Meet the “Swarmbuster”, Walt Broughton, who makes
over seven tons of natural honey a year.
I spent the day on his farm in Chester County,
and have never been surrounded by so many bees in my life! “I
like to tell people my bees don’t sting, but sometimes
they do”, Walt told me, trying to calm my fear…
it didn’t work.
He's been making honey for over 20 years and still gets excited when spring comes along because he loves spending his days with the bees. He's not sure how or why he began making honey, just remembers a friend giving him two hives and slowly turning it into a small business which continually grows to keep up with the demand. Now he's known as the Swarmbuster, because he captures swarms of wild honey bees and incorporates them into his own hives (helping him produce more honey).
The numerous hives were quite a sight, consisting of 3 or 4 crates stacked upon each other and thousands of bees swarming in the air. The wild honey bees were busy collecting pollen from surrounding fields, creating a never ending stream of loud buzzing bees. They were everywhere!
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with his children, Walt manages the difficult
task of producing over seven tons of honey each
year. |
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He opened many of his hives, using a smoker to confuse the bees, and pulled out rows of honeycomb. I was amazed at how little attention the bees paid to us. They didn't seem to mind us at all, just continued concentrating on their work. Walt warned me that he tries to raise calm bees and that various bees can react differently; so I shouldn't try this anywhere else. Since it was early spring the bees were just getting started, but already there was honey being made and I had a chance to see the queen bee laying eggs.
Making honey takes a lot of work. Walt's days are spent repairing hives, swarm busting (the process of capturing wild honey bees), collecting honey and bee pollen and even chasing away the occasional skunk that goes after the bees. Luckily Walt's family shares his passion for bees. His three sons, the youngest being six, are much less frightened of bees then I am and are eager to give him a helping hand. |
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