Hinckley couple makes beekeeping their sweet pursuit

by Chris Studor

Audrey and Gene Gargas are two Buckeye alums turned beekeepers.

The couple met at The Ohio State University where Audrey was majoring in biology and Gene was majoring in engineering. Next came marriage, a move to Hinckley, raising three children and then, Gene took a class in beekeeping.

“One day Gene came home and said the beekeeping class was really a family affair,” said Audrey. “So, I joined in and caught up. Later, when Gene asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said, ‘I want my own beehive.’”

Now the couple cares for 23 hives (during peak season each established hive is home to approximately 60,000 to 80,000 bees) on three properties they own, including their home apiary on Hinckley’s Brook Haven Lane. The couple also holds memberships in the Lorain, Medina, Greater Cleveland, Summit County Beekeepers and the Ohio State Beekeepers Association.

The Gargas’ are also available to remove bee swarms, which are bees that have left their original hive in pursuit of a new location and form temporary hives sometimes resembling a chain of pinecones on a tree. Their swarm removal information can be found on county websites.

The backyard of the couple is home to nine hives, stacks of wooden boxes called deeps and supers with each being filled with frames, which look similar to files in a file cabinet. When the backyard is the scene of a cookout or other activity, Gene uses a smoker to warn the bees that company is coming and most return to the safety of their hive. In addition to a nuc, or young hive, the yard is home to a large hive and a smaller condensed hive, from which he can pull out frames and identify the queen bee, who is larger than the worker bees.

“The egg-laying process begins with the queen bee laying an egg, which looks like a piece of rice, in each of the tiny hexagonal spaces in the frame,” said Gene. “The egg turns into a larva, which is fed both honey and pollen, and then forms a cocoon, or pupa, from which the bee will eventually emerge. The worker bees put a wax cap on top of each pupa hexagon. In a colony there will be 90 females and 10% male bees.”

“There is only one queen bee per hive that produces a pheromone to maintain the colony conditions,” Audrey added. “A virgin queen will go on a mating flight and mate with 15-plus drones which will provide the sperm she will need for the next few years and then she will be replaced. A good queen will lay up to 1,800 eggs per day.

“The forager bees are the bees that take flight and begin to collect pollen, nectar, propolis (a resin-like material made by bees from the buds of poplar and cone-bearing trees) and water for the first half of their lives, the average drone and worker bees live 45 days,” she added. “They have a tongue that rolls out like a party favor to gather nectar as well as hairy bodies which attract pollen that they store in their pollen baskets on their hind legs to bring back to the hive.”

Audrey said it is essential the moisture in the honey is kept at less than 18.5% and this is executed when the bees flap their wings to evaporate the moisture.

“If it gets too moist, the honey will ferment and turn sour,” she said. “Each hive produces about 60 pounds of honey and each frame is about five pounds. In the winter the hive cluster will stay at 95 degrees whether it’s 30 degrees or 95 degrees outside.”

Mid- to late summer is honey-collecting time, but a beekeeper typically leaves about 60 pounds of the honey in the hive for the bees to consume during the winter.

The final step in honey production begins when the bee keeper removes the wax capping on the top layer of the honeycomb. Audrey said she scrapes off the caps of the combs of each frame and places them into a large pan and sets it aside. Then she or Gene will take the frames and put them into a cylindrical extractor, which is round and several feet high. The frame is spun inside the extractor a few times in both directions and the honey eventually flows into a pan at the bottom of the extractor.

Last season, the Gargas family “harvested” 650 pounds of honey which they offered for sale. Some of the honey remains natural, or raw, every year and the rest is used to make other honey products.

“The color, aroma and flavor of our honey depend upon the pollen and nectar sources the bees visit during forging flights,” said Audrey. “A bee will visit thousands of flowers in its lifetime and will make a half-teaspoon of honey. Lighter honey is often harvested earlier in the season and may have a kind of minty taste.”

She noted very dark honey comes from the bees feasting on goldenrod and asters in the fall.

The couple urges homeowners not to get rid of their dandelions in the spring, as they are one of the first sources of nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators in the spring. The recent trend in some neighborhoods promotes “No-Mow May.”

“I also infuse honey with many flavors, which may take several months to obtain,” Audrey added. “You have to check on these frequently to make sure it’s at the desirable strength.”

To make other honey products, Audrey renders the wax cappings, strains and lets the wax set up – the wax will float to the top and then she puts it into a rectangular pan to form slabs of 100% beeswax. The wax is used as the base for the line of products she uses and sells throughout the year, including hand creams, lip balms, dog paw wax, soaps and candles. She notes that if a candle is made from pure beeswax, it does not smoke.

“Beeswax has many uses,” added Audrey. “It can be used to wax wood, wax gun slides, wax snow boards, and used to help drawers slide, for leather polish and more.”

Brook Haven Apiary’s products are frequently sold during the annual Buzzard Day celebration and also can be found at the Medina and Hinckley locations of The Greensmith; at Luther Farms in Richfield; at Handmade Haven in Strongsville and Blended, located inside Strongsville’s South Park Mall.

The couple reminds readers that honey is good forever and never goes bad. All honey will eventually crystallize, however, due to its moisture content. By simply placing it in a warm pan of water, however, the honey can be re-liquefied to enjoy. ∞

On our cover (photo): Gene Gargas, who owns and operates an apiary with his wife, Audrey, in the backyard of their Brook Haven Lane residence, checks the progress of a frame in one of the 23 beehives the couple maintains. Once the honey is harvested, it is used to make an array of products, including hand creams, soaps, lip balms and more. Photo by Chris Studor.

Audrey and Gene Gargas are pictured wearing their protective
clothing as they check the apiary in their backyard at their
home on Brook Haven Lane. Photo by Chris Studor.

Bees will gather nectar, pollen and propolis
and water to feed fellow bees. Pictured is
a healthy frame of bees. Photos by Chris
Studor.

It only takes a few turns in the cylindrical
extractor and the honey will flow down the
sides and into a pan below.

Audrey will render the wax cappings, set
them aside, and later boil and let the wax
set up. She will pour it in a large rectangular
pan where it will settle into a slab
of 100% pure beeswax.