Agricultural Valuation – aka “Ag Exemption” – with Honey Bees
Do you own 5 to 20 acres? Are you interested in saving hundreds, maybe even thousands on your property taxes each year (especially by preventing rollback taxes!) ? Are you a land developer that has properties that need to maintain Ag Valuation until building can begin – years down the road?
If so, having honey bees can help you qualify. We(Rex Smith – Harmony Hollow Apiaries and Laura Winters of Birds and the Bees Apiary) perform agriculture maintenance with our hives to land owners for a reasonable management fee. We do everything to manage and maintain the bees, and once qualified, you reap the rewards that ag-valuation provides for your property for the use of your land.
Have our Honey Bee hives to qualify for an Ag Valuation and leave the Beekeeping to Harmony Hollow Apiary. Call Rex at 469-251-2BEE (2233) for more information and pricing.
May 2025 – Contact us about having bees placed in mid-summer or fall of of 2025 – to continue (or start) your ag history and evaluating commitments for early 2026 ag placement. New commitment requests will be quoted and filled as livestock are available. (Do NOT Wait til April 2025 to ask about hives to be placed by April 30 – it takes time to build up the livestock for each colony).
Requests in late March through Summer will be filled as available. State LATE deadline for 1-D-1 paperwork is April 30.
Texas law, effective January 1, 2012, made it possible for beekeeping to qualify for an Agricultural Valuation (commonly called “ag exemption” – see below) on property taxes. This is covered in the Tax Code under Chapter 23, Subchapter D, Sect. 23.51 (1) and (2).
An Agriculture Exemption is not actually an Exemption but rather a Special Valuation. If a portion or all of a property is deemed eligible to receive an Agricultural Valuation, that property will receive a Production Value along with its Market Value. The tax savings that a property receives depends on the current Market Value of the property and what type of Ag Valuation you are requesting. For example, Native Pasture areas may have a lower Ag valuation than Dry Crop areas and generally both are considerably lower than the market value that the taxes would normally be based on. That is dependent on county. (Some counties do not differentiate they type of agriculture activity, and have 1 rate for ag no matter the qualifying activity. Other counties have different rates for different activities).
There are several key phrases and requirements to this law. Sect. 23.51 (1) covers the definition of “qualified open-space land”. Specifics state land that has an established agricultural use history for five of the preceding seven years. Record keeping and documentation is critical.
Registration and permitting with Texas Apiary Inspection Service (TAIS) helps establish this history. Wording of the law states agricultural use to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area. Each local appraisal district sets their own standards as the accepted degree of intensity. Most appraisal districts use a minimum of six colonies (beehives) as a standard. That is the accepted definition of an apiary from Texas bee law under the Agriculture Code, Title 6, subtitle A, Chapter 131, Sect. 131.001 (2). (Which has just changed as of the 2023 Texas Legislative session- as they removed the number of hives definition).
Size of qualifying acreage is not less than 5 or more than 20 acres. Remember the definition of agriculture use. Losing an acre to a homestead exemption has to be accounted for on acreage. (check with your appraisal district to be sure, though -as I have heard of counties allowing the full acreage without removing an acre for the home)
Also, realize the landowner does not have to own the bees (except Rockwall County). You may hire the maintenance of bees from a beekeeper who owns the hives. Again, keep accurate and complete records. The wording of the law states “the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value.”
Lastly, it is important to stress the fact that each local appraisal district can set their own standards and requirements for the beekeeping valuation. Please contact your local appraisal district for guidance and minimum requirements. Some counties may want to see a copy of a bee maintenance agreement or land access agreement as part of your documentation before coming to evaluate your property for ag valuation. Some require a special report be submitted annually. Most county appraisal districts now have this information available on the county appraisal district website.
Benefits include:
Professional management and maintenance of beehives on your property
Annual Beekeeper Registration through the Texas Apiary Inspection Service (TAIS)
Pollination for your property
Contributing to the welfare of the honeybees
Annual Report listing harvested (and non-harvested if applicable) tangible products with commercial value.
