Local Beekeeper a Legend Among the Hives

There’s a symphony with thousands of tiny musicians inside Bill Buckley’s swimming pool. 

No longer filled with water, the above-ground vessel provides shelter for Buckley’s four steadily humming beehives, part of a collection he’s cultivated during more than 35 years as a beekeeper.

At 84, Buckley has scaled back the number of hives he tends from a high of 30, but he and his wife, Dorothy, continue to spread the word of the bee throughout the region. 

If you’ve ever called the Morton Arboretum or Kline Creek Farm about bee troubles, chances are they referred you to Buckley. He’ll put out a call within his network of fellow beekeepers to find someone to solve dilemmas such as bees swarming in back yards or building hives inside attics.

“Bill and Dottie are wonderful people who have contributed to the beekeeping community in the area and throughout the state for many years,” said Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association President Gary Gates. “Bill is always willing to share his knowledge and thoughts on beekeeping.”

Buckley is the former president of the state and regional beekeepers associations and has done educational presentations about bees everywhere from schools to churches to fairs. He and Dorothy will be selling their honey and candles with the Cook-DuPage Beekeepers’ Association next week at the DuPage County Fair.

“I’m fascinated with the bees,” he said. “I try to outwit them and they try to outwit me.” 

Buckley stands to the side of his hives when he lifts a frame packed densely with four to five pounds of honey and comb. The sweet, unmistakable scent wafts through the air. 

The bees aren’t likely to bother him, he said, as long as he stays out of their path to the hive. 

“You could mow the grass naked outside the pool and they wouldn’t bother you,” he said. “But I wouldn’t stand right in front of the hive naked and get in their way.” 

Part of the reason Buckley said he keeps the hives in the pool is because the bees need to fly as high as the railing before they can exit. They’re already well above person height before they’re out in the open and less likely to run into someone.

Beekeeping is just as much of an art as a science, and Buckley admits he still gets stung from time to time—and the stings still hurt. Anyone who says otherwise, he said, is full of it.

“Yes, ma’am, it hurts,” he said. 

But bee stings can be therapeutic too. He and Dorothy use purposeful stings to treat joint problems including arthritis. Athletes and others with aches and pains will buy from him boxes with 30 to 40 bees to help treat their ailments, he said. The bee’s venom, according to Buckley, stimulates the immune system and improves circulation.

A farmer introduced Buckley to beekeeping when he was a teenager in Arkansas during World War II. Buckley helped him by doing some of the heavy lifting involved in managing a hive.

When he was old enough, Buckley said he joined the Navy. After the war he started working as a mechanic at an oil company. 

Another mechanic gave him a box of bees, which Buckley put in his yard. A week later he said he took off the top and the number of bees inside had multiplied exponentially. 

“I said, ‘Oh, s***!’” Buckley recalled. Despite the scare, his new collection of bees rekindled his interest in beekeeping. 

The hives produce up to 100 pounds of honey each season, which the Buckleys bottle and sell. Dorothy uses the beeswax to make candles and small molded wax objects such as picture frames and Christmas tree ornaments. 

Dorothy is working on a group of items to enter into the upcoming Illinois State Fair in Springfield. A few years ago she won first place for an intricate box she molded out of beeswax. The surface is as detailed as if it were carved from wood or ivory. 

It’s more important than ever to share bees’ many purposes with the public, Buckley said. Due to colony collapse disorder (CCD), the insects are in a precarious state. One possible cause of CCD, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service, is overuse of pesticides.

Buckley, too, said he believes pesticides are to blame. The bees in his hives, however, primarily gather pollen and nectar from the pear, apple, cherry and mulberry trees on his one-acre property. 

His hives continue to thrive, with the queen laying between 1,800 and 2,000 eggs a day. 

Dorothy, who kept hives herself for a number of years, originally thought Buckley was crazy when he said he wanted to start beekeeping. Dorothy said she was right—in a way.

“All beekeepers have to be a little crazy,” she said.

“You don’t have to be crazy,” Buckley responded. “But it helps.”

In addition to appearing with the Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association at the DuPage County Fair next week, the Buckleys will have a table from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Family Farm Fest at Church of the Holy Nativity, 60 55th St. in Clarendon Hills.