The Art of Beekeeping by a Tewksbury Family

TEWKSBURY— It's safe to call the Kelley family "bee whisperers." The local Tewksbury family harvested almost two tonnes of honey last year, and has taken their family beekeeping business on the road to several fairs and farmers markets in New England. Julie and Mike Kelley run the business, branded as Tewksbury Honey," with their two children, 16-year-old Sean and 13-year-old Kathryn.

The family runs their business on weekends and evenings after their full time jobs. Julie is a technology integration specialist at Wilmington High School, and designs the labels for the honey jars. Mike Kelley worked on a farm several years ago, and the family was inspired to start beekeeping when Sean and Kathryn started talking about "the plight of the honeybee," as Julie called it in an interview with Patch. The family started out with two hives. Julie said, "It's a hobby that's gotten a little out of control! They run just under 50 hives, located in Tewksbury and Andover.

Two hives are located at the Tewksbury Library, where Julie and Kathryn have given talks about beekeeping. The honey from the library is donated to the Tewksbury Food Pantry, where 200 jars were distributed this past December. Their next bee talk is coming up on Feb. 9 at Billerica Public Library.

Selling Honey

Honey is harvested twice a year, around the Fourth of July and Labor Day. The honey website was started a year and a half ago, with an Etsy shop begun only a year ago. Julie told Patch that the family started selling honey products last summer at local farmer's markets. The kids help.

"We have had a lot of success, we're so happy to be able to spread the word about the bees, and also have the kids understand how important it is to take care of the environment and get some business experience as well," Julie explained. The family attends local beekeeping meetings to learn from other beekeepers.

Tewksbury Honey won the honey category for the Good Food Awards in San Francisco last year. Tewksbury Honey's "Spring Harvest" was one of 25 honey finalists chosen during a blind taste test.

Julie Kelley with Good Food Award

Check out the Tewksbury Honey Etsy shop and website! An eight-ounce jar of artisan raw honey sells for only $6.00. Twenty-five reviewers have posted to Etsy. One user, "Dumaisj" said, "I just got my honey a few days ago, already tasted and..oh my God! It's the best honey I have ever tried. Seriously. It's so different from the store bought stuff and I'm so happy that I finally tried it!! Thank you Tewksbury Honey for this incredible honey and super fast delivery!!! I'm gonna buy it again and again!" All reviews are five stars. Tewksbury Honey has made its way across 25 states, including California and Alaska.

Bee Stings and Honeybees

Hives have between 30,000 to 60,000 bees. Beekeepers are occasionally stung, but honeybees usually warn when they're agitated. The Kelley family wears veils to avoid getting stung in the face, and for extraction, gloves and full jackets. Julie said, "They'll "ping" you... Essentially fly into you to give you a little "back off" warning... They die if they sting you, but they will protect the hive. As long as you work carefully you can work them without getting stung."

Taking a frame of honey from the hive

Honeybees gather nectar from flowers, and pass nectar amongst each other by regurgitating into other bees mouth's until it makes it to the hive. Once deposited into the honeycomb, bees fan the combs with their wings to evaporate the extra water, making the honey thick and sticky. Bees can seal the comb with abdominal secretions to make beeswax, according to a beekeeping magazine.

The Kelleys use Maxant extraction equipment and tanks to process the honey.

The Death of Honeybees?

But the "plight" is there. The Bee Informed Partnership coordinates among multiple university labs across the country, with the financial support of the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Last year, a nationwide survey from the Partnership concluded that beekeepers lost 44 percent of their honeybee colonies from Apr. 2015-Apr 2016.

Human-caused climate change affects pollination by disrupting the timing of flower blooms. Flowers are blooming earlier in the growing season due to rising temperatures, before many bees have a chance at pollinate plants, and extract nectar.

Photos courtesy of the Kelley family