Creating a buzz: Beech Grove family's bees pollinating almonds in California

Dec. 17—In 2013, Curtis Simpson, of Beech Grove, decided to forgo his career building transmissions and turn a hobby of his and his wife's, Tiphani Simpson, into a family business called Ranger Bees.

"I came home from work one day, and I've been thinking about it, and I told my wife, 'I think I want to make this a business and quit my job,' " he said, "and she said 'You've lost your mind.' "

Curtis Simpson said getting into the field was an accident.

"Some friends of ours were wanting beehives because they wanted (their own) honey," he said, "and they said, 'See if you can find somebody with some used equipment.' ...So, I found somebody and by the time I got back with them, they (had) bought new equipment and I'd already spoken for the used equipment.

"So, man of my word — I go back and I get the used equipment. ...I said, 'I'll just stick a couple hives on the hill and we'll see what happens.' Not really interested in it, but it turns out I took an interest in it and absolutely love it and enjoy it."

The business started with two hives and eventually grew to 700 by 2019.

Their children — daughter Jacquelynn, 19, and son Jevin, 17 — have also become involved.

Currently, the Simpson family has 1,400 hives of their own and leases on 400 others.

"It continued to grow," Curtis Simpson said. "My son and daughter have been involved, and they have their own hives in it as well."

Beside making bee sales and selling their own honey, the business makes profit from pollinating crops for growers from almonds, cantaloupe, pumpkins, watermelons and more in places ranging from Kentucky, California and Indiana.

"There's a shortage of bees most years," Curtis Simpson said. "...About 1.6 million colonies go to California each year to pollinate almonds, so it's a great portion of bees that are in the U.S. to go there.

"It's like the Super Bowl of beekeeping; and that is where we get our money to start the year off to buy our new equipment, to get our feed, to pay for our trucks."

Curtis Simpson said a lot of travel is involved in the field.

Each year in October, they head out to Mississippi once the honey has been harvested and extracted locally to be in the warm climate, while "keeping the nutrition up."

By the end of January, Curtis Simpson said they begin to load the hives on trucks to make their way to California.

"They got to be sitting on the ground by the first week of February for the almonds," he said. "The almond bloom will usually start somewhere around the 10th to 14th ... depending on where you're at in the valley."

The hives stay until mid-March before going back to Mississippi.

"There's not a lot of honey to be made there because we're splitting," Curtis Simpson said. "We're always increasing, always making up our dead out."

The family has to then be back by mid-May in order to start placing the hives in watermelons by the beginning of June.

The first melon growers Ranger Bees took on was Gary Cecil, owner of Cecil Farms.

"I think we've started at around 30-something hives with Gary the first year," he said. "The next year, he went 100% with us and I think that required somewhere (around) 600-700 hives .... He takes 900 from us each year right now for his watermelons and produce."

After years of trial-and-error, the family of four will celebrate Ranger Bees' 10-year anniversary in the spring.

For Curtis Simpson, it's gone by quickly and thanks the support from above for keeping the business going.

"It's very surprising. It doesn't seem like it's been that long," he said. "We've had our ups and downs, but God has definitely blessed (us). We've had times whenever we didn't think we were gonna make it, and He provides just in the times that we don't think we can do it."

And the business has been a great experience for the entire family.

"It's definitely something that we've grown in together," he said. "This has been a journey that we've all learned together ... and grown as one unit."

For more information about Ranger Bees, visit facebook.com/RangerBees.