A HONEY OF A FAIR TREAT

Honey.

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In 2002, Minnesota produced more than 8.5 million pounds of it, resulting in more than $12 million in sales, according to the National Honey Board. Not bad for the fifth-largest honey-producing state in the country.

A little bit of that production can be credited to the local beekeepers who man the honey stand at the Crow Wing County Fair each year. It is the stand where you can get honey sundaes, but for the men and women who work it, the stand is a chance to showcase their work.

Beekeeping has been a hobby for Harry Meyer since he started his first hive when he was 12. Now retired and still harvesting honey, Meyer is chair of the North Central Beekeepers, the group that runs the honey stand at the fair.

"The main idea of the organization isn't to make money," said Lavoane Meyer, Harry Meyer's wife and a volunteer at the North Central Beekeepers stand at the fair. "Last year, the stand was awarded the state of Minnesota's Award of Merit for an educational exhibit at the Crow Wing County Fair."

The stand, in addition to selling copious amounts of honey (the stand makes enough, said Harry Meyer, "to pay for itself") and ice cream, also fields questions from curious fair-goers and has a hive on display for onlookers. Have no fear, though -- the hive is enclosed in a glass case. Meyer said the stand did have an active hive one year, with bees flying in and out, but no one was stung.

North Central Beekeepers has 54 families as members, and Meyer said there are beekeepers as young as 13 and 15. Each beekeeper can sell honey at the stand, in labeled bottles, but all money from the sale of sundaes and honey sticks goes to the organization, said Lavoane Meyer.

All beekeepers in Minnesota have to register with the state and the Department of Agriculture, said Harry Meyer. He estimates in Minnesota there are probably 8,000 hobby beekeepers, more than 500 "sideliners" -- beekeepers who keep more than 200 but fewer than 500 colonies of bees at a time -- and about 60 commercial beekeepers -- those with more than 500 colonies at a time who sell their honey commercially through stores.

Meyer himself moved from being a sideliner to a hobbyist several years ago, after retiring from AT&T, and after he "got too tired to lift those heavy boxes."

For anyone interested in starting as a beekeeper, Meyer suggests first reading up on the topic at the public library, and attending a beekeepers' meeting in your area.

"You have to learn what the bees want," said Meyer. "The bees train the beekeepers, because you can't change the bees."

If still set on beekeeping, a person should then start buying equipment early, Meyer said.

"Start acquiring your equipment early," said Meyer. "Order your bees in the fall of the year for the next spring." A colony of bees costs about $130, said Meyer. All equipment has to be inspected by the state for parasites, diseases and spray from insecticides.

"It's very labor intensive, until you put the honey supers in," said Meyer. "After that, you have to check them every two weeks or so."

A honey super is a part of the hive and contains foundation, which is a thin sheet of beeswax. The bees add more wax to the foundation and form the comb, where nectar or pollen is then stored or the queen lays her eggs.

Meyer said a queen can lay up to 30,000 to 40,000 eggs in a 24-hour period.

The frames containing foundation, wax and nectar or pollen are then removed and the wax is cut off with a knife. The frames that contain the honey are placed in a machine, a centrifuge, where the honey gets spun out and runs to the bottom of the machine where the honey collects and can later be bottled.

Raw honey, honey that has not been heated above 130 degrees, is what most beekeepers sell out of their house. It can never go bad, but will crystallize after a period of time, said Meyer. Commercial honey has been heated above 130 degrees to keep it from crystallizing in the store.

Meyer said he got started with beekeeping, and stays involved in it, because he is so fascinated with bees. "You can see Mother Nature at work in them all the time."

In addition to honey, beehives provide several other products as well. Beeswax, in addition to being used in candles and lip balm, also is used in the medical field and in electronics, said Meyer. Propulus, or "bee glue," is a natural antibiotic for bees, and is starting to be used in burn ointments because infections cannot live under honey or propulus, said Meyer.

"People who have been burned really bad, when they're treated with propulus and honey," said Meyer, "scar tissue is next to nothing on a burn then."

Pollen is sold in stores as a human supplement, and is valuable to farmers as well for the boost it gives to plants.

"And you'll never get a door-to-door salesman with bees in your yard," said Meyer with a laugh.

"I have some of the exhibitors at the fair that come over every year, and they tell me that they haven't been to the fair until they've had their honey sundaes," said Meyer.

The North Central Beekeepers stand at the fair might serve up honey sundaes to fair-goers every year, but those who work it hope to serve up their fascination with bees as well.

The North Central Beekeepers meet 7 p.m. the third Monday of every month at the Brainerd Public Library.

Honey sundaes sell for $2 each at the Crow Wing County Fair. Bottled honey and honey sticks also are available.