a similar interest called him up one day last May, he pounced on the opportunity.

It’s not something for those who panic at the sight of a swarm of bees, nor is it something for the allergic. Even though they are fairly tame when left undisturbed, when a hive is prodded, it can spell trouble, he said.

Jarrell estimates he has been stung about 20 times but has learned to wear gear that mostly protects him from those stings when he interacts with the bees at their hives.

To collect the bees, they must be first shaken from their natural hives in trees and coaxed into a box-like structure that will serve as a hive and their new home, where they are expected to construct honey combs.

After col-lection, Jarrell found feeding them a sugary combination encouraged honey production. Although it was difficult for him to say exactly how long it takes to make a quart of honey, eventually, one hive can make around 15 quarts of pure honey if left alone long enough.

He calls it “robbing” the bees when their honey is extracted from the combs, which are built inside of frames that are placed inside the box. Additions called “supers” are placed on top of the initial box.

“The more bees you have, the more supers you have to put on and the more honey you get,” he said.

“I’ve been told that one bee in its lifetime – a bee will live about six weeks – will produce about one-twelfth of a teaspoon. You’ve got to have a lot of bees to produce,” he added.

When Jarrell pulls out a few jars of the good stuff, it appears he has that many bees, and more. He confirmed he has about one million bees in one hive alone out of his nine existing hives. He acquired more hives in August when another friend spotted a swarm.

It’s clear he has developed an understanding of bees, pollination and honey, from everything from the queen bee down to the males to the worker bees.

“They’re the ones who bring the honey and then you have bees that make the honey comb,” he said of the worker bees, adding that despite preconceptions, he has found a fairly easy and safe hobby. Jarrell is presently working on the logistics of splitting new swarms from those in existence after the queen lays new eggs in the man-made hive.

He admits he’s come a long way and is still learning, but he is encouraged by family members, who bought him a honey extractor for Christmas last year.

“I didn’t know anything about bees. I’ve learned quite a bit and have got a lot to learn still,” he said.

Jarrell said he hasn’t sold an ounce of honey, much of which has been given away. He’s got a sweet tooth, too, which helps when the honey is flowing.

“I love honey,” he added, smiling. “I’ve eaten about a quart and a half of it already.”