Success is sweet for beekeeper

Bees have always stoked Shannon Ivy's interest.

Spurred by his family's long history of beekeeping, Ivy, as a young boy, gathered as much information as he could from his grandfather, the encyclopedia and the library.

"I had an interest in bees at a young age and was always talking to my grandpa about them. He would tell me stories of his beekeeping days and of the different situations and techniques," Ivy said.

"He told me about how they would find wild bee trees by watching bees coming to water in the summer time, follow them and try to locate their hive," Ivy said.

Today, Ivy and his family have an active bee and honey business. He currently sells his honey at the Pea Ridge Farmer's Market on Thursdays and Sundays.

A lifelong resident of Pea Ridge, Ivy's maternal relatives were homesteaders who came to this area. Ivy was first inspired about keeping bees by his grandpa, Wendall Jones, who kept bees for many years.

His great-grandpa, Bill Ivy, also was a beekeeper at one point, keeping bees near Pumpkin Hollow in Bentonville.

With that kind of family history, little Ivy, as a young boy, found the whole thing extremely fascinating.

So when his dad gave him $100 for Christmas one year, the fourth-grader decided to buy bees he saw advertised in the Big Nickle.

His mom and stepdad bought another hive, too.

"And that's when it started for me," Ivy said. " I used to sit in a lawn chair about six feet out in front, but off to the side, of the hives, and watch them work. I would sit out there for hours."

With his grandpa's help, they would rob some honey and wound up with five hives total. They kept adding more hives and the hobby thrived.

As Ivy grew older, other things began to peak his interest. Some of the hives were sold, and a growing mite problem in the area basically wiped out the rest.

After finishing school, Ivy became busy with life. He got married and had children. Though he didn't have any bees, he kept researching and studying about them all the time.

In 2009, he decided to take the leap again.

He had a hummingbird feeder that honey bees kept drinking dry.

"I knew there was a feral colony close by. I finally found it no more than 75 yards from my house in the base of an oak tree," Ivy said. "I hadn't seen very few bees in years. We would never see bees like we used to because the varroa mites and tracheal mites had devastated the bees in this country. Very few colonies could survive in the wild," he said.

"So I was really surprised to find this one on my property."

By the next spring, his brood began growing. By the end of the next year, he had 10 hives.

The next winter, he didn't lose a single colony.

"I found that feral-caught bees would survive better and were more hardy than bees that could be bought. So I also learned to trap swarms with what is called a bait hive or swarm trap. I became very successful after a few years of developing a good technique for it. All of our bees are mostly from feral-caught swarms," he said.

Ivy began raising queens from the best of his survivor stock. He began selecting the best survivor stock he had and they've continued to improve over time.

"I've been able to successfully keep bees without treating for mites for several years, which a lot of the experts say is impossible. But with the help of my kids and my wife, we have been able to work up to around 85 hives at this time."

Ivy also has small cell bees, which should probably be labeled "natural," instead of small cell, he said. "Long ago a beekeeper got the idea of making the cells on the sheets of foundation for bees to draw comb on bigger," he said. When the cells are bigger, the bee hatches bigger in size.

"The thought was, 'Bigger bees, more honey.'"

Now, 100 years later, studies show that artificially bigger bees may not be best.

"The cell size on my brood combs are 4.9 mm, which are considered 'natural.' If bees from someone's hive escapes into the wild after a couple of generations, they will revert back to their natural size and build smaller cells on their comb," he said.

Ivy utilizes the small cell comb and treats as little as possible, avoiding commercial crops because of pesticides and herbicides.

He explains it's difficult to label honey "organic," because one doesn't know exactly to where the bees travel. Ivy, however, feels very strongly that his honey is a very viable product.

"Our honey is about as organic as can be found in our area. Our honey is all local that comes from the Pea Ridge area," he said.

Beekeeping is a family affair and Ivy relies on his family to help him with the bees. "If it weren't for them, I couldn't do it myself," he said.

The beekeeper also mentors others, hosts bee classes in Pea Ridge and launched a Facebook page and group, "NWA Beekeeping Alliance." More than 1,800 people are signed on as members. Interest continues to grow.

A bee class will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Pea Ridge Community Room at the fire station. Classes are held every last Tuesday of the month.

Ivy's honey is available by visiting the Pea Ridge Farmer's Market on Thursday or Sunday, at the Cannonball Cafe in Pea Ridge or by calling 479-586-6614.