To Bee or Not to Bee

Mike Johnson
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Ever wonder why areas like Jefferson County have some of the most beautiful gardens, flowers or just plant growth in general? Well, that is due to the wonderful honey bee farms all around the county. Full Moon Honey, owned and ran by Tony Hogg and his wife Becky, is one of the most significant contributors to this fact with having anywhere between 300 to 400 hives in the general area. To start as just a little at-home project helping their daughter get over her fears of bugs, to now operating a business years later, is a great feat.
Full Moon Honey has been in the bee business for 20 years, producing various hand-crafted products. All of these goods are created from the fruits of their hard labor. Tony is the self-proclaimed beekeeper at Full Moon Honey. His job is to assess the hive's health, check for mite infestations, monitor and treat the hive when health problems arise, and maintain detailed records of health, medication administration and honey production. Beekeepers must work long hours during the warmer months, spending most of their time outdoors in variable weather conditions. Work may be required on nights, weekends and holidays. Beekeepers must wear unique protective clothing such as veils, gloves, and suits. They also must properly use bee smokers and other hive tools to access the hive safely.
Becky is the inside person of this delicate operation, working on all the hand-crafted candles and goods. Their candles are all 100% natural beeswax homemade by her from the wax of their bees. The wicks are all cotton. She filters and cleans the beeswax; no colors, fragrances or other chemicals are added. The candles burn slowly and evenly, giving off a delicate honey fragrance all their own. The colors range in various shades of yellow to tan depending on the bee's flower diet. Becky can craft many different candles ranging between shapes and sizes. The candles shapes include pine cones, rustic fern style, carved decorative eggs and bee skeps (A decorative garden item, conical in shape, usually made from braided straw. Once used to keep bees).
Full Moon Honey doesn't just collect honey and the wax; they help the local county farmlands and businesses by pollination. Pollination is essential for the development of fruit, vegetables and seeds. When a bee lands on a flower, the hairs all over the bees' body attract pollen grains through electrostatic forces. Stiff hairs on their legs enable them to groom the pollen into specialized brushes or pockets on their legs or body and then carry it back to their nest. Individual bees tend to focus on one kind of flower at a time, which means it is more likely that pollen from one flower will be transferred to another flower of the same species by a particular bee. Many plants require this kind of pollen distribution, known as cross-pollination, to produce viable seeds. Full Moon Honey rents out hives of bees to other farms and businesses to help with the pollination process. If you are growing blueberries, melons, or any variety of tree fruit, contact them to discuss your pollination needs. They can supply one to 100 hives for your crops.
Every first Saturday of the month, Full Moon Honey holds a class to teach the community about the basics of beekeeping. The class is a 50/50 mix of keepers that have been doing it for years to novelists just learning. The course is to help share new ideas or knowledge of the field to the veterans and the new ones starting from the ground up. Beekeeping is not a simple task; it takes time to understand and manage a colony of bees. They sell equipment to either start your hive or expand the one you already have at the store. For any questions about beekeeping, hives, pollination or the store, feel free to give them a call at (850) 242-1579 or take a look at their website fullmoonhoney.com.