Qualifying requirements for Harmony Hollow Apiary management include:
The site must be suitable for bees and provide the necessary elements for bees to thrive. A complimentary site visit will be scheduled for prospective clients. A Honeybee Management Plan is included – and lists expectations of flowering plants that the landowner should seed or plant – for the benefit of honeybees and ALL other native pollinators.
Harmony Hollow Apiary must have unrestricted access to the location of the hives at all times. (For locked properties – I can/will provide a lock to add to your chain of locks on a gate – or you can provide me with a gate code)
A 2-wheel drive vehicle must be able to access the area where the hives are located and park no further than 10 yards from the hives’ location.
Harmony Hollow Apiary reserves the rights of ownership to the bees, the equipment, and the products of the hives.
Pollinator Plants for Texas – I HIGHLY recommend having a food-plot on your land for producing food for human consumption. This helps and is in the spirit of the law allowing bees as a livestock in Texas as the pollinators for those plants.
Apiary Registration: As of 1 Sept 2023, Texas Apiary Inspection Service will no longer process “Apiary Registrations” – that has been changed in the last legislative session to “Beekeeper Registration”. The property owner can register as “the beekeeper”, or the beekeeper (if hired) can register as “the beekeeper” for the property. I personally register annually – and can list your property under my registration. The appraisal district MAY have upcoming guidelines listing who THEY want to see listed (either property owner, or hired beekeeper). That registration is NO LONGER FREE. It is now $35 per year.
For areas where you OWN the hives – You may need to pay the TAIS their fee ( $10) for them to issue a “brand ID number” to you. (Otherwise – mark the hives or the apiary with an identifying name/contact info – which is perfectly acceptable to law enforcement or TAIS)
For hives that Harmony Hollow Owns – our ID number is marked on the equipment.
Your county appraisal district will have the 1-D-1 Application for you to fill out for ag use of your land. Note: Placement and management of hives on your land is NOT a guarantee that the appraisal district will approve ag valuation for your property, nor is it a guarantee or a promise that there will be a honey harvest in any given year.
We are based near the Dallas, Texas Metroplex. However, we cover a large portion of North and East Texas. Contact us to reserve bees for your property.
Registered with Texas Apiary Inspection Service, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University. Copy of past transport permits for Harmony Hollow Apiary are available here: http://www.bohemianutopia.com/permits/ (Note – as of Sept 1 2023 – There are no longer intrastate transport permits issued by TAIS).
I also recommend putting up a sign to warn people about the dangers of agribusiness (farm animals – which includes bees). Harmony Hollow has signs for locations where we own the bees – and signs are available at a cost of $20ea for locations where the property owner owns the bees)
Update – December 2024
Harmony Hollow and Birds and the Bees Apiary also offer services to build and maintain areas of food production – as Texas Property Tax Code also mentions that:
“Agricultural use” includes but is not limited to the following activities: …
… “producing crops for human food” …
“The term also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is not less than 5 or more than 20 acres.”
Consultation and/or installation:
Wildflowers to seed the property
Trees that benefit both pollinators as well as humans for food
Sometimes – it’s necessary to have a fence surrounding the hives – to protect the bees from other livestock ( cattle, horses, goats, shep, etc) – or from humans. Click this link to a page with some sample fencing that my customers have provided – along with a sample of an effort that did not work so well:
For the last 2 years, one of the NUC / Bee suppliers has been using CHEAP NUC boxes. They resemble the higher quality Jester EZ Nuc Boxes – however – there’s a huge difference that’s not necessarily noticed until it gets HOT outside.
I was making splits, and had a umber of these boxes – and in mid May 2025 (yes – last week) – I noticed that some of the splits in the yellow NUC boxes had baked and died, and some had absconded. I had tried to place a board or something onto the blue boxes – knowing that they would absorb a lot of heat from direct sun exposure – but I didn’t figure on the yellow boxes being a problem.
