Overcoming a sticky situation
Published:Wednesday | August 4, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer
Denbigh was almost short a bee-and-honey farmer this year.
Miguel Mullings, a bee farmer and honey producer, seemed to start off on an unlucky foot as he prepared for the trip to the Denbigh Agri-Industrial Show this year.
"It was a very great challenge to get our things to Denbigh," Mullings said, bursting into laughter.
Before even managing to leave St James, the first truck broke down in Montpelier.
"So I say, let us turn back because it look like we not going get anywhere," he said.
However, Mullings managed to get another truck and they set off for Clarendon.
"Then!" he said with another laugh, "two crates break down on the truck and mash up a lot of things."
He sobered as he noted his best-quality products were destroyed.
"Some of the better stuff got damaged, but we continued, and here we are," he said, seated among plants and bottled honey on Monday.
Local market huge
The St James farmer, who sells honey to supermarkets and two of the hotels in the tourist area, said he only supplies the local market.
"I went into honey production to export because I am always hearing that honey is short on the world market. But I can't because the local market sucks up all of my production," he said.
The Cornwall College graduate said it is expensive to get into bee farming.
"To start one colony for profit, it costs around $25,000-$28,000, and that is to get just one colony going. But it is a very successful business," said Mullings, who has been producing honey for approximately four years.
He now manages 140 colonies of bees and his reward, aside from successful yields, is to be forever stung.
"Bees sting me all the time and at first it used to make me fatigued, but I'm used to it now," he said.
"So why don't you talk about the chickens?" his wife and public relations manager chimed in.
The always-smiling farmer sighed and said: "I invented a machine that can pluck feathers from chickens in 15 seconds."
The mean feather-plucking machine is a mark of success for the farmer, who also started a chicken farm and did engineering drawings in high school.
"Twenty per cent of my costs was being soaked by labour and this way I save money and time."