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Wheeling Beekeeper Named West Virginia’s Best

|Photo provided by John Welty| John Welty has been in the beekeeping business for 15 years. The number of hives he owns has grown from three to 30, as he became "addicted" to the hobby.

A hobby picked up 15 years ago has earned a local man statewide recognition, with the 2024 West Virginia Beekeeper of the Year Award going to Windswept Farm owner John Welty.

The 63-year-old’s expertise and skills in managing his 30 hives and involvement in the beekeeping community earned him the title.

Welty, a retired automobile salesman, and his wife Gail Welty, a retired veterinarian, have always had a love for nature and animals. Cows, chickens, horses and more already roamed Windswept Farm before bees began buzzing on the property.

“We got into beekeeping because back in the mid-’80s and early ’90s when there was a terrible problem with colony collapse disorder,” said Welty. As the total number of bees plummeted in the world, the couple decided to lend “a little bit extra help” by acquiring three hives.

What began as an effort by both to raise the bee population became Welty’s sole duty, as they discovered Gail was allergic to bees. Though Welty raising the bees on his own “wasn’t in the game plan,” he had no problem becoming a single parent of the colonies.

“Beekeeping is truly a sickness, once you get involved it’s just amazing,” recalled Welty.

“At the blink of an eye, my three hives went to 30.”

While the bees are easier to take care of than the animals on the farm, Welty emphasized that anyone who wants to raise bees needs to learn the difference between being a “bee-haver” and a beekeeper.

“These bees are truly livestock, which means you have to make sure they’re healthy, medicate them, and give them food and water” noted Welty. “People don’t realize it takes a lot of work. In the spring and summer season, it takes a lot of dedication to make sure they’re healthy and comfortable.”

During the busy seasons for beekeeping, Welty needs to check on each of his hives “a couple of times per week for about 15 minutes.”

“It’s not a lot of time, but it multiplies pretty significantly if you have more than one hive,” explained Welty. “Usually what happens is somebody gets a hive, and then they realize, ‘Oh this is more work than I thought it would be.'”

Though the time dedicated to bees in Welty’s schedule has significantly decreased due to the frigid temperatures, Welty still performs checks on his hives in the winter to make sure the bees are producing enough heat to make it through the season.

“The bees can actually keep the temperature of the hive to about 92 degrees even when it’s zero outside,” explained Welty. “They actually keep the hive warm by vibrating their bodies and eating honey that they stored over the winter.”

Welty’s knowledge of how bees survive the cold is just a sample of the bee expertise he has acquired over the more than a decade he has been raising them.

The beekeeper also strives to learn about the insects beyond what he observes in the hives.

Welty has earned the distinction of Master Beekeeper, obtained through participating in peer-reviewed scientific experiments for three years where he learned about the biology, anatomy and physiology of the bugs he loves.

Though Welty believes most of what you learn as a beekeeper is done in the hives and not the classroom, participating in the University of Montana and West Virginia University courses to earn the title was very beneficial for him. He equated becoming a Master Beekeeper to “getting the ammunition” to give him a shot at becoming a better beekeeper.

Welty is also the secretary and treasurer of the Tri-State Beekeeping Club and is a member of the West Virginia Beekeepers Association.

In the tri-state group, Welty has helped many beginner beekeepers get started in the Annual Novice Beekeeping Program he co-produces. The six-week program will begin Feb. 21 at Oglebay’s Good Zoo.

Welty’s ability to educate the general public on the tiny wonder of the creatures is another factor that earned him the award.

Another effort in bee education created by Welty and other Tri-state Beekeepers club members was the “Bee-Amazed” virtual e-lab at Wheeling University’s Challenge Learning Center. The class taught children in kindergarten through third grade the basics of beekeeping as well as exploring how bees are important and beneficial to humans.

“I was in my beekeeper outfit teaching the kids sign language that says “Think before you squish,” said Welty. “We taught them don’t squish a bee because they’re very good and non-defensive.”

Apart from the ability to pollinate others with beekeeping knowledge, Welty loves that the organizations give him the opportunity to discuss all the ins and outs of beekeeping with fellow lovers of the bug.

“If you see me at a regular party, I’m the one sitting in the corner because nobody wants to talk about bees,” joked Welty. “But if we go to a beekeeping meeting, that’s all that there is to talk about.”

To earn recognition from fellow club members for his dedication to the practice means a lot to Welty. He noted those unfamiliar with the practice often underestimate the amount of time, effort and money the hobby takes.

“Unfortunately, beekeeping is really expensive,” noted Welty. “It’s sort of like taking up golfing, you have to buy clubs, shoes, balls and whatnot before you can get started. We have to buy all the woodenware, tools and medications, so it can be a real expense for people who didn’t realize what they were getting into when they started.

The cost is worth it for Welty, who is amazed every day by the tiny creatures in his backyard.

“I think the fact is to me, if there’s ever a situation where you perhaps doubted there was a higher deity, take up beekeeping,” he said. “You’ll see some of the most absolutely unexplainable miracles these little bugs do.”

Learning something new about the insects every day is what Welty finds most addicting about the hobby. He described the “name of the game” as a beekeeper is not trying to change what the bees do but simply learning how to make them comfortable.

“You’re not reinventing the world as a beekeeper,” noted Welty. “The bees are going to do what they want to do, so you just have to make it a little bit easier for them.”

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