Justin Pruden picked the perfect animal operation to occupy his time after work. He likes to keep busy himself, so it was only natural that he selected nature’s busiest worker…bees.
“Working at an engineering office, I would get off at work at 5 p.m., and I found that I had nothing to do afterwards,” Pruden said. “Beekeeping started out as a hobby to keep me busy, and before you know it, I was watching YouTube videos, trying to learn all I could about it.”
Pruden, owner of Mississippi Honey and Bee Farm LLC, is now in his fifth season of beekeeping. Growing up on a catfish farm, he enjoyed working outdoors. Beekeeping was a natural fit for an afterwork hobby. Although it remains a hobby for him, it has transformed into a business. And business is good.
“You are very much raising an animal like you would livestock or pigs,” he said. “There are investments certainly involved, but you don’t need hundreds of acres. You can have 50 colonies on five acres. You are still part of the agricultural world, just in a different setting.”
It all started with one nuclear beehive. Often referred to as the “nuke,” or “nuc,” the nuclear beehive is a small colony of bees plus a queen. It has all the essentials for creating a new colony, just like the cell nucleus is the start of a healthy molecule.
“I turned one colony into two colonies that first summer,” Pruden said. “But one colony died over the winter, leaving me with one going into the spring. One led to five, and five led to 30 colonies. I eventually went down to 25 colonies, but this year I am sitting with 35 colonies. I am hoping to eventually get to 70 colonies.”
What fascinated Pruden about the bee colonies were the many roles and hierarchies within the bee world. It almost resembles social classes, with each group taking on its own responsibilities.
“The worker bees never stop working, and they are very efficient workers with the collection of pollen and nectar,” Pruden said. “The nurse bees take care of the eggs and larvae. The guard bees do just that by guarding. Each colony has one queen bee.”
And the drone, or male, bees don’t do anything but mate with the queen,” he added, with a laugh. “But after they mate with her, they die.”
Around 1,500 to 2,000 eggs are laid at one time during a peak season. A bee’s lifespan is about 40 days, but the queen can live up to about three years.
And their colony is a central hub, or focal point, of their existence.
“Bees are kind of like livestock,” Pruden said. “They are trespassers. They will travel within two miles, but they will always return to their colonies. You can move their colonies, and they will return to it within about two inches.”
And although Pruden acknowledges a bee’s work ethic, he will admit that he gives them their space when they need it.
“They are to be respected,” he said. “I was checking on one hive with my suit on, breaking the box apart and moving it. The noise was so loud from the bees striking my shield. They meant business.”
Thanks to his beekeeping operation, Pruden can package and sell honey from his hives. He also stockpiles wax, but he isn’t completely sold on the candle business just yet.
And there are, of course, challenges with pests like hive beetles and varroa mites. However, nothing has discouraged Pruden from pushing ahead with his operation.
Once Pruden reaches 100 hives, he intends to send his bees to California. California particularly needs bees for pollinating crops such as almonds, apples, avocados and grapes.
“I am excited about the future, and I am enjoying what I am doing,” Pruden said. “Bees really are interesting creatures, and we need them more than we realize. They are extremely important to us with pollination that goes well beyond what you think. It has been a fun experience, and we are working towards the future.”
