Minding Their Beeswax

By Adrienne Fawcett

Bob Meyers and David Ritter won't get rich as beekeepers, and they'll never become famous from their hobby. They spend more money on their beehives than they earn selling amber jars of Lake Bluff Honey at Bluffingtons. But this doesn't bother the retirees, who believe their role as beekeepers is far more important than fame or fortune: "We consider these bees to be our gift to the world," said David while examining a hive for dysentery recently.

Meyers & Ritter Apiaries maintains a dozen honeybee hives at Crabtree Farm and Mariani Landscaping in Lake Bluff and a farm in Libertyville. The relationship between landlord and tenant is as symbiotic as that of honeybee to flower: The apiary pays no rent because the land owners need bees to pollinate their plantings as much as the beekeepers need a place to shelter their hives.

The four hives at Crabtree Farm are nestled between a grove of maple trees and evergreens and an open, native prairie that landscape architect Cliff Miller planted several years ago near a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It's a pastoral scene reminiscent of the Old World and the beekeepers are aware of their good fortune every time they travel the curvy drive past wide meadows where horses and sheep graze quietly. From spring through fall, the bees pollinate dozens of native species such as cup plant, yellow ironweed, echinacea and goldenrod, the latter being unfairly blamed for the hay fever symptoms caused by ragweed, said David. The bees thrive there, but they do even better over at Mariani's commercial site between the noisy train tracks and the hurlyburl of Route 176. Bob and David are not sure why that is. They know only that nature never ceases surprising.

Honeybees At Risk

For reasons scientists can't fully explain, honeybees are dying. A phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder has caused billions of bees to disappear in North America in recent years, and the theories are as plentiful as summertime clover: mite infestations, exposure to pesticides, cell phone radiation, malnutrition, genetically modified crops, viruses, bacterial infections. What makes this disorder both unique and baffling is that most of the adult bees vanish, leaving no carcasses for scientists to study.

David and Bob have their theories. “We think overall stress is the reason for CCD," said Bob. "The stress comes from mites, it comes from pesticides, and it has to do with the fact there is a lot more cement, concrete and asphalt so it's harder for bees to find good sources of pollen and nectar," he said. "And when bees are stressed, they don't do well, particularly in hibernation."

Winter is always a problem for honeybees in this wind-swept corner of Illinois, and 2007 was especially deadly. Meyers & Ritter Apiary entered the cold season with its usual dozen hives, which soon dwindled to eight. By spring, all of their colonies had died. "We've always had trouble getting them through the winter, but we'd never lost them all," said Bob. Part of the problem is the weather. "All of a sudden we get warm periods in winter and the bees come out of hibernation. But then we are socked back into cold and snow," he said. "This is not a good, healthy climate for bees. If they are weakened by mites or the weather, they just give up."

While CCD is weakening the bees, it's not weakening the resolve of these beekeepers. Meyers & Ritter started anew last spring, purchasing 12 bee packages, each with 2,500 Italian honeybees, from a supplier in Wisconsin. By mid-summer a successful hive is home to some 50,000 honeybees, and last year the apiary collectively produced more than 500 pounds of pure Lake Bluff honey. Locally produced honey is, incidentally, especially good for people with allergies because it helps build up the immune system to local plants.

The beekeepers have been worried about this winter's bitter cold, especially since some of their hives showed signs of dysentery back in December. But Bob and David are doing what they can to help their “babies” along. For the first time ever, they're feeding the bees concoctions of sugar-water, which they pour from a watering can into a pan at the tops of the hives. So far, so good: Five of the hives made it through winter. "That's really good news," said Bob. "If we can keep them alive until the dandelions bloom, we'll be in good shape." He and David also ordered 12 new bee packages, which they'll put in place in early May.

How did they become beekeepers?

Bob Meyers started keeping bees about 15 years ago, after his youngest child left for college. "I was moping around the house, so my wife, Jean, suggested that I get a life," he said. At this point, many empty-nesters take up golf or buy a boat. Bob dreamed of bees, specifically of a vivid childhood memory. "When I was a little kid, my grandfather showed me how bees would go to birdbaths for water, but sometimes they would slip in. And if they slip in, they die because bees don't swim well. A bee was struggling in the water, and my grandfather put his hand down. The bee walked up his finger, fluttered its wings a few times and flew away."

It took a long time for Bob to work up the courage to play lifeguard to bees at his grandfather's birdbath in LaGrange. But when he did, it turned out he had inherited the skills of a bee whisperer, which would be kept dormant during decades of child-rearing and working as a portfolio manager. He put his first beehive in his backyard on Prospect Avenue (he has since moved to Scranton, just three doors down from David.) He added another hive the following year and asked Fred Day, who was Lake Bluff police chief at the time, to help him out. Chief Day had contacts at Mariani, and the apiary grew from there. After Fred retired, Bob recruited David Ritter.

David is a retired high school art instructor and avid gardener whose lakefront home at Scranton and Sunrise is a haven for native perennials, vegetables, herbs, insects and birds of all kinds. Like Bob, he greets the bees with a hearty “Hello, Babies!” every time he peaks inside a hive. He and his wife, Patsy, enjoy planning and planting their garden each year. Both artists, they say the garden is another medium they practice working in to create beauty for themselves and others to enjoy. Honeybees especially love the garden’s saint john’s wort, foxglove, bee balm, coral bells and larkspur. They also love David, who happens to be allergic to bees.

But outside of gardens such as these, there are not many honeybees flying around these days. Said Bob: "When I was a kid you saw bees all over the place. They were down there in the clover and you had to be careful walking in your bare feet in the grass. Not anymore. Today we don't have many bees--the majority we see in this area are not wild bees but domesticated bees. If you see a bee around your house, there's a reasonably good chance it's from a beekeeper."

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Here are some links for additional information on Colony Collapse Disorder:

• "Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril," New York Times

• "60 MInutes" program on "Why Are Honeybees Disappearing: Part 1 and Part 2
• "Reducing Potential Bee Exposure To Pesticides" Illinois Department of Agriculture

Comments

[Julie Hill]

What a wonderful story. Thanks for shining a light on this.

[Ted Cole]

Lake Bluff is a wonderful place!

[Ginny]

Where can their honey be purchased?

[Therese]

I've never heard of this colony collapse disorder. How bizarre! Great story.

[MB]

I've seen their honey at Bluffington's. I can't wait to try it!

[Louisa Shepard]

Excellent story and photos. The plight of the bees and the passion of their keepers is fascinating. Thank you for introducing us to these creative people doing so much good for the environment and the community. The story of grandfather teaching grandson by rescuing the bee from the birdbath was especially powerful, how such a small decision can make such a big impact. Wonderful.

[MrBrownThumb]

What a cool post. Their beekeeping efforts sure beats moving to Florida.