Local beekeeper optimistic for summer

SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake resident Bob Homuth has only been beekeeping for a couple of years but he is already looking towards doubling his colonies this upcoming spring. While he loves just watching the bees work, one of the sweetest rewards of his hobby is sharing the honey with friends and family and receiving positive feedback.

Homuth moved to Seeley Lake in 2015 to become a service technician for Energy Partners after living in Missoula since 1986. He was born in North Dakota and moved to Great Falls, Montana in 1976.

He first got into beekeeping around 2019 after seeing others getting involved in the hobby.

"It's just like a lot of ... us, [when] we're kids [we're] growing up playing with bugs and all that," he said. "I'd seen other people do it and gosh it looked pretty easy. There's nothing more amazing than to watch this cloud of bees in the summertime. I'll sit there and just watch them for hours."

Homuth currently has two types of honeybee colonies, Italian and Carniolan. He said he is considering exclusively using Carniolan in the future because from his experience the Italian honeybees tended to be more aggressive and less adaptable for winter.

"I just thought I'd mix it up last year," he said. "I don't think I'll be getting any more Italians because they will chase after you."

He started off with two hives that produced a total of 20 gallons of honey. He lost both later that winter after temperatures reached -30 degrees Fahrenheit. He estimates that there were around 5,000 bees in each hive.

Homuth did not provide an additional heat source his first year. This past winter he began using heat tape underneath bases which turn on after reaching a certain temperature. According to https://sweetmountainfarm.com, bees create heat within their hive by exercising their muscles and expending energy. A bee will die when its body temperature reaches 41 degrees Fahrenheit because it is then unable to operate or flex its muscles to keep warm.

Another issue he faces every season is a hive experiencing too much moisture. To avoid this, he is experimenting with preservation techniques involving insulation and ventilation. The use of heat tape allows Homuth's colonies to maintain their current airflow while avoiding an abundance of moisture.

He also provides them with a patty in the winter to sustain them when the colony is at their hungriest. These patties are a mixture of pollen, sugar and a "brood builder" which gives bees the ability to continue producing eggs.

The difference between a hive and a colony is a hive is where the bees actually live. A colony describes the group of bees living within the hive.

Colonies are structured within a nuc that contains five frames. Two frames are for the honey and three frames are for the brood, where larvae and pupae develop. An established hive without a queen can make its own queen by providing "royal jelly" to a larva. A queen bee can last years while a worker can last as little as three weeks. All of Homuth's colonies have a queen.

Homuth harvests the honey by first using a brush to move the bees away from the honey frames. Some beekeepers will use smoke to remove them but Homuth believes that this method taints the honey.

He then inserts the frames into a spinner which spins the honey out of the frames and onto the sides of the machine. After the honey is ejected it falls through a filter into a bucket and is then deposited into a jar.

Homuth said something commercial cultivators will do is heat up their honey which removes enzymes.

"[Natural enzymes in the honey is] the kind of stuff that we should all be looking for," he said. "Your body pretty much runs on enzymes and the more you get, the better off you are."

Many beekeepers he knows personally are located on farmer's fields with very few in the mountains. Hives located on farms can sometimes be in close proximity to insecticides or pesticides. The exposure to these chemicals can lead to the deaths of individual or multiple bees with the potential of contaminating an entire colony.

He encourages members of the community to resist using pesticides and insecticides on their plants to prevent the spread of unhealthy contaminants while the bees are pollinating. Another option he recommends is using organic alternatives, which can be found online, to prevent pests.

During the warmer months, his colonies will occasionally encounter skunks trying to eat the honey. Every year he tries to prevent them and bears from entering by using a solar powered electric fence.

While he does not pose a direct threat to them, Homuth said he understands that his colonies do not view him as a benevolent force.

"I don't think they like me," he said laughing. "I think you can catch them at a time when they don't ... see you as a threat, but in the fall there are some bees that are more aggressive than others. In mid-summer, I can go out there barefoot, in shorts and a t-shirt and I can pull their frames out and look at them and they don't mind. They're out there doing their thing."

Typically, Homuth wears leather gloves and a beekeeper suit. He has two suits for him and his wife June. One is made of canvas while the other is made up of three layers of nylon. Even when he wears gloves and a suit he can occasionally feel a bee sting him in a diminished capacity. 

According to Homuth, getting stung is a part of the process and people should go in expecting it to happen at least a few times. Some beekeepers have developed allergic reactions after years of handling bees due to repeated exposure to the poison.

Homuth said while first-time beekeepers will make mistakes, there are a multitude of resources available online that showcase how one can successfully begin their journey towards beekeeping. He especially recommends watching YouTube tutorials but he has also collaborated with friends Terry Lucke and Rod Hulett the latter of whom began his beekeeping journey around the same time as Homuth.

According to Homuth, a newcomer can expect their initial investment to be anywhere between $600 and $800 for a single colony. Once the foundation and supplies are set up, this cost becomes exponentially cheaper as one purchases more hives. He estimates that someone can invest less than $1,000 for two or three hives if they are cost efficient.

He said a beekeeper can get around 10 years out of a nuc if the wood is high quality and maintained correctly. It is mostly dependent on the amount of work one wants to put into their hive. Hulett said some beekeepers will use linseed oil as a sealant and a preservative.

Much of the equipment can be purchased online but Western Bee Supplies in Polson, Montana also offers beekeeping supplies locally.

This past winter only four of Homuth's 10 colonies survived into the spring. In preparation for the upcoming summer, he has ordered an additional 10 colonies with the goal of eventually housing a grand total of 20. He will be picking up his initial order in early May in Missoula where he estimates that a line of beekeepers will stretch out for at least a mile in their cars since the bees are coming from Spokane, Washington.

"It's kind of amazing how many beekeepers come out of the woodwork," he said. "A lot of them are up the Bitterroot."

Homuth mostly sells his honey in jars through word of mouth. However he has considered selling them at farmers' markets.

One of his biggest personal accomplishments was having Jason Tate of Tate's Honey Farm, someone who has had 40 years of beekeeping experience, tell him that his honey was the best he had ever had.

"I'm going to grow my hives, ... but I have no doubt it's going to be a fight the whole way," he said. "But then I get a reward like this, a beekeeper with 40 years of experience [said he] had never tasted honey like this. And I've had a lot of people tell me they've never tasted honey like this."

Homuth wants to expand his project further into the overall community and not just on his personal property. Residents with "good southern exposure" who may be interested in hosting a hive or collaborating with him can contact him at raymondhomuth1@gmail.com.