Local beekeeping club creates a buzz

The Bay de Noc Beekeeping Club is a nonprofit community organization of people who raise honeybees or are interested in starting out. Members are of various ages and experience levels; some sell honey, others transport honeybees across the country for pollination, and some just have a hobby hive or two in their backyard — but all are open to sharing ideas. People traveling through Escanaba may have seen in its Community Garden hives that are tended by the club.

Before the founding of this group, many from the Delta County area were attending meetings in Marquette. According to Jessica LaMarch, who started the Bay de Noc club, she had asked Superior Beekeeping Club’s Joel Lantz if he would consider holding their meetings half an hour earlier so that she wouldn’t be travelling between Marquette and Escanaba in the dark.

“(Lantz) very kindly encouraged the creation of a club in the Escanaba area because he knew there was a lot of interest down here,” LaMarch said. “So I put out a couple of ‘feeler’ posts on Facebook and had over 100 people saying they would attend. Our first meeting had around 40 people attend and we have just kept going since then.”

The meetups in Escanaba began as educational outreach to the public at Bay College about seven years ago. During some sessions, they brought equipment into the classroom to talk about it; during others, they hosted guest speakers, like one who discussed making mead from honey.

“Our primary purpose is to teach and to share the love of beekeeping,” said Shaun Carignan of the Bay de Noc Beekeeping Club, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

In 2020, it became more hands-on than simply seminars.

“The year of COVID, we did meet outside,” said Carignan, adding that the six-foot distancing guidelines at the time allowed for it. “So we met three or four times that year out at bee yards.”

Now, their meetings continue to be held outside during the summer, and in the spring the group meets at Bay. Once a month — the last Wednesday evening — beeks from Manistique to Marinette congregate somewhere in the Delta County area, whether it be the home of one of the club members or the Escanaba Community Garden, where a couple of them keep hives. They continue to welcome speakers and attend conferences.

This is the third year the Bay de Noc Beekeeping Club has had hives on the far north end of the garden, which is part of the Michigan State University Extension. Carignan said it’s a great spot because though it’s far enough away from the plots as to not bother gardeners, bees still benefit from a lot of flora between the bee boxes and the gardens.

“This is goldenrod, which bees love,” said Carignan, reaching out to touch one of the many four-foot-tall plants in a dense thicket a few meters from the hives. A honeybee crawled over his gloved hand in pursuit of a yellow flower. “Anybody that wants to come and just watch the bees on the goldenrod, it’s out here, and they’re just out here eating all the time.”

Most of the keepers wear bee suits, but it wasn’t necessary on Wednesday. Upon opening one hive, Carignan said that it was one of his friendliest.

Talk ensued about the temperaments of other hives. Personalities of the insects can vary, apparently, but perhaps not as much as those of their tenders.

There’s a saying — “‘If you ask 10 beekeepers, you’ll get 11 different opinions on what to do,'” said Michelle Guzzetta, adding that everyone has different notions based on what’s worked for them. “Nobody has the secret yet.”

Guzzetta said that she finds beekeeping “meditative,” explaining, “if you’re riled up, they’ll chase you. So you have to be really calm — just get your breath real low and calm, and it’s real meditative. Even though it’s scary.”

For some, the meetings of the Bay de Noc Beekeeping Club are their first exposure to the hobby, while others are more experienced.

John Duke, who moved to Brampton from Chicago a few years ago, is in his first year keeping bees and has found the club and community supportive.

John Petr has 11 apiaries in locations in Escanaba and Stonington and beyond. He sells his honey at farmers’ markets and travels to bee meetings to learn what issues face keepers in places like Florida.

Bruce Kelm, one of the group’s original members, also spoke highly of Heroes to Hives, a program for veterans conducted by a Dr. Adam Ingrao. Other members mentioned conferences in Marquette and Iron Mountain; there’s overlap, and all involved seem to enjoy continual conversation.

“If somebody has a question, we’ll all chip in,” said Kelm. “Sometimes they’ll say, ‘I need help at the house,’ and, you know, someone will go over there and help them figure out what’s going on with their hives. We’re all in this together.”