How cool temps in East Tennessee affect delicate balance of honey production

Doug Slocum, of Doug’s Other Honey, had his first beekeeping season in 2010. “One of my employees invited me to the Knoxville Beekeepers association where she won a beehive,” said Slocum, who owned Avanti Savoia Imports in Halls at the time. “I got so interested in the process and the people working with the bees.”

He ordered a beekeeping package from Georgia, containing three pounds of bees and a queen, until he was established enough to raise his own bees. “I always like to keep busy – I got wrapped up in it and got carried away,” he said.

After years of increasing the number of his hives, Slocum has lost 55 percent since last May. “Today I have 114 hives,” said Slocum. “The first season I had seven hives, the second season I had 60 and the third season over 100. This last season I topped out at 227.

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“We are having a terrible spring for bees; it is way late and the bees are not building up to the point where the population soars from 10-50,000,” said Slocum. “That’s when you can produce a lot of honey quickly. They are losing the nectar flow from maple trees and the early bloomers. Our honey production will be off this year.”

The honey production season in Tennessee tends to start the first week of April.  “I thought this week was going to explode,” said Slocum. “It probably will in the next two weeks. We would have lost three weeks of honey production.”

Slocum keeps his beehives in various apiaries (where beehives are kept) – three in Halls, including the nucleus of his honey operation, one in Corryton, one in Union County and one in Claiborne County.

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Doug’s Other Honey is sold at the Farmers Market on Market Square on Wednesdays, at Riggs Drugs on Emory Road, Pratt's Country Store, Rural King and Beaver Creek Nursery. Slocum used to ship his honey all over the country and overseas. “It was too much hassle and too expensive,” he said.

In some areas of the country, a dominant plant can lead to a varietal honey such as tupelo, orange blossom or sourwood honey. “Where we are in East Tennessee we don’t have a plant variety that completely dominates, so they feed on virtually everything that blossoms,” said Slocum. “My first harvest is light and sweet with a floral taste. Then a second, smaller harvest in September tends to be darker, almost red, not as sweet, but a stronger flavor.”

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Beekeeping is 80 percent science and 20 percent black magic, according to Slocum. Weather – if the wind is blowing or if it is sunny – can affect the bees’ temperament, he said.

While the bee population appears to be declining, if homeowners discover a hive, Slocum recommends calling a company that specializes in extracting it rather than a local beekeeper. Someone with construction knowledge.

“On the other hand, if you have a swarm in a bush or tree in your yard, call your local beekeeper,” said Slocum. “He will want to come out and collect it – it takes 10 minutes, it’s not dangerous and saves the bees.”

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