The Beekeeper

Beekeeping is a passion, hobby and a summer business for me.  I work in roughly a 35 mile radius of Lodi. I have my own apiary of 25 hives,

Beekeeper Laurent Soucie of Luscious Laurent Honey prepared for a day of working the hives

process my own honey, provide honey bee removal services for swarms or hives located in buildings, and educate the general public on bee keeping and the importance of bees to our food supply.

Beekeeping background

I have bee  keeping for 15 years. I started with an observation hive right in my bedroom in our Milwaukee home. My brother rigged up an entrance to the outside and had clear viewing of the bees and their activities. Creepy I know, but I was fascinated.

I always wanted to have my own hives and since my wife wouldn’t let me have them in the house, living in the country was a goal. About 20 years ago after moving to the rural Scenic Lodi Valley area, I finally was able to set up my own bee yard, honey house and raise my own bees for honey for the family. I found that eating honey from my own apiaries drastically reduced my severe allergies to pollen. Since we go through 2-3 pounds of honey each week with a family of 5 (using it for baking and sweetening), not much was left to sell.

About 5 years ago I started to enlarge my apiary in order to sell honey in the local area.

As a lifelong learner, I have self-educated myself through reading and trial and error with various techniques and equipment.  Other local beekeepers and bee keeping supply companies like Lapps have been very helpful in increasing my knowledge and answering questions.

Producing Honey

In the past 5 years I have increased my hives and purchased processing equipment that allows me to harvest and jar honey for sale. My interest in bees as a critical resource for survival and sustainability of our food sources drives me to educate people on the importance of bees. Our farm is surrounded by Black Locust trees which allows for the early honey flow. Wild flowers, clover, wild fruit trees and berries supply the rest of the pollen for the bees.

Bee Removal

I have been called upon more and more to remove honey bees that have found homes in attics and barns. This is an active service and is quoted based on distance and nature of the hive location. Since it is illegal to kill honey bees, it is important to identify, remove the bees, hive and any honey stores that exist in the proper manner. I do not remove wasps, hornets or other types of ground nesting bees which can be killed with commercial insecticides or pesticides. It is important to identify the insect before using these chemicals.

Bee Keeping Education

It is important to educate the public on the importance of bees. As a teacher by profession, I enjoy helping others get started with beekeeping. Sometimes this means just placing a hive at the homeowners location and letting them work with me during the regular visits. Other times it means teaching them how to do it for themselves with their own purchased equipment.  I have worked with the local 4H on projects for kids as well.