Dusty Newton: Backyard Honey Farming

BY CAROLYN DRINKARD

Bee farming is a rewarding experience, which dates back over centuries. Beekeepers help to keep the world alive, while becoming a part of one of life’s oldest natural processes: the making of honey!

Beekeeping in Clarke County has traditionally centered on a few individuals who keep one or two hives to harvest backyard honey for their own use. Some of these honey farmers decided that the best way to increase their knowledge about beekeeping and get to know other beekeepers was to form a local beekeeper association. Under the leadership of Judge J.R. Morgan, the beekeepers adopted a Constitution and Bylaws, identified their goals, set dates to meet bimonthly and elected a slate of officers. They named their new group, “The Clarke County Bee Keepers Association,” even though the members had reached out to apiculturists in surrounding areas. The elected officers included J.R. Morgan, president; Dusty Newton, vice president; Melissa Dozier, treasurer; and Rebecca Vick, secretary. Each officer was an established beekeeper, eager to mentor anyone who wanted to learn more about bees.

One of those working hard to form the local beekeeping organization was Dusty Newton, who also served as vice president. Even though Dusty Newton has a full-time job in the Engineering Department at Alabama River Cellulose, his apiculture hobby has become a passion!

Dusty lives in the small community of Asbury, just outside of Grove Hill. His fascination with bees began years ago while he lived in Tuscaloosa. A friend owned 30 hives and asked Dusty to help. Dusty enjoyed working with the bees so much that his friend trained him in beekeeping. When Dusty and his family later moved to Clarke County, the friend gave Dusty two hives to start his own colony.

“Once I got started, I just wanted to grow the hives and capture the honey,” he laughed. “It’s more like an addiction, not a hobby!”

In the rural area where Dusty lives, bees find a natural buffet among new growth in clear-cut plots. Since honeybees comprise about 80% of all pollinators, Dusty’s bees help nearby farmers and gardeners. Bees will pollinate everything within a two-to-six-mile area, visiting 50 to 100 flowers in one trip. Honeybees pollinate nearly three quarters of the plants that produce 90% of the world’s food. In the U.S., this represents an agricultural value of about $15 billion a year.

The queen (circled) is always larger than the other bees. A colony will often have 20,000 to 60,000 honey bees, but only one queen. The bees are busiest in the summer months when the queen will lay up to 2000 eggs a day.

After he helped a friend with bees, Dusty Newton found a hobby that turned into a passion. He serves as Vice President of the Clarke County Beekeepers Association. Here, he holds a honeycomb filled with honey that he extracts for his business, “Hilltop Honey.”

A colony will often have 20,000 to 60,000 honeybees, but only one queen. The bees are busiest in the summer months when the queen will lay up to 2000 eggs a day. The other bees work together to maintain the hive.

Dusty has found that keeping his bees inside their hives has been especially challenging. “If they get overpopulated, they will leave or swarm,” he explained. “I watch them closely.”

Dusty is recognized as a “swarm master,” someone who can remove nuisance bees when they show up in trees or under the eaves of homes. He now has 11 hives, filled with bees that he has removed from homes in this area.

In 2009, USA beekeepers asked the USDA to provide an official day to honor honeybees and beekeeping. On Saturday, Aug. 21, World Honeybee Day will officially recognize the contribution that honeybees make to everyone’s lives. This is a day to learn about honeybees, as well as the beekeepers that keep them healthy. World Honeybee Day is also a time to encourage everyone to enjoy locally grown honey. Bees are the only insects that produce food eaten by man, and they have been making honey for over 150 million years. Amazingly, honeybees must gather nectar from 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey, but the average bee will make only 1/12th of a teaspoon during her lifetime, which is approximately 40 days.

“Hilltop Honey,” Dusty’s business, started small, but it has grown as he has added more bees. The first year, he took only enough honey to give his family at Christmas. The second year, however, he sold about 15 gallons. This year, he pulled his honey in late June and quickly sold all that he had.

A teacher at Wilson Hall Middle School in Grove Hill, Clair Newton (r) often helps her husband with the bees.

Smoke calms the bees, as Dusty has to remove some boards to get the nuisance bees, which have taken up residence inside the home.

Honey has many beneficial uses. It is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals and water. Honey also contains “pinocembrin,” an antioxidant, which seems to improve brain functioning. It has been used to treat sore throats and digestive disorders, as well as a wound treatment for burns and cuts. Some, in Clarke County, believe that taking a teaspoon of local honey each day helps with allergies and hay fever.

While working from home during the Pandemic, Dusty took an online course in “Beekeeping 101” from Penn State. He advises anyone interested in bee keeping to work with an experienced beekeeper.

“Don’t just jump into it without knowing what you’re getting into,” he stated. “It’s hard work, but it’s very satisfying.”

Providing a safe place for his honeybees to live and work is rewarding for Dusty Newton. His bees recognize him as their caretaker and allow him to peer inside their amazing world.

“It’s just so interesting to watch them all work together!” he said. “Every bee has a job, and they work constantly. I feel like I’m keeping a little society alive.”

Dusty (r) and Clair work together to get a swarm into a hive. Dusty now has 11 hives, filled with bees that he has removed from homes in this area.