Beyond the Stars: Chuck Curles, Dealer Trainer

When you would normally see most people running from bees, Four Star Freightliner's Dealer Trainer Chuck Curles does the complete opposite. He runs to them! Chuck is the dealer trainer at the Foster-Davenport Training Center in Dothan, Ala. But he's also spent the past couple of years as a beekeeper. He got the idea from Four Star's training manager David Carroll, who used to be a beekeeper in his spare time. They've even worked together in the past to remove bees. There were bees living in the walls of an old building on the Four Star property in Dothan. David and Chuck removed them before the building was torn down. Chuck also removes bees from people's homes.

"It's like a vacuum, but not a lot of suction," Chuck said to describe the equipment he uses to remove bees. "It doesn't hurt them. It's just enough to pull them in there."

Chuck emphasizes that it's a challenge to keep bees. 

"People think you just stick them in the yard and not do anything. But you have to check on them. They can get diseases and pests that have to be treated."

Chuck currently has 40 hives. He says the bees are not really aggressive, but instead more defensive. If they sting someone, they die afterwards.  

"I get stung all the time," he said. "I don't pay attention anymore. You get used to it."

Chuck shared a few interesting facts about beekeeping:

• Bees are agitated this time of year. (summer)
• Bees are grumpy on cloudy days.
• Warm, sunny days are best for getting honey.
• Worker bees are all female. They go out looking for food.
• Drone bees mate and eat. They actually mate once and die.
• Bees will fly until their destroy their wings.

So what does Chuck do with all the honey collected from the hives? He bottles it up! C&J's Bees offers their raw honey in 12-ounce containers. You can learn more in the C&J Bees Facebook group.