Denny Evans spent the better part of a quarter of a century surrounded by sirens and scanners.
He worked for 24 years in emergency services, the last job in that sector as director of the Sunflower County Emergency Management Agency.
Retirement has been busy, and it has been a bit more quiet.
When Evans is not mixing paint as the manager of Indianola’s Sherwin Williams store, he is spending time at his multiple beehives around the area.
“I started looking for something to do when I retired,” Evans told The Enterprise-Tocsin. “I don’t remember exactly how, but I came across beekeeping.”
Evans said that he spent an entire year learning about bees and beekeeping before he ever got a hive.
“The more I learned, the more fascinated I became,” he said, later adding, “I figured that if I could make a little money in the process, it would be worth it.”
He obtained his first two hives in 2017.
When the winter of 2018 hit, he lost one, and the other survived.
After that, Evans said that he began buying more hives and obtaining others through his bee removal service.
Today, he has hives in Indianola, near Moorhead and in Swiftown.
Evans said that there are several things beekeepers can do to make money, including pollination contracts and raising bees to sell them.
In his operation, however, Evans primarily sells honey and does bee removals.
Last year, he did about a dozen bee removals in the area, and he harvested about 30 pounds of honey.
“A lot of people like local honey, because they say that it helps with allergies,” Evans said.
Evans added that it is important when buying local honey to know about the beekeepers and the hives they manage.
He said that some larger operations that sell honey to stores will “micro filter” the honey, removing the pollen and the wax.
“All of the things that people want in there, they take it out,” Evans said. “Mine, I strain it one time. It’s the closes thing to sticking your finger in the hive without sticking your finger in the hive.”
Of the three main types of bees, which include Italian, Russian and Caucasian, Evans said that he prefers the Russian, due to the fact that it is known for being more hygienic.
“I don’t put any chemicals in my hive to control Varroa mites,” Evans said, referring to the parasites that often live and feed on the bodies of bees.
When it comes to bee removal, Evans said that property owners have two options. They can call an exterminator, but those companies usually only remove the bees.
“Having bees in your wall is not something that everybody wants, but it does happen.It happens quite a bit,” Evans said. “Everything that those bees brought in will be left behind.”
With his bee removal service, Evans said that he carries out anything that the bees brought in or made during their stay.
“When we come in and take them out, we take everything associated with the bees,” he said. “Anything they brought in, we take out. That’s the best way to get rid of them.”
Otherwise, he said, the property could be exposed to ants, roaches and other pests.
“It can really create a mess,” Evans said.
Evans said that when he is finished removing the bees, he repairs the hole there in order to block future access.
Evans has spent some time in the last year visiting with local civic clubs, educating them about bees, including dispelling some common myths.
“Stinging somebody is the last thing the bee wants to do. They are going to try and warn you first,” he said. “If you see a bee in your yard, leave it alone and don’t mess with it and it will leave you alone.”
And if there is a hive where there should not be one, call Denny Evans.
