High Point woman takes beekeeping to the next level

Apr. 6—HIGH POINT — even years ago, when Lesa Pierce decided to take up beekeeping as a hobby, she didn't realize just how hard she would be stung.

Not literally, mind you — although the occasional stings do come with the territory — but the figurative sting of an enjoyable hobby that has gotten into her blood. Not only is the 69-year-old High Point woman on the verge of becoming a master beekeeper, she's also North Carolina's first certified honey judge, a rigorously earned distinction awarded by the American Honey Show Training Council.

"I didn't know my new hobby was going to be this time-consuming, but I'm happy doing it," Pierce says. "It's been a lot of fun for me."

Pierce took up beekeeping in 2017, after deciding she needed to find a hobby for her retirement years.

"I've made jams and jellies for years and years, and I've entered them in competitions, but my husband (Mark) didn't eat them — he always ate honey," she says.

"I had been reading about how bees are having problems. I started looking into it, going to festivals, and I just decided to try it. I took a beginning class with the Guilford County Beekeepers Association, and I got a mentor to help me. She helped me along, I got my bees, and it just grew from there."

According to Pierce, the notion that the bee population is in decline may not be entirely accurate, but bees certainly face some challenges.

"There are so many people that spray for weeds, and that's bad for bees," she explains. "There are so many HOAs (homeowners associations) that have services to come in and spray everything. I think that's the biggest detriment to bees."

They're also threatened by the Varroa destructor mite, a parasitic mite that can destroy honeybee colonies. As a result, beekeepers treat their hives to keep the mites from destroying them.

That's important, Pierce says, because we depend on the bees for our own survival.

"If they're extinct, we're extinct," she says.

Pierce has about 10 hives of different sizes in a patch of woods on some undeveloped property in High Point. As a beekeeper, it's her responsibility to maintain and manage the honeybee colonies, replace honeycombs, and collect the honey, beeswax and pollen.

That, of course, requires Pierce to have some close encounters with the bees, and she admits she gets stung seven or eight times a year, despite wearing her protective beekeeper suit.

"I just suit up and do what I have to do, knowing I'll get stung once in a while," she says.

Pierce clearly has a knack for what she's doing. Her honeys — and even her honey pumpkin muffins — have won first-place awards at honey festivals. She's even won an award for her honey-themed photography.

Eventually, after attending a multitude of festivals and conferences, Pierce decided she wanted to become a certified honey judge. After attending numerous classes and putting in countless service hours at festivals, she completed her testing last month and became the state's first certified honey judge — a distinction that enables her to judge honey competitions at festivals throughout the Southeast.

"It's a pretty rigorous process, but I'm glad I did it," Pierce says. "The next step is to work at competitions, and then I can try to become a senior honey judge."

For anyone interested in becoming a beekeeper, Pierce recommends finding a beekeeping club — such as the Guilford County Beekeepers Association — and taking a class.

"They should get a mentor, too," she adds. "My mentor was a huge help to me."

For more information about the Guilford County Beekeepers Association, visit guilfordbeekeepers.org.

Jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579