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Boys buy bees to start their own honey business

Posted November 15, 2009 10:00 pm

By Gilbert R. Boucher II

Jake Beelow, 11, inspects the honey on a tray as Raymond Vohasek, 10, and Jim Sutherland attend to the other bees at the beehives on the Beelow farm. Gilbert R. Boucher II | Staff Photographer

The morning traffic paused as the drivers stared at the alien creature standing alongside the road, a can spouting smoke in one hand and a plastic bear filled with honey in the other.

Eight-year-old Tyler Bair was dressed from head to foot in a beekeeper's costume as he tried to sell honey to customers while standing on the corner of routes 60 and 83 in Ivanhoe.

He was joined by Jake Beelow, 11, Raymond Vohasek, 10, and Kevin Bair, 11, as they spent a recent weekend trying to earn some extra cash.

The boys started the B&B Honey Co. two years ago with five boxes of hives and store-bought packages of bees, which were placed on the farm of Dan Beelow with the help of their partner, 56-year-old Jim Sutherland of Wauconda.

"Everybody is happy with the bees," said Jake Beelow. "We get to sell honey and make a lot of money."

Beelow and Sutherland manage the beehives while the other boys are responsible for bottling the honey. Sutherland has been a beekeeper for the last 18 years and started mentoring Jake when he showed interest two years ago.

As honey bees buzzed around them, Beelow, Vohasek and Sutherland wore beekeeper uniforms as they inspected and collected honey from one of the hives in an Ivanhoe field.

"We all need bees. We all need to save the bees!" said Sutherland. "My motto is one hive at a time. I am trying to get people into starting backyard hives. That is why I am teaching Jake. To get the new guys in there."

According to Sutherland, there are not many wild bees left due to disease and also because of the demise of the fruit orchards in the area. The bees gather nectar from wildflowers and fruit trees in neighborhood yards. Bees are very important for crops and flowers because plants won't survive without the pollination from the bees.

As the boys worked with the bees and the honey, they moved around casually as the bees landed on their clothes and their hair.

"Every now and then we get stung," laughed Beelow. "It's just part of the business."

Bees produce honey at the beehives on the Beelow farm where Jake Beelow, Raymond Vohasek, Kevin Bair and Tyler Bair formed their own honey company called B&B Honey where they collect, package and sell honey with the help of Jim Sutherland. Gilbert R. Boucher II | Staff Photographer

Kevin Bair, 11, fills a bottle with honey with his brother Tyler, 8, in the garage of the Beelow farm in Ivanhoe. The boys formed their own honey company called B&B Honey where they collect, package and sell honey with the help of Jim Sutherland. Gilbert R. Boucher II | Staff Photographer

Jake Beelow, 11, sprays smoke around some honey bottles to keep the bees at bay as he sells honey recently along Route 83 near Crossroads Restaurant in Ivanhoe with Raymond Vohasek, 10, Kevin Bair, 11, and Tyler Bair, 8. Gilbert R. Boucher II | Staff Photographer

Tyler Bair, 8, dressed in a beekeeper's outfit, sprays smoke on the honey bottles to keep bees away. He gets help from Raymond Vohasek, 10, and Jake Beelow, 11. Gilbert R. Boucher II | Staff Photographer

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