Wiregrass beekeeper sees role as protector of local hives

Roslyn Horton spent several years perfecting the recipe, combining bee propolis with emu oil.

Propolis, or bee glue collected from tree sap and plants, is a natural antibiotic. Honey bees use propolis to seal cracks in hives. Emu oil absorbs deep into the skin and has been used to fight muscle and joint aches, inflammation and even wrinkles. Combining the two natural products, Horton believed she could develop the perfect mix for insect bite treatments, lotions, soaps and lip balm.

She calls it Beemu. The distinctive logo is an emu with wings and the black-and-yellow colors of a honey bee.

Horton sells her products at local businesses around the Wiregrass — Sportsman’s Outfitters, Health Concepts and Shute Pecan Co. in Dothan and Emu Miracles near Headland. She prepares most of the mixtures on her farm in Newville, contracting the soap out to a soapmaker in Columbus, Ga.

It was six years ago when Horton decided to take up beekeeping.

“I wanted honey; it’s all about the honey,” Horton said. “I’ve always been interested in natural health.”

She read how bee propolis could help relieve skin disorders and discovered its benefit for fire ant stings after her husband came in with bites. Her interest turned into a line of natural products.

With her 11 hives, Horton is just one local beekeeper. At least 60 beekeepers are members of the Wiregrass Beekeepers Association, but there are many more out there who aren’t affiliated with the organization.

“Bees — I consider them important things to have around,” said Bill Miller, a beekeeper who teaches a free beginning beekeeping class that starts next week. “To me, they’re fascinating to watch and I enjoy seeing them as they go through the day. They’re pollination is responsible for up to one-third of the food we eat.”

Beekeepers like Horton and Miller feel they serve another purpose as well. They see themselves as protectors of local honey bees against threats like mites, beetles and even Africanized honey bees. Such threats make it more difficult for new beekeepers to grasp what they should do to keep a healthy hive, Miller said.

Local honey bees are the European variety. The Africanized honey bees were brought into Brazil in the 1950s in an experiment to cross the more productive African variety with the European honey bee. Colonies of the Africanized bees escaped and began to reproduce, making their way into the United States by 1990. Today, Africanized colonies can be found all over the southwestern states as well as Louisiana, Arkansas and south and central Florida.

There are no known colonies in Mississippi or Alabama.

Africanized honey bees are no more venomous than European honey bees. They are, however, much more aggressive when defending their colony, earning them the nickname “killer bees.” They attack longer and will pursue a threat farther from the colony.

Most experts agree that one way to keep Africanized bees from colonizing is to keep a healthy supply of European honey bees. It minimizes available food sources, and if a hive of European honey bees becomes weak, Africanized honey bees can take over the hive.

Horton points to Florida as one reason local beekeepers are important. Urban counties in south and central Florida began outlawing private bee hives several years ago. The vacuum gave Africanized colonies ample room to move in. They first appeared in Florida in 2005.

“The biggest deterrent is bees and beekeepers,” Horton said. “The thing to keep (Africanized bees) at bay is a good strong population of well-managed bees in hives.”

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Want to know more?
Visit www.hortonsfarm.com

Or, attend a free class for beginning beekeepers sponsored by the Wiregrass Beekeepers Association. Four sessions will be held on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at the Houston County Farm Center beginning Feb. 17. Each session could last up to two hours. The course will end with a field session at the Landmark Park hives.

For more information, contact Bill Miller at 794-8362 or wgmiller@aol.com.