Ben Potter cannot keep the wonder out of his voice when he talks about his bees.

Ben Potter cannot keep the wonder out of his voice when he talks about his bees.



"It's always daunting to start out when you put 15,000 bees in a hive," said the retired obstetrician and gynecologist, who has kept bees for decades. "It's pretty impressive."



Yet it is something Potter, who now lives in Kittery, Maine, has done time and again since adopting beekeeping as a hobby.



"I had been interested in keeping bees, so I thought about it for about 10 years," Potter said. "Then I thought, 'What a silly thing not to do, it could be fun.'"



Certainly since starting his first hive more than 20 years ago in the Concord area where he practiced medicine, Potter has cultivated a true affinity with his bees.



"It gets to be a part of you," he said. "I really love to work with the bees."



Although it is not "work intensive," Potter said, a true beekeeper, or apiarist, must be attentive.



"Every two to three weeks you have to check in on them," Pottery said. "You have to make sure that the bees are in the hive and that the eggs have been laid ..."



In essence, that nature is taking its course.



In between, Potter, like many beekeepers, simply enjoys watching the industrious nature of the bees.



"You sit next to the hive and you watch those bees coming in with orange pollen on their legs," he said. "It's just fascinating."



In fact, Potter is still astounded by the intricate honeycombs the bees create.



"They make perfect hexagon cells on both sides of the paper," he said. "I never get used to how they do that."



Especially since the thousands of bees in the hive can build that elaborate comb inside a beekeeper's frame in a week to 10 days, he said.



"Bees are wonderful," Potter said. "They are nature at its best."



Not only are they fascinating in the way they set up hives each bee with its own specific role — but all the while they are pollinating gardens within a mile or so the hive, they also often are making honey and beeswax that can be used for candles or soap.



In good years, Potter said he even has jarred enough honey to sell locally. Most years, however, he said he gives away the honey harvested to family and friends.



Undoubtedly, the bee, and its industrious nature, is something that has been gaining increasing attention by hobbyists.



Potter said adult education classes that he has been teaching in Portsmouth, York and Kittery over the years now number up to 25 to 26 students per session.



"I'm amazed at how the interest has taken hold," he said.



That could be because increased attention has been paid to the Colony Collapse Disorder that affected bees in recent years, which raised concerns about the connection between the loss of bees as an impending threat to the food supply. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as nuts, berries, fruits and vegetables.



The relatively low cost of starting up a hive — a few hundred dollars — as well as the increase in resources, such as classes and instructional DVDs, available to the hobbyist also probably have contributed to the resurgence in apiarists.



"Everybody who starts beekeeping needs a mentor," Potter said. "It's like anything else, you have to have someone to ask questions of, someone to bounce questions off of."



Undoubtedly Potter has done more than his part as an area mentor. In addition to teaching the adult education classes he has mentored beginning beekeepers like Clark James of York.



"It's great to have someone like Ben as a resource," James said. "He is invaluable."



Since starting up his hives about four years ago, James said he and his neighbors have noticed a considerable increase in the yield of their gardens.



"It is incredible what a difference the bees make," he said. "People don't realize how important the bees are in nature."



Certainly apiarists like James and Potter do though.



"It's fun, that's the only reason you do it," Potter said. "You never stop learning, no matter how long you do it." In fact, Potter, considered an "expert" in the field by James and others, said beekeepers will tell you "no one really is an expert" when it comes to beekeeping.



Well, there is one exception.



As Clark aptly put it, "The only experts really are the bees."



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