Latta's Jim Allen looks for new places to keep his honey bee hives and increase production

Nestled on a large piece of family land on the outside of Latta, Jim Allen’s Uncle Jim’s Southern Honey looks like many other homes in the area.

Old oak trees, a large garden and a few chickens. Looking a little harder, however, one will see the hives, and if you listen closely, you can hear the bees the minute you step out of the car, there are thousands of them making up a small part of Allen’s commercial beekeeping business.

“I have about 400 hundred hives at around 14 yards in the Latta area,” Allen said. “I drive around sometimes looking for places to keep them, then approach the land owner for permission and exchange honey for the space.”

The bee yards, often located in an open spot along the edge of a field, or woods, provide the bees safety and easy access to the pollen they need to survive and produce the honey that Allen sells at various locations around the Pee Dee.

In addition to the honey produced by Allen’s hives, a large part of commercial bee keeping involves rent out hives for use by farmers all over the country. As a member of the Pee Dee Beekeepers Association, Allen joins together with other commercial keepers to send hives around the country to assist with pollination of different crops.

This January, Allen will combine some of his hives with the hives of a fellow member as part of a beekeeper’s contract to ship them to California to pollinate the almond crop. “This will be my third year sending hives out there. In years past, I’ve sent 50 hives. This year, I’m planning for 200,” Allen said as he explained the process of commercial beekeeping.

Bees and the pollination they provide is critical to the ecosystem and the agricultural economy.

“People take it for granted going through the grocery stores; two- thirds of the fruits and vegetables we see wouldn’t be there without honey bees pollinating them,” he said.

Besides the California trip, Allen’s bees also travel to North Carolina in the spring to work the fields of a cucumber farmer and then to Maine to pollinate the blueberry crop during the summer months before returning to Latta so the bees can rest and Allen can harvest the honey produced.

In recent years, honeybees have been dying off in record numbers because of an illness called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. The actual cause of CCD is not quite clear, but there are several contributing factors.

“Some of the things are viruses, parasites, diseases, pesticides,” Allen said. “The things we have had to struggle with the most are the Small Hive Beetles and the Verola mites.”

In an effort to keep risks to his hives to a minimum, Allen and his helper, Latta native Leroy Birch, work daily traveling the area inspecting the hives, cleaning the used hives before resetting them and focusing on a breeding program that not only raises gentle bees that are good honey producers but also bees that have good hygiene.

In recent years, Allen has focused on breeding his own bees in an effort to grow his business to 1,000 hives.

“It’s just like breeding dogs or horses: You look for certain genes, certain characteristics.” Allen said. “It’s going to take a while. I see the struggle with CCD. You make a 100 hives, you loose 100. By 2010, I hope to up to 500 hives. If I can continue to increase a 100 hives a year, I’d be tickled.”

Where to bee?
For more info on Uncle Jim’s Southern Honey, call (843) 752- 0444.

Honey is available for purchase:

• In Latta: RJK frames and things, House of Beauty, Back Yard Nursery

• In Florence: Pee Dee State Farmers Market

• In Dillon: Feed and Farm store, Allen’s Home and Garden, and Lane’s Bait and Tackle