A sweet business
10-year-old has bees working hard for him

By Anna Guido Enquirer contributor

ANDERSON TWP. - Nicholas Motz, 10, raises more than a million bees in 23 hand-built hives, bottles their honey, makes candles from their wax, then takes his products to market.

His dad and mom, Joe and Jane, said Nicholas "runs the show" under their supervision.

"We estimate we'll be able to produce three-quarters of a ton (of honey) this year," the freckle-faced boy said, busy as a bee himself scraping honey from combs at the Sugar Shack on Clough Pike.

Nicholas, a fifth-grader at Guardian Angels Elementary in Mount Washington, works hard for his honey.

He spends up to 15 hours a week year-round perfecting his beekeeping skills.

At least once a week, he suits up for a couple of hours with his dad to manipulate and manage the hives to maximize honey production.

When bees start producing young, timing is critical. The hives can't be too congested or too spacious, or the bees will leave.

After summer harvest, Nicholas spends two days a week, September through December, selling his Bee Hill Honey and Bee Hill Candles at two local markets.

From 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, he sets up shop at Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine, and from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, he's at Mount Washington Market.

His honey also is available at Tischbein Pharmacy and Coffee Emporium in Hyde Park.

Other sellers include Coffee Please in Madeira, Bounty Seafood and Campus Coffee in Mount Washington and Salt of the Earth in Madisonville.

"We sell a heck of a lot of it," Tischbein owner Joe Lutmer said. "We have regular customers who come in for it, and I eat it every single day."

Tischbein's sells about six cases (24 one-pound bottles a case) of Bee Hill Honey a year and could sell more if it were available, Lutmer said. "Some people say it helps with their allergies. I like the taste, and it's a much more natural sugar substitute."

Coffee Emporium owners Tony and Eileen Tausch stock Bee Hill Honey next to other locally produced products, such as mustard and barbecue sauce. Customers put it in coffee and tea and buy it to go.

"We love the fact that it's locally grown honey," Tony Tausch said.

Other keepers impressed

Nicholas learned beekeeping three years ago from his father, who learned from his own dad, Edmund Motz, 80. Edmund Motz was a fruit and vegetable farmer on Clough Pike and raised bees to help pollinate his crops.

"I've only met a couple of youth beekeepers, and Nicholas is one of the best," said Kevin Kress, president of the Southwestern Ohio Beekeepers Association.

Kress said beekeeping is a "misinterpreted art," and that Nicholas and his family work hard to educate the public about its benefits. Young people, in particular, can learn a lot from beekeeping, Kress said, including environmental awareness and business management.

Nicholas said he really likes bees "except for the sting part." He's been stung twice - he holds up two fingers.

His mom said he "likes the money." Nicholas' first year in business, he made $2,500 before expenses. The second year, he made $8,500, and last year, he made $12,500.

Jane Motz said Nicholas - the youngest of her three children - also likes demonstrating honey extraction and likes talking to people and answering their questions.

Production down this year

This year, Nicholas said his honey production is down about a third due to drought. "Flowers are not blooming enough, and the bees are eating a lot of the honey."

Bees need nectar to feed their young and to make honey. When flowers are not abundant, much of the honey produced must be kept in the hives as a bee food source.

Nicholas eats some of the honey too, by the spoonful and on bread, but he's not as indulgent as the bees or the rest of his family.

"I don't want to eat all the profits," he said.

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