MJ Ellis, 7, regularly visits a small lot in Nitro that’s home to thousands of honeybees.
Last week, MJ eagerly suited up in his yellow beekeeping jacket and walked into the teaching apiary — a place where people can learn about beekeeping and bees’ roles in the environment.
“They’re a part of my heart,” MJ said of the bees.
MJ Ellis, age 7, and his father, Martin, shown here on Thursday, July 25, 2024, are beekeepers on their family farm in Hurricane. They frequently visit the West Sattes Community Center in Nitro.
MJ’s father, Martin Ellis, is a veteran and also finds company in the bees. At their home in Hurricane, he owns honeybees and enjoys apitherapy — which involves lying on a bed above beehives. Some say the bees’ vibrations, heat and smell are therapeutic.
Martin Ellis said the interest in bees that he and his son share began a year ago, and was sparked from visiting this same teaching apiary.
Brothers and beekeepers
The Nitro beehives are located next to the West Sattes Community Center, 234 Lee Ave./Valentine Circle.
This honey from Hillbilly Hippie Honeybees, seen on Thursday, July 25, 2024, was produced from beehives located at the West Sattes Community Center. The beehives at the Nitro teaching apiary yielded 5 gallons of raw honey last year.
Brothers Clint and David Baker tend to the bees and own several other hives in the area. Clint Baker said they’re third-generation beekeepers and they started their company — Hillbilly Hippie Honeybees — in memory of their father.
The Bakers have developed a close friendship with MJ and Martin Ellis.
“We really wanted to help teach veterans and kids about bees and the benefits of bees,” Clint Baker said.
Six years ago, Clint Baker started keeping bees next to his employer, Toyota Motors Manufacturing West Virginia, in Buffalo. But he had ideas of expanding that. With the help of a few others, he was able to make these ideas possible.
How the idea came to life
In 2023, Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt purchased honey from the Bakers. Clint Baker asked Casebolt if there were any empty lots where he could put more honeybees.
Casebolt identified the city-owned lot beside the community center, which they’ve developed into a teaching apiary and pollinator garden. Clint and David Baker manage the bees. When they harvest and sell the honey, they invest 30% of their profits back into medicine or equipment for the hive.
“This is the perfect situation of a community taking matters into their own hands,” Casebolt said. “You used to never see a honeybee in Nitro.”
Nitro Sustainable Community’s efforts
Clint Baker said beekeeping offers just a glimpse into Nitro’s efforts toward sustainability.
The Nitro Sustainable Community began when Dawn Lemle, Capitol Conservation District project coordinator, met Cynthia McGill, who is on the Nitro City Council.
The two then met Kat Gates, who they call the “hippie” of the project. Then Clint Baker. The four came together to form the Nitro Sustainable Community — an organization focused on helping Nitro residents produce their own food.
The organization, Lemle said, was originally a pilot project. But when they put the project and the bees together, they were able to reach the community in unique ways.
The group holds monthly workshops and teaches the community about beekeeping, food canning and more. The idea is to replicate this kind of sustainability in other places, Lemle said. Because the West Sattes Community Center houses a senior center and food pantry, many community members are able to help out with the group’s efforts.
Recently, on a day when the Bakers extracted honey from the hives, more than two dozen senior center visitors came by to either watch or participate in the process. About 20 residents also helped paint the teaching apiary’s bee boxes.
“Nitro has that small-town support,” Clint Baker said. “If there’s something that you want to do, they show up.”