They were.
The Jester EZ Nucs are more expensive for a reason. They have UV resistant plastics – so last more than 1 year in the sun. And – they are well ventilated.
Jester EZ NUC
Jester EZ NUC – 9/64″ Vent Holes
Jester EZ NUC – 9/64″ Vent Holes
THIS is what happened to the bees in the cheaper boxes. The boxes weren’t ventilated, and the bees overheated.
No Ventilation!!!
My fix today – is to use a 9/64″ drill bit (matching closely to the vent hole sizes in the EZ NUC boxes) I have a set of cheap bits from Harbor Freight – and this size seems perfect.
The EZ-Nuc boxes have 27 holes in the top row, and 26 in the bottom row. I drew 2 lines to attempt (poorly) at a straight line when drilling the holes – they don’t have to be perfectly in line. They just need to adequately vent heat – so there’s airflow, and the bees don’t overheat or bake in the boxes.
When the bees are moved to a real wooden box – be sure to remove any frames that may invite wax moth or Small Hive Beetle – and store indoors away from direct sun or UV light – as the light will QUICKLY degrade the plastic to dust within a season.
The Harmony Hollow Apiary bees in an observation hive will be at Rooster Home and Hardware on Saturday April 19th in their celebration of Earth Day 2025. Come sample honey, see the bees, and maybe spot the queen!
Clients in Collin County now have a questionnaire to fill out for their annual ag valuation for honeybees. Here are some of the answers I can provide for you for filling that out – for properties where I am managing bees on your land:
When did you obtain equipment – (when placed on your property – each property/client will have a different start date)
Type of Bees: Apis Mellifera (european honeybee)
Who’s the 3rd party bee wrangler: Harmony Hollow Apiary / Rex Smith
Education – Texas Master Beekeeper Program + I teach classes for several bee schools in central Texas, and am active with Trinity Valley Beekeepers Assn. in Dallas
Queen Replacement – When signs of low population or behavior that is not conducive to management (i.e. excessively aggressively defensive, or no VSH qualities, etc)
Africanized bee prevention: See above answer for queen replacement
Fire ant prevention: Has not been an issue. Granules such as Amdro are fine for placing on the ground under the hive stands, though.
Planting / Pollination : I’d suggest you have a garden so the bees can pollinate food for human consumption, or production of food for human consumption (i.e. honey). Texas property tax code states: ““the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value.” – which is what is stated in the Texas Tax code for bees for ag – pics of a garden or field are good documentation for you to have) I also have a page on my website with a list of fantastic plants that benefit from the bees – and provide food for humans and other wildlife. It’s pretty specific to each individual property – so you’ll need to provide that answer for your land.
Relocation of hives: Done if needed to do utility work or if they are a nuisance to neighbors. I try to eliminate the need for moving in the beginning placement by not having them near property lines where there is a structure nearby.
Winterizing: In Texas – we simply make sure they have ample honey / syrup stores left on the hives in the Fall as we enter winter – and I supplement with nutrition sugar bricks. Winter losses are expected, and are replaced in spring as soon as bees are available for placing on properties.
Expected harvests:Bees ( more livestock) are the most common harvest, queens, honey – if excess is produced, and possibly wax are also produced. Note that the lives and health of the bees is FIRST in my management – and honey production is not “expected” – but is great if it happens.
Expected production: (presuming a question for honey: ) Unknown each year. Depends on flowers, rainfall frequency and amount, and heat. Strong colonies are used to create more hives to help cover upcoming expected winter losses.
How I’m making my product... – Honey (if produced) is extracted and sold. Wax is melted with a solar wax melter, and used to re-coat foundation for the hive frames. More livestock is made by producing splits from strong colonies.
Prevention and control of diseases: Small Hive Beetle (SHB) Traps are added to most hives. Wax moths are watched for – and excess space is minimized for the bee populations. Periodic testing for mite load – and treatment with Oxalic Acid and / or ApiGuard. Long-Term – queen genetics that provide the ability to deal with disease is optimal – but until then – treatments are utilized when needed.
