Several hives of bees have been causing a buzz at Buckley Vineyards.
“The beekeeping club was looking for a place to have the bees where they’d be more open to the public,” Ashley Schaaf, the vineyard manager, said.
The bees are part of a collaborative effort between Buckley Vineyards and the Beekeepers of Gilmer County.
“We lost our apiary, and we had no place to put our bees,” Beekeepers of Gilmer County Vice President William Emery said.
After Kevin Buckley, the vineyard’s owner, helped him during a medical emergency, Emery asked if the vineyard wanted some hives.
Buckley said yes.
Both sides bring a lot to the table, Schaaf said.
“It’s a really fun collaboration,” she said.
A few hives on the vineyard’s property gives them better crops, Schaaf said.
Located on the back of the property and surrounded by an electric fence, the hives sit together in white wooden boxes. Some are decorated with flowers.
The vines of Buckley Vineyards are a self-pollinating variety, but bees make pollination even better and increase the quality of grape clusters, she said.
Buckley Vineyards is working to avoid pesticide use, and keeping bees on the property encourages them to keep high standards.
“We can’t welcome the beekeeping club here and then kill their bees [with pesticides],” Schaaf said.
Not using pesticides has many trickle-down effects, she said.
Even in a short while, soil quality has improved.
“There were areas in the vineyard you couldn’t even dig a hole,” Schaaf said. “Now, the shovel slides right in.
In farming, small improvements like adding bees often takes time to have an effect.
“I’m very excited for what a year will look like,” she said.
From the beekeeping side, the deal is arguably sweeter.
They collect the honey and maintain the hives.
The hives can make between 50 and 60 gallons of honey in a season.
The more hives the beekeepers can provide, the more there will be in the future, Emery said.
If a beehive’s population grows enough, it splits. Half the bees leave with the queen, and the rest stay to create a new queen.
“The queen does not run the hive. The workers run it,” Emery said.
If queens underperform in laying eggs, the workers starve them to death, he added.
Like farming, beekeeping is an art with many interpretations, Emery said.
“Talk to another beekeeper and you’ll get another opinion,” Emery said.
But they can all agree that a fresh source of pollen for their bees is a big help.
Buckley Vineyards has planted wildflowers over their property to keep the bees provided with the pollen and nectar they need.
Over time, the bees will reach maximum productivity as they build up their hives.
Bees are especially good pollinators, because they stick to one plant while out on a flight, he said. This trait makes them excellent pollinators.
Beekeeping is a great hobby, and Beekeepers of Gilmer County is glad to share it with the community in many ways, Emery said.
Their programs include raffling off hives to new beekeepers and donating hives to elementary schools.
Although beekeeping is expensive, it’s highly rewarding, Emery said.
“How do you keep your kids off drugs?” he asked. “Get them into beekeeping. Then they can’t afford the drugs.”