By Stephen Smoot
“Beekeeping is so important for our food supply,” states West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt. He added “Without those bees and pollination, we wouldn’t have an abundant food supply here in the United States.”
Rob Turner, a Wirt County based farmer, shared that “80 percent of all our food . . . 80 percent of it is pollinated by three different species and that’s it, the honeybee, the bumblebee, and the butterfly.”
In the Potomac Highlands the health of bees and continued colony growth serves as an even greater need than fulfilling demand for local honey. Orchards are part of the backbone of the economy of counties such as Hampshire. Without bees doing the hard work, orchard operations would have to figure out how to take over the pollination process.
Renee Wright serves as secretary for the Potomac Highlands Beekeepers. As she explains, part of the organizational mission lies in “getting the word out about how important honeybees are, as far as pollination, production of honey.”
Dawn Fitz, who serves as treasurer explained, “We talk about how we need them in the ecosystem. Without bees, we won’t have many crops. A very large percentage would have to be pollinated.”
Potomac Highlands Beekeepers works to educate both the public and each other. A meeting in Romney last week was attended by people who ranged from those whose families have cultivated bees for generations to a gentleman who just moved into the region and wanted to start for the first time.
Larry Lemons, organizational president, introduced the board. He welcomed a newcomer to the organization who responded with the hope that he could learn from others. “The only knowledge I have is ‘Bees For Dummies.’ I’m looking to have someone who can answer my questions,” he stated.
Marcus Fitz, member of the organization, noted that those considering getting into beekeeping often find the process of starting up “intimidating.” Another attendee stated that it’s usually best for one with interest to work alongside an established beekeeper for two or three years to both learn the ropes and also to figure out if he or she really wants to do it or is capable of doing it.
Much of the meeting’s time gets spent in discussing problems faced by cultivators and different methods used by others to solve them. Mentorship is an established aspect of beekeeper organizations, ensuring that knowledge accumulated over generations gets passed on. That said, the board on this day approved creating time in the monthly meeting to watch and discuss You Tube instructional videos on topics suggested by membership.
“Maybe none of us knows the answer sometimes, but You Tube does,” suggested Dawn Fitz.
Also, bee colonies for at least a decade have faced a number of issues from different sources causing bee death and colony collapse. The hard work of organizations such as the Potomac Highlands Beekeepers helps to maintain populations even with mass die-offs.
Kirby Vining, identified in the meeting agenda as “Zoom Guru” and who is also a long-time beekeeper, shared that hives on his remote property collapsed. He said, “Nobody knows why.” He lives far from establishments such as corn fields or power line structures where pesticides may threaten the bees. He added, “It’s not pollution. There’s nothing up there.”
While some causes of hive collapse have been identified, Vining stated that others occur with no known cause.
Beekeeper organizations have impacts beyond agriculture. Currently, the West Virginia Department of Agriculture is battling in court to protect the right of beekeepers to operate within the limits of a municipality. The City of South Charleston has an ordinance forbidding the practice that Leonhardt and beekeeping organizations have fought for nearly two years.
Beekeepers won in Kanawha County Circuit Court, but lost at the intermediate court level last month with the sticking point lying in the legal definition of “animal.”
Legally accepted terms sometimes have a special definition under law that differs from general use. For instance, courts define “insanity” as the inability temporarily or permanently to understand the difference between right and wrong instead of the broader clinical definition.
In this case, bees were argued to not meet the state’s legal idea of “animal.” As Leonhardt stated, “Bees fly where they will regardless of property or political boundaries. He asserted that this characteristic differentiates them from livestock and that should be noted in the law.
“Animals” under the WVDE’s legal reasoning, should apply to those that can be controlled with pens or fences. The intermediate court found that the definition should, instead, follow the customary understanding of the word. The West Virginia State Supreme Court of Appeals will likely have to decide the case in the future or the state legislature will have to define “animal” in statute.
In the meeting, and not in reference to the case, Vining shared how the government of the District of Columbia has found ways to legalize beekeeping in city limits in such ways as to not infringe on the rights of those living or working nearby. Its school system operates bee hives and honey production on school campuses. Beekeeper organizations have individuals, such as Vining, who have worked with all aspects of the field and can bring in knowledge to help explain to courts and others the nuances of the field and experiences of others.
A major focus of the Potomac Highlands Beekeepers lies in trying to reach out to the youth. One common refrain repeated was that if we don’t get the young people involved, after us, this dies. Some suggestions shared included more of a presence at fairs and festivals, reaching out to West Virginia University Extension Service to talk to 4-H members, doing demonstrations at program such as Energy Express, and engaging the Future Farmers of America.
The organization has important plans, but is small and runs on a shoestring budget. Discussions also revolved around how to raise money to pay for the organization’s liability insurance and yearly compensation to the Romney Fire Department for use of its meeting room