Transport Permits: – As of 2023 legislative session – TAIS no longer issues intrastate transport permits. They do maintain a list of beekeepers of reference for each property – and I have listed myself as beekeeper for all my clients’ properties.
Other Documentation / Evidence: The questionnaire mentions photos. Take pics of the hives! (Better to over-document!!) I’ll try to take pics when I open the hives and can text those to you periodically. Otherwise – pics of the hives can be used – best, though, of you can discern bee activity at the entrance. Be safe around the hives, though – I’ll take pics when I am there to manage the bees. Feel free to provide a copy of our Colony Management Agreement – or the Land Access Agreement. Those are written to continue on a quarterly basis after the contract dates end – so if you would like a freshly dated contract – let me know and we can sign a fresh copy. I also provide at the end of each year – an Annual Synopsis for each client – where I show how many hives are on a property, and what was produced that has commercial value. ( honey, nucleus colonies, queens, etc).
I thought I had posted this link to research – however I’m not finding it at the moment – so I will post it again – in light of this winters’ reported massive honeybee losses by commercial beekeepers. (as noted in my last post). While the symptoms and possible causes are being investigated – I would like to remind folks that we’ve known for a while that poisons affect honeybees negatively.
In 2015, a research article was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology – that plotted the flight paths of honeybees foraging – before and after “sublethal” doses of glyphosate ( aka Roundup). The published work of María Sol Balbuena, Léa Tison, Marie-Luise Hahn, Uwe Greggers, Randolf Menzel, and Walter M. Farina is available at the link below – it is an interesting read – and is eye-opening to the measured effects of poisons on the neurological system of honeybees as related to flight navigation. With no exposure, the bees’ flight paths are very direct. With low exposures (ingested) the flight paths become erratic… and with higher doses (but still “sublethal”) – their flight paths are all over – and the bees had a hard time making it back to the hives.
We performed an experiment in which forager honeybees were trained to an artificial feeder, and then captured, fed with sugar solution containing traces of GLY and released from a novel site either once or twice. Their homeward trajectories were tracked using harmonic radar technology. We found that honeybees that had been fed with solution containing 10 mg l−1 GLY spent more time performing homeward flights than control bees or bees treated with lower concentrations. They also performed more indirect homing flights. Moreover, the proportion of direct homeward flights performed after a second release from the same site increased in control bees but not in treated bees. These results suggest that, in honeybees, exposure to levels of GLY commonly found in agricultural settings impairs the cognitive capacities needed to retrieve and integrate spatial information for a successful return to the hive. Therefore, honeybee navigation is affected by ingesting traces of the most widely used herbicide worldwide, with potential long-term negative consequences for colony foraging success.
The images below are from their research – and show:
Examples of homeward flights made by honeybees during the first release after treatment. Flight paths were categorized as direct (A), single-loop (B) or indirect (C). Colors: light blue and red for control bees, blue and orange for bees treated with 2.5 mg l−1 glyphosate (GLY), yellow and lilac for bees treated with 5 mg l−1 GLY, and green and gray for bees treated with 10 mg l−1 GLY. H, hive; R, radar; F, feeder; RS, release site.
If you have not heard – over the last month – as many beekeepers prepare to send bees to California for Almond pollination – it’s being found that the normal approximate annual attrition rate of honeybee colonies of 40% – is this year – being seen in the range of 50%-80% and in some cases – 100% losses. Currently, the cause is unknown – as to whether it is a new pathogen, or maybe stresses that have pushed bees beyond their healthy breaking point… At a glance – this looks as (or more) devastating as the Colony Collapse Disorder phenomenon that was seen in the early 2000-2007 time-frame.
It’s also not seeming to be confined to any particular line of bees (i.e. Italian, Carniolan, etc), and continued testing will be done as the folks are able to do so from the top down in our industry to see what the vector is for these losses.
