Ed Forney, the only authorized trainer in the Eastern Panhandle for the Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Project, shows off several of his hives as the owner of Geezer Ridge Farm in Hedgesville. Forney will be teaching veterans and others interested in the art of beekeeping as a therapeutic and commercial hobby.
HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. — Some say that therapy can take all forms -even the honeybee.
And thanks to the West Virginia Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Project, for a growing number of veterans in the area, beekeeping is now buzzworthy.
Just ask Ed Forney, the owner of Geezer Ridge Farm, a full-service beekeeping supply company.
Forney is an apiary specialist for the Department of Agriculture and the only authorized trainer in the Eastern Panhandle for the Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Project.
The initiative was launched last year with the passing of Senate Bill 469. The program was created to provide additional opportunities for veterans in the agricultural industry with funding to deal with hardships by creating jobs and contributing to West Virginia’s local economy.
As a veteran himself, Forney said when it comes to the hobby of beekeeping, it’s simple.
“The colony itself is a super organism,” Forney said. “A soldier couldn’t function without the help of the entire unit. It’s the same when it comes to bees; every bee has a different function.”
In addition to being able to relate to the interworkings of the hive, Forney said the hobby is a therapeutic tool for veterans suffering from problems such as post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.
“You assume that it’s so stressful, but when you get into the hive, it’s actually very calming and soothing,” he said.
Since the launch of the Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Project, Forney has seen a significant increase in the number of veterans becoming involved in the beekeeping hobby.
Forney said last year 51 veterans signed on to keep their own hives, with 2015 already doubling that number. This year, Forney said 117 veterans have already signed up for the program.
However, the art of beekeeping is not just for veterans.
“Most people don’t realize that one-third of our whole food supply depends on the honeybee,” Forney said.
That’s why Geezer Ridge Farm and the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle Beekeepers Association will also be teaming up to provide a six-week training course on the art of beekeeping.
The course, which costs $85, will provide a full education on the biology of the honeybee, as well as how to sustain beekeeping as a lasting hobby.
Forney knows from experience that being a successful beekeeper doesn’t take a lifetime to get good.
“You don’t need to do this 20 years to be successful,” he said.
The professional beekeeper began taking care of honeybees a little more than five years ago after his wife became interested in the hobby.
“I personally wanted nothing to do with it. I’ve had some very bad experiences in my life with wasps and hornets – being stung horribly from when I was a kid through adulthood. I did not in my mind have any separation between wasp, hornet and the honeybee. To me everything was just classified as a bee,” he said.
It wasn’t until his wife needed help lifting the colonies that her passion became his.
“Here I am, I’m holding this frame and the queen is walking along laying her eggs as I’m holding it. And you have to understand that I was thinking up until that point I was going to have 1,000 bees come flying up into a ‘death to the beekeeper’ type deal, but it was nothing like that. Not even close, and I was hooked,” Forney said.
Now Forney and his wife run 11 beeyards with hundreds of hives.
Forney said he attributes his success to following the textbook for the past few years. Last winter, his beekeeping farm had a one percent mortality rate for the 2013-14 season, which was 17 percent less than the national average, according to a report released by the USDA.
“If you want to make a great cake, you just have to follow a great recipe,” Forney said.
The upcoming six-week course will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, and will be held at the WVU Fruit Research Lab in Kearneysville at 3796 Charles Town Road.
In addition to the six-week course, Geezer Ridge Farm will also be hosting a number of free workshops for kids and the general public on Sundays starting at 11 a.m. The farm is located at 173 Rooney Road in Hedgesville.
