“BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ.”
Eric Braselton’s mind is already humming as he sleepily wakes up to the sound of his cell phone. The voice on the other end greets him hurriedly, “Hello, is this Eric Braselton? I have a swarm at my house that I was wondering if you could get. … Also, do you have any honey for sale?”
Braselton is a senior Farm and Ranch Management major, and is captain of the UTM Swarm Patrol.
For him, the calls have been coming for years, because catching swarms and relocating them has been his hobby for quite a while, since he realized that bees are an essential element of a successful ecosystem.
“Honeybees fascinate me. They have their own little world with order, jobs for everyone and responsibilities. After relaying my interest in honeybees to UTM Farm Manager Mike Pierce a few years ago, we were able to begin the UT Martin Apiary, and I became in charge of the UTM Swarm Patrol,” Braselton said.
Honeybees are one of the most important creatures in the world because they have the task of pollinating common foods and crops that everyone consumes; several of these crops even include the plants that feed
the livestock people consume when they are not eating plants. However, many bee sicknesses are causing a decline in the number of healthy worker bees. Usage of insecticides, herbicides, overuse of pesticides and pest control are common practices in today’s agriculture industry that have resulted in a dangerous environment for bees
and overall pollination levels.
In Weakley County, individuals are working to save the bees and to help the public become more educated about
the beekeeping process.
Pierce leads the apiary
operation at UTM, which began years ago when the North-West Beekeeper Association put 10 hives on the school’s farm.
“When I came on as farm manager and beekeeper here, I approached the department about expanding the apiary and making it a larger part of education, [and] also [utilizing it] as a revenue string through the sale of local honey,” Pierce said.
He has taken the small-scale operation and has expanded it in an effort to make UTM an even greater resource for students and the surrounding community.
“I come out here at least twice a week [and] check each hive to make sure it has a queen,” Braselton said. “I check for honey as well. I make sure that everything in the hive is going as it should be.”
Each spring, the Swarm Patrol is contacted to help community members with their busy little friends.
The Swarm Patrol serves to relocate bees to their new home at the UTM Apiary in order to save them and prevent others from killing them. In spring 2018, the UTM Apiary expanded by 10 hives, and they plan to continue growth by adding about 40 honey- producing hives in the coming years.
Swarming occurs when a queen bee gets old and leaves her throne, taking half of the
workers with her. Once the small colony finds a new safe structure to claim, the scout bees get to work “stepping off ” to find their new permanent home.
“Swarming is good for beehives because it puts a new queen in the hive, so that egg production will stay up [and] the colony will stay a good size. [It] also breaks the natural breeding cycle for pests. … Overall, the swarming process helps clean out the hive,” Braselton said.
Through the knowledge he has gained while working at the UTM Apiary, Braselton has risen to the position of assistant
manager, and today he now has his own productive apiary at home.
Though his days start early and his head is full of buzzing from his phone and his worker- friends, Braselton passionately believes that his work is making a difference. If programs like the UTM Apiary continue, the bees can be saved and the pollination efforts of West Tennessee can change for the better.
Also, local consumers can continue to purchase UTM hive-made honey and honey products in the Barnes & Noble Bookstore, which supports more than just local business.
Some of UTM’s beehives are visible off the Brian Brown Greenway trail. | Pacer Photo / Tomi McCutchen