What does that mean for Harmony Hollow Apiaries and Birds and the Bees Apiary – and managing of bees on your land?
All the hives we manage will be closely monitored this next 2 month period to watch for additional losses and will be documenting our management of hives on your land – with the nutrition fed to them, mite treatments, and any hive manipulations made. Some losses of weaker (smaller) hives are expected every year – and are typically easily made-up with strong colonies in the spring when conditions are right for queens to be made and to make effective mating flights with mature drones.
Availability of commercially made queens will be affected by the southern snow storm that happened just a few weeks ago. Areas on the southern coast were hit with freezes and up to 8″-12″ of snow – at a time when they would normally be making splits and raising queens to provide to the rest of the nation.
When timing and environmental factors are right – Rex and Laura are rearing our own queens this year – first to fulfill our client’s needs and making splits to replace hives that perished over the winter, and secondarily – to provide queens to local beekeepers.
Below are the communications sent from TAIS, Project Apis M., and the webinar from The Bee Supply.
——
The Texas Apiary Inspection Service ( TAIS ) sent the following email earlier today:
I am forwarding this information on behalf of Project Apis m.:
Urgent: Widespread Colony Losses Reported
Dear Beekeeping Community,
Severe and sudden honey bee colony losses are being reported across the U.S. as beekeepers prepare for almond
pollination. Surveys indicate losses exceeding 50% on average, with some operations experiencing up
to 100% losses in the past year. These alarming trends resemble past Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
events and may impact pollination services and food security.
Project Apis m., alongside our partners and leading researchers, are working to understand the scope and
causes of these losses. We are gathering data, analyzing samples, and mobilizing resources to support the
beekeeping industry.
📥 Download the PDF for more details on what is being done, what we know so far, and next steps for beekeepers.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/650342507631075013d25a2c/t/67a505a93e1b5b1ba7a4e145/1738868137561/Jan+2025+Colony+Losses+Communication+Final.pdf
If you are a commercial beekeeper, please complete the survey by Feb. 10 to help us assess the situation:
https://forms.office.com/r/YKNpRBGkir
For those experiencing losses, we encourage you to submit an ELAP claim as soon as possible Link:
https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs/emergency-assistance-livestock-honeybees-farm-raised-fish-elap
Thank you for sharing your experiences. By working together, we can gather critical information and push for
solutions to safeguard honey bee health.
Project Apis m.
In collaboration with: American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers Association and Adee Honey Farms
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Angela
Angela Steinhauer
Chief Apiary Inspector
Texas Apiary Inspection Service
2475 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2475
Tel. (979)845-9714, Fax: (979)845-0983
angela.steinhauer@ag.tamu.eduhttp://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu
——
Here’s a video from Blake Shook of The Bee Supply (start the video at 11:45 for the current state of things in the commercial side of beekeeping – especially as related to the losses and this year’s almond pollination. Watch the whole video for good “this time of year in teh hive” info as well.
And the first messages from Project Apis M. (click for full size)
These hive stands are strong, hold the hives to a proper height for easy inspections – and are quick to make with simple tools.
Most of the ones I make are 8′ long – and hold 4 hives easily – or 5 that are pretty tight. So I use 2 stands for most be yards – to hold up to 8(ish) colonies. For yards that only have 6 hives, I’ll use an 8′ and a 4′ hive stand.
The ingredients list for these stands are minimal. (2) 8′ (or 10′) 2×6 (or 2×8 or 2×10) Pressure treated pieces of lumber. Another cut to 14″ lengths as spacers… and an 8′ landscape timber cut to 20-inch lengths for the legs.
I * DO * paint the bottoms of the legs with a good exterior “oops” paint from the big box stores – to slow down any rot from ground contact.
Many property owners ask me about what to plant to help feed the bees. The short answer – is to plant for ALL the pollinators (butterflies, moths, wasps, bees (including native species as well as the honeybees used in agriculture for pollination services and honey production).
