The buzz behind Ward Hick’s bees
COLUMN: Collect memories, not things
October 29, 2020
COLUMN: The strange occurrences of apartment 210
October 29, 2020
A stained, white jumpsuit replaced a red tie and sports coat while scuffed brown boots replaced shiny black dress shoes. He placed a hat and veil over his head before preparing to meet the bees with a smoker — his rectangular glasses still visible under the black netting.
From 8 to 11:30 a.m., Ward Hicks teaches public relations to BYU-Idaho’s communication students. At home, he tends to hives in his backyard where 20,000 bees work and live.
Beekeeping runs in Hick’s blood. His ancestors hauled covered wagons filled with honey bees into southeast Utah as part of a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he was 14, Mary Y. Smith, Hick’s grandmother, taught him the family trade.
“She was a bee keepress,” Hicks said. “We went to a farm catalog — Sears I think it was. We ordered the parts to build a hive. We ordered the bees and they came in a package … about 12,000 bees in a cage.”
The ancestral passion for beekeeping followed Hicks into his own adult life, where he maintains multiple bee colonies on a daily basis.
Over tall green grass, bees swirled around layers of wooden boxes Hicks made himself. He weaved through the stacks with a bee smoker in hand and, after a few minutes, more and more bees settled back into their hives.
Without gloves, Hicks removed the lid from a box, revealing seven or more wooden frames of crawling bees. At a slow pace, he pulled one out and pointed at the crawlers.
“Welcome to the insect world,” said Hicks with a smile.
He finds taking care of the bees therapeutic in stressful times.
“It’s nice to do something with your hands,” Hicks said. “You get out here and you open the hive and you smell the fresh nectar and you see the queen and the bees, watch what they’re doing … I come out here and it just rejuvenates me.”
According to Hicks, there’s a spirit about the hive.
With over 40 years of experience, Hicks sells honey at a local level, to friends and family, and even the Rexburg Farmer’s Market and Experience Rexburg. He also teaches beekeeping classes to beginners.
According to Hicks, every beekeeper still encounters complications with nature.
“It’s in the wintertime that they become most fragile,” said Hicks. “So I try to wrap them, I put insulation on them, feed them extra, I give them their medicines and stuff. No matter what I do, I still have some hives that die.”
To make up for losses during the colder months, Hicks splits up the hives, which helps them keep moving and bringing in pollen.
Beyond weather, Hicks worries about his bees getting sick. Varroa mites, a common insect the size of the head of a pin, can attach themselves to the bees and inject a virus. According to Bee Aware, colonies with a small mite infestation don’t show many symptoms. Hicks’s bees, on the other hand, get diarrhea.
“They get stick to their stomach,” he said, placing a slab of yellow, Laffy Taffy-like medicine on a honeycomb. “So we gotta kill a little bug on a big bug.”
The medicine, according to Hicks, releases fumes for that exact purpose.
This year Hicks commented that his bees are doing well, gathering resources and hunkering down.
“It’s all looking positive,” said Hicks.
The challenges are worth it for his favorite part about beekeeping: the harvest. Each year, Hicks extracts honeycomb from the hives and bites in raw, honey dripping from the sides.
“It has a wonderful fragrance and aroma of flowers,” Hicks explained. There’s nothing better than eating raw honey.”
Hicks places a jumpsuit over his suit pants, collared shirt and tie. Then replaces his shoes with boots. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks shares information about beekeeping. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks prepares his smoker for the bees Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks adds burlap to the smoker. Heavier materials like burlap make the smoker last longer. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks squeezes air into the smoker to create a larger flame. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks adds burlap to the flames Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks grabs something from his truck to assist him in beekeeping Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks points out the different wooden frames of honeycombs Photo credit: Merritt Jones
In order to get out each frame, Hicks has to separate them from the wooden box. A combination of beeswax and propolis make the frames stick. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks holds up a an old honeycomb. Made of beeswax, the older the honeycomb, the darker the color. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks points out the singular honeycombs. The larger ones used to be home to unfertilized male bees, also known as "drone bees". Queen Bees know which honeycomb cells to make larger. She also chooses to which cells to fertilize and which to leave unfertilized. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks starts the smoker yards before approaching the beehives. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks pumps more smoke to calm the other hives. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Only a few pumps of smoke are needed to calm the bees. According to Hicks, they are already fairly gentle. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
The "front and back doors", as Hicks calls it, need to be smoked before opening the hive, to make sure the bees remain calm. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks cleans the top part of the boxes where the hives are housed. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Each side of the box represents a different hive. This box represents two newer hives. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks checks on his bees frequently, each generally collect pollen from flowers within a three-mile range. The pollen is used to feed the larvae of the hive. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
As a beekeeper, Hicks gets stung every so often, but generally just watches where he puts his hands to avoid that. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Bees crawl in their hive home. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
When a hive is larger, they build start to build beeswax on the tops of the frames Photo credit: Merritt Jones
The queen bee is distinguished from the rest by her larger, lighter-colored body. This queen bee is smaller than average because the hive is newer, according to Hicks Photo credit: Merritt Jones
This is one of two locations where Hicks keeps his bees. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
With bare hands, Hicks holds the lid to observe the hive. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks slowly pulls out each wooden from the hive. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks holds a drone bee by the wing. According to Hicks, drone bees do not have stingers. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Removing the brick from the top, Hicks removes the top of the beehive box. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks searches for the queen bee of the hive to make sure she is alive and well. Searching for her is apart of his regular checkup on the hives. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Bees have formed combs on the roof of the box. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
Hicks observes his bees. Photo credit: Merritt Jones
