A Sweet Life

Swatting them away from the picnic watermelon. Laughing at the dog trying to trap them in her mouth. Getting stung in the armpit (that’s mine). We all have memories of encounters with bees. Some are wondrous—‘what are they doing in that flower, mommy?’ Some are painful— ‘Ooooooouuuucccchhhhh... something stung me, daddy!’

But one of Paul Luthi’s first memories of bees, specifically honey bees, is a precious reminder of a man he loved and respected. “I had a grandfather who kept bees on a small scale. I remember seeing his bee boxes building up and being fascinated with bumble bees. I’d catch them in a jar and let them go.”

Thus began Luthi’s love affair with honey bees. In his 20s, he got a job with a commercial beekeeper and began to run a few hives of his own. It was just a hobby to start, but once he got a taste of the sweet life, Luthi knew he wanted to build a career with his bees. “They’re just fascinating little bugs. To watch them work and be able to work out in nature with the fresh air and sounds of nature and watch the bees do their thing. There is a lot of freedom with it.”

For the last eight years, Luthi, his wife Lori, and one of his four sons, Travis, have been gathering and selling honey through their familyowned business, Three Bears Honey Company. This year, they had hundreds of hives scattered throughout Clay and Cass Counties, mostly in fields filled with sweet clover, wildflowers, and basswood flower.

“We look for areas where there are juicy flowers for them,” Luthi said. “A lot of areas where it’s just wheat and corn don’t do much for them.”

The Minnesota average honey surplus per hive is about 85 pounds, and Luthi hopes to meet or exceed that each year. Three Bears Honey Company sells its harvested honey in various quantities, both filtered and raw, to area supermarkets and health food stores. Lori also makes homemade beeswax candles that are sold in jars or as tapers, votives, and pillars. “I did a little bit of candle making back in junior high school just for fun. It started up again about five years ago,” Lori Luthi said. “I do it all in my kitchen. Hopefully one day I’ll have a little room where I can do this more.”

If you think it sounds like a lot of work, it is.

First, you have to know something about honey bees. There are thriving species on almost every continent. Luthi uses European honey bees, which he orders from California every spring (although most bees could survive our frigid winters by eating the honey they’ve produced in their combs). The bees arrive in two-pound packages with one queen. Once the fall honey harvest is complete, Luthi sells his bees to another beekeeper in California. “They are pretty valuable for their pollination purposes,” he explained.

Second, you need to understand the anatomy of a hive and how to help make it successful. Between 50- and 75-thousand bees are in a hive during the peak season. “There are nurse bees who tend to the queen and guard bees who keep out intruders,” Luthi said, adding, “There are also housekeeping bees who feed the larvae and nectar gatherers who go out and get the honey. It’s amazing how they work together.”

Luthi starts out with one box per hive in the spring, and as the bees bring in more honey, he brings in more boxes, which he stacks on top. The queen lays

“They’re just fascinating little bugs. To watch them work and be able to work out in nature with the fresh air and sounds of nature and watch the bees do their thing. There is a lot of freedom with it.”

2000 or more eggs a day when things are going strong.

Third, you must respect the bees’ honey-making process, which Luthi said is a delicate endeavor. “The bees across the country have been struggling in the last few years because there are so many things causing stress on them,” he said. That’s why he devotes about five months each honey season to maintaining the bees’ health and happiness.

The bees build their honeycombs by secreting a wax from their stomachs. When they return from sucking nectar, they deposit that nectar into the honeycomb. Worker bees fan the bottom of the hive to pull moisture out and make honey. Come August, the honeycombs are ready to pulled.

Luthi said he and his son, Travis, work hard at building a relationship with the bees. “My favorite time is on a nice, summer day in June and the sun in shining and it’s 80 degrees and the bees are happy and they really don’t even seem to mind you being around them. They seem to tolerate you more easily and sense your scent when you work with them on a regular basis.”

Even better, Luthi said, is building a unique relationship with his son because of the bees. It brings back memories of his grandfather. “It’s always been a dream to have a bee business, so I’m happy that I’m able to more forward with that now, especially since it’s a family business.”

That’s a reward as sweet as honey. [AWM]

For more information contact Paul Luthi at 218.236.5933 or find them on facebook at Three Bears Honey.