Though I separate this list to categories of trees vs bushes/wildflowers/Herbs/Vegetables/Fruits – know that they ALL benefit pollinator nutrition – and having a good variety of plants will ensure a variety of nutrition provided in the amino acids present in the pollen and nectar of the food offered to your pollinators.
I have a personal goal (or even mantra) – in the plants that suggest. They must accomplish at least 1 goal of feeding something.
If what is planted can fill at least ONE of those goals – then grow it! This list is by no means all-inclusive – and will be edited to add more as we are educated on more varieties that people enjoy in our area of North Texas. I *know* there are more beneficial plants that would help the bees (and pollinators) – however, I am going to try to limit this list to those that grow well in this area – knowing our temperatures, soil types, and drought (and rain) levels through the year.
Trees
I LOVE the fruits produced by many trees.
Fig Trees – Though these are pollinated by a wasp – they sure benefit my taste buds and belly!
American Persimmon Tree (American Persimmon or Texas Persimmon) these make a fantastic sweet fruit – I often will eat them when foraging in a forest. The bees love them. They also feed the wildlife – and the seeds are spread through the wildlife scat. These are high in both sugars, and nutrition
Mulberry Trees – These trees feed the bees, the birds (don’t you love the purple spots the birds leave on your car?), people, and more! They grow easily by grafting, or simply come up volunteer from bird droppings. A single tree can make 50 lbs of fruit! Just get them before the birds and squirrels do. Also good for feeding to your chickens or pigs.
Pear Trees – Note that pear trees EASILY cross pollinate. So if you have a variety of “ornamental pear” tree – then it may negatively affect fruit-bearing pear trees and cause no fruits or deformed fruits to be set. Try to make sure you have edible fruit-bearing varieties that you plant.
PawPaw Tree – PawPaw Grow wild in forests in the Eastern US, these grow easily from seed
Locust Tree (i.e. Honey Locust, Black Locust). These trees – for the duration of their bloom – make a WONDERFUL honey for the bees and other pollinators. Keep the plants in check, though – because the thorns the tree produces can be huge!
Chinese Tallow – Another plant that is a wonderful nectar producer. Some folks want to eradicate this tree… However – did you know that the Tallow Tree is Texas’ largest commercial honey producer? A mature tree can produce a barrel (about 700 lbs) of honey in the duration of it’s nectar flow.
Dragon Fruit – another favorite for the bees, bats, moths, and more!
Quince – a drought-tolerant plant that has fruits that are great for jellies. It does like well drained soils, though – so some amending of our clay soil is in their best interest here in North Texas.
Mexican Plum – bees are the primary pollinators for these fruits. Great for pies, preserves, jams, and jellies.
Bushes / Vines
Ligustrum – This ornamental is a great producer of nectar for a short bloom period. It is VERY fragrant, and makes a great honey crop.
Gourds – Gourds really seem to be a great plant for all the pollinators – and produce a fun variety of fruit shapes that can be used for SO many projects.
Ground Cherries – These have a papery husk – much like a tomatillo, but are sweeter, and nutritious. Easily grow from seed, and the fruits keep for months.
Gooseberries – nutritious, and can be preserved without sugar. HAve natural pectin in their chemistry.
Currants – HIGH in vitamin C – up to 4x more than oranges. Make preserves, and more. A single bush can make 10 lbs of fruit. Grow well in cold regions.
Juneberries – vitamins, and fruit before strawberries.
Cornelian Cherries (Dogwood family) – a favorite in the mediterranean
Huckleberries – high in antioxidents (higher than blueberries) – and have a LONG storage life.
