The Buzz About Indiana’s Beekeepers and Honey Production

John Schellenberger (far right), President of The Beekeepers of Indiana, poses with other members of the organization. Photo courtesy of John Schellenberger.

All this week during National Ag Week, Hoosier Ag Today is shining the spotlight on several other important ag industries across the state—including beekeeping and honey production.
“Honeybees are very important to agriculture very important to our food chain,” according to John Schellenberger, President of The Beekeepers of Indiana. He’s based out of Greenville in Floyd County in southern Indiana.
He says honeybees do a lot more than just produce honey.
“Honeybees pollinate our fruits and vegetables—most notably, watermelons. They’re critical to Indiana’s agriculture.”
In fact, you may not realize that honeybees are considered livestock here in Indiana.
“If you read the state statute, they do consider honeybees livestock,” says Schellenberger. “If you have a really good functioning hive, you may have anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 bees in that hive—so, if you look at it through the eyes of livestock, you’d have 50,000 head!”
John Schellenberger with his bees in the swarm trap. Photo courtesy of John Schellenberger.

According to Schellenberger, one worker bee will forage 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. There are 96 teaspoons in a pound of honey requiring over 1100 worker bees to make a pound of honey. According to the USDA, Indiana produced 567,000 pounds of honey in 2022, which would’ve required over 623,700,000 worker bees to produce!
Even though it’s a long process to create honey, the window for harvesting can be a short one.
“Usually, we have a spring nectar flow, and in some areas, we do have a fall nectar flow. That’s when the aster and the goldenrod are blooming,” says Schellenberger. “A lot of beekeepers will take their honey in July—and then, whatever honey the honeybee store from the fall nectar flow, they will keep that in the hive to make sure they have plenty of resources for the winter time.”
What advice does Schellenberger have for those who want to get into beekeeping and honey production?
“They need to make sure that they’re going to have the passion,” says Schellenberger. “Then, find someone to mentor them. I would also recommend that people spend one year and trying to get acclimated to the beekeeping and then get into it in the spring.”
Schellenberger says it can be very expensive to start, and can be discouraging if the bees die or simply don’t produce. He adds that getting stung can also be discouraging, but he uses that as a metaphor for not giving up on the process.
“You may get stung, but you know what? You get stung—and you just go on and just enjoy it!” says Schellenberger.
Click HERE for the USDA’s recently published report on honey production in Indiana during 2022.
For more information about The Beekeepers of Indiana, visit IndianaBeekeeper.com.
 

Click HERE for C.J. Miller’s news report and interview with John Schellenberger, President of The Beekeepers of Indiana, about the importance of bees and honey production to Indiana agriculture.

Click HERE for the FULL Podcast interview with John Schellenberger, President of The Beekeepers of Indiana.


The Beekeepers of Indiana booth and display at the Indiana State Fair. Photo courtesy of John Schellenberger.

 
 
 

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