The bee business is sweet

BOSQUE FARMS - Ken Hays is 68. He works 10 to 12 hours a day.

In an average week, he gets stung by a bee at least 75 times.

On purpose.

For Hays, a beekeeper for more than 30 years, that combination makes perfect sense. Everything about bees - the honey, the pollen, the work, the stings - keeps him healthy and energized.

"You can get hooked on honeybees," he said. "I love to work. I don't have to anymore, but I love to."

Drought has made this a tough year for Hays and his honeybees - a tough string of years, in fact.

The last year wet enough for optimal honey production was 1998, Hays said. Before the drought, his bees produced a couple thousand gallons of honey a year. This year, Hay expects the bees will produce only 800 gallons. Prime honey season is from the spring to the fall.

But he is optimistic.

"If the monsoon season comes, we'll be in great shape," he said.

Statewide, New Mexico has produced 343,000 pounds of honey so far this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2004, the state produced 352,000 pounds.

Hays has about 250 beehives; each is home to 60,000 to 100,000 blue Russian honeybees. It takes six to seven hours for Hays and his only employee, Eloy Prado, to harvest honey from 25 hives.

Hays says he's healthy enough to do the work due to his practice of apitherapy, which relies on the use of bee products and stings to promote health and fight disease.

Hays regularly incorporates products like honey and bee pollen into his diet.

"One of the huge benefits of beekeeping is you eat good," he said.

Hays also has his bees intentionally sting him on his pressure points three times a week, which usually consists of around 75 stings total.

Kathleen Miller, a former nurse practitioner and apitherapy enthusiast, administers the stings. Miller got into apitherapy when there was no other cure for her severe knee problems.

"I had three knee surgeries and I was at my wits' end," Miller said. "I decided to try apitherapy and it worked like a charm. It turned my life around."

Bee venom has healthful properties and helps with arthritis and allergies, Hays said, adding that it charges the immune system.

He said he has built his immune system so much that he no longer swells from the stings.

Hays and his wife, Sherri, have sold a wide variety of honeys and honey products out of their house since 1973.

Bear-shaped bottles of honey, in shades of light gold to deep amber, clutter the shelves of their storeroom. The various types are classified and labeled with the flower nectar they were made with: "white wildflower, cotton, deep tamarisk, purple sage."

Each variety has a unique taste. Hays said the flavors are lost when store-bought honey is boiled. Sugar is added to it, which destroys many of the healthful properties it possesses as well, he said.

In their "honey house," the Hayses sell whole honeycombs as well as one of Hays' favorite delicacies: bee pollen.

Hays claims the pollen is very healthy, and "contains all the nutrients needed to sustain life."

Hays gathers the bee pollen in a screen at the bottom of each hive. It's made of small orange and yellow powdery granules. It is potent stuff - Hays said just one granule a day, on an empty stomach, is all one should consume before one's system has become accustomed to it. Hays is so used to the effects of bee pollen, he can take about as much as he pleases. After accidentally spilling some on the seat of his truck, he scooped up a handful, threw back his head, and poured it into his mouth.

"This stuff is like gold!" he exclaimed.

The Hayses also sell honey-based lotion, soaps and lip balm, and beeswax candles made by Hays' wife, Sherri. They have been married for 19 years.

"He calls me the queen bee, but I'm just a worker bee," Sherri Hays said. "To tell you the truth, I'm afraid of bees."

Hays said he'll be working on the farm until he's "pushing up daisies."

"If you retire, you die," he said. "When things are fun, you don't want to retire. Because you're having fun."

New Mexico's farmers are greatly affected by the lack of rain. Peanut and dairy production are struggling this year. But drier plants like hay and chile are thriving. Here's a look at the drought's effects.

Peanuts

Peanut farmers are suffering.

"It's tough," said Jimmie Shearer, CEO of peanut processor Sunland Inc. in Portales. "The heat is sucking up the moisture, and the high winds are increasing evaporation. The irrigation system isn't able to keep up."

Luckily, Sunland had bumper crops of peanuts the past two years, reaping about 3,200 pounds per acre. The company has leftover inventory to sell this year. But Shearer said the stock will "dry up quickly" if it doesn't rain soon. This year, peanut farmers predict only 2,000 pounds of peanuts per acre.

Hay

The drought isn't hurting hay production as much as other crops, said David Sterrett, a hay farmer in Dexter.

Although production has decreased slightly, the market has risen dramatically. Usually, the hay sells for $135 a ton, but this year it's going for about $160, said Sterrett.

The dry weather actually makes for better quality hay. Too much moisture will ruin the hay, and a little dryness is ideal, he said.

Milk

However, the high prices of hay hurt dairy farmers, since it costs more to feed their stock, said Victor Cabrera, a dairy specialist for New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service.

This is especially a problem since the price for dairy products is at a record low. The price of cheddar cheese has dropped from $1.50 a pound to $1.20 a pound in just one year, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

"It's a hard time for the dairy farmers," said Cabrera.

Chile

"Overall, we're hearing the drought is affecting farmers (negatively)," said Doug Rains, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture. "But the chile producers are happy with the weather, since they need a certain amount of heat for the chiles."

"The chile is actually doing quite well," said Sandi Schwab, bookkeeper for Biad Chili Ltd. in Mesilla. "The drought doesn't really affect them."

This year's crop is doing better than last year due to the lack of moisture, said Dino Cervantes, chairman of the Chile Pepper Task Force. Last year there was too much moisture, which caused an insect problem with the chiles. Hot, dry weather also makes the chiles spicier, Cervantes said.

Erin Swinney