Privet / Chinese Privet – Again – a VERY fragrant nectar producer that makes a light-colored honey – and the air is just abuzz when they are in bloom. Don’t let some folks tell you they should be removed because they think they’re “Non Native” or “invasive”. That’s horse-hockey. They simply are a well-adapting beneficial plant. 😉
Almond Verbena / White Almond Bush / Tree Verbena ( Aloysia virgata ) (Info from my friend Esther Betschart) a shrubby, flowering plant native to Argentina and Brazil. It’s known for its strong, sweet vanilla-almond fragrance that attracts pollinators like butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. Here’s a quick overview of the plant:
Appearance: White flowers bloom throughout the summer on upright stems with dark green, sandpapery leaves.
Growth: Can be grown as a small tree or large bush, and prefers well-drained, clay soil.
Sunlight: Needs full sun but can tolerate part sun/shade.
Water: Requires medium watering.
Hardiness: Susceptible to freezing weather, and is hardy to zone 8b.
Propagation: Can be propagated by cuttings in spring or early summer.
Other names: White Almond Bush, Tree Verbena.
Passion Fruit – This vine has one of the most beautiful blooms I have ever seen. This one attracts all the pollinators, and it blooms throughout the spring and summer. The fruit when ripe is delicious! Definitely plant these seeds on your fence line!
Elderberry – another favorite for bees, butterflies and more, this stalky tree/bush has a nice umbra of flowers and the berries are great for syrups, juices, and so much more. It’s also VERY nutritious – and have LONG been known to have medicinal properties. Good for making preserves, wine, syrups, and more.
Holly
Wildflowers / Ground Covers
Bee Balm / Horsemint / Monarda – These often come up volunteer in a field a year or so after being mowed or plowed. Bee balm is a bi0annual plant (only blooms every 2 years – or in it’s 2nd year of life) – so don’t be in a hurry to mow fields that have it! Bee Balm – as it’s name suggests – is a FANTASTIC producer of nectar for honey – as well as pollen for their protein source.
Green Antelopehorn Milkweed – This milkweed develops seed pods that resemble a green antelope horn – thus giving it it’s name. It feeds bees, monarch butterflies, swallowtail butterflies, and numerous beetles, moths, and other insects.
Clover ( White Clover, Crimson Clover ) – Note – Red Clover is DIFFERENT from crimson clover. Bees have a hard time reaching into red clover to get any nectar out. White and Crimson clovers, however, are fantastic nectar sources. I HIGHLY recommend these.
Garden Herbs
When left to go to bloom and seed – these garden herbs are ABSOLUTELY covered in pollinators when they are ready.
Dill
Fennell
Basil
Borage
Mustard / Wild Mustard – there are SO many pants in the mustard ( brassica ) family. Broccoli, Cauliflower, actual Mustard plant, etc. These typically reseed prolifically, and benefit all the bugs!
This is a work in progress as I have time to update from my recollection and notes from my trip to India for the month of October and early November 2016. Some photos are by freelance photographer Saad Amer – and are credited to him on each one. The remainder were taken by myself.
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment ( ATREE ) provides initiatives to help rural residents in India to do better for themselves. A system of education to teach ecological methods of living and farming – with a goal of the residents being self-sufficient with new knowledge and skills to provide better living conditions and health.
One challenge ATREE took on – was better lung health. In areas where cattle dung is used for cooking (and home heating) fuel, the smoke is usually emitting directly to the living areas in the homes, and residents often have respiratory problems. ATREE provided ways for rocket-stoves to be installed into the homes. The rocket stoves burn hotter with the same fuel – fully burning it. The fumes/exhaust are also exhausted to the outside of the homes – removing the un-burned dung fumes from the living space – immediately improving the quality of the air breathed inside the homes.
Other initiatives that were/are in place:
Clean Water Initiatives – for both supply and discharge (sewer)
Composting – to improve soil nutrition
Worm Growing – (to aide in composting)
Mushroom Growing (the villages where I was – were on “Rishi Road”
Crop Farming to reduce landslides (choose crops with deeper root systems to hold soil)
Beekeeping
In 2016, I was invited to help an initiative led by the leadership of ATREE to assist in assessing the beekeeping and honeybee knowledge of the farmers in the mountainside villages, and to come up with a curriculum based on what their current knowledge is, and where I think it should be – for them to become self-sufficient with the raising of bees for their home-farm crop pollination. My trip to India was scheduled for the month of October 2016 – with my time in the Darjeeling area to be about 1 week to assess, and write a suggested curriculum.
After spending a week in Agra, (Uttar Pradesh (UP) state of India) – I flew from New Delhi to the Bagdogra Airport (military airport) in the Siliguri area of West Bengal. I was picked up at the airport by a member of the ATREE team, and the slow drive from Bagdogra airport to Darjeeling was started.
My lodging was arranged by ATREE for the week. I did not realize that everywhere I went – if staying in a “homestay” or a hotel/motel – I would need a paper copy of my passport to give them – as their government requires the documentation to be kept for visitors. Next trip – I’ll make sure to have plenty of copies with me.
In a country as large as India – they only have one time-zone. That way (as was explained to me – I’m not sure if they were joking or not) businessmen could not claim “Oh – I missed a meeting because I was in another time zone and didn’t realize time was different for the meeting” – when they’re all on one time zone – there’s one excuse eliminated from the possibilities. This is a long way of saying – the 2nd week in October – in the Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling and surrounding villages – the sun rose EARLY. I woke at 5am(ish) and went outside – and saw the glory of Mt Kangchenjunga in the distance to the North of Darjeeling.
Kangchenjunga at 6am from Darjeeling – Photo: Rex Smith
We are not too far from Mt K and Mt Everest.
Day 1 – Took us to the small villages of Upper Bhutia Busty as well as Lalung, then finally to Rampuria Forest Village – where I was hosted by a family for several nights.
If you’re available to attend the Central Texas Bee School on March 1, 2025, it’s a great place and opportunity to learn more about bees and their management.
Rex Smith will be teaching (2) sessions – on performing hive inspections at the bee school.
Some customers who may have other livestock on properties – or in fields that aren’t fenced to keep the public out – may be asked to provide fencing around the hives. Here are some samples that a few of my clients have put around the bees to protect from cattle, horses, humans, goats, and sheep. Theft and vandalism of bee hives are a serious concern, and protecting your investment of managing hives on your property is important. Remember – Theft, vandalism, and poisoning of hives are NOT covered for replacement in our contracts – and will be at the cost of the property owner to replace should these occur to the bee colonies.
Whether the fence is around the entire field, or just around the hives – I will provide my own chain/lock to secure the fence gate.
(scroll down to see several methods – and clicking the pics will open the full-sized pic in a new window)
Chain-Link Fence with gate: Good for places where posts in the ground are better – especially if in a publicly available spot. This client is a land developer, and the field is open to the public. They needed livestock on the land to maintain their ag valuation until construction started. Theft and vandalism was the main concern, so they had their own contractor place fencing around the hive stands before the bees were set in place.
Sectional cattle panels with gate This is probably the easiest fencing to put into place – and is good for protecting from other livestock – but not necessarily secure against theft – as the panels just pin together at the ends of the panels. This client has horses – and horses are notorious for their shenanigans for playing tricks and getting into things they shouldn’t. Horses will tear up hives to get to any sweet frames of honey they smell – so protection from other livestock is essential to protect the bees (and their other farm animals if the bees deem that they need to defend themselves if a hive is moved, jostled, vibrated, knocked over, etc. No lock required here, since the hives are already in a fenced field at the back of a property, and the fence-panel gate has a chain that secures the door closed.
Wood Fence with gate: Good for places where posts in the ground are better – especially if in a publicly available spot. This client also had horses, and this fence they built provides a secure space around the hives from the horses. No lock required here, since the hives are already in a fenced field at the back of a property.
And an example of what NOT to try to use to protect the beehives. Construction trash-fence zip-tied to t-posts. This does NOTHING to keep the horses and longhorn cattle out of the hives.
Benefits include:
