As a boy growing up in northern Virginia, Will Garvey was drafted to help with his father’s hobby of beekeeping. Just 12 years old, young Will didn’t particularly share his father’s affinity for beekeeping. They sweated under heavy winter jackets in the summer heat for protection against bee stings. The rudimentary veils they wore were often not sufficiently close fitting to prevent the bees from stinging Will around the face. “I didn’t like it,” Will recalls. “I got stung a lot.”

Fast forward nearly five decades and today Will is the Volunteer Beekeeper for The Park at Flat Rock. He maintains the cluster of 10 hives located near the center of the park and has quite obviously made peace with the bees and their occasional cantankerous moods - which is a good thing because Will estimates he is now caring for about 300,000 honey bees that live and work at The Park at Flat Rock.

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Will grew up in Arlington County near the Pentagon and recalls playing in the halls of the world’s largest office building. It was the late 1960s and early 1970s and well before the days of the lockdown security measures that mark modern life.  It was also the time before the advent of massive development and urbanization in that part of the country. The land around the Pentagon was very open and Will’s father kept hives in the area. “There were a lot of Locust trees which is a favorite honey tree. It makes a honey that is almost gin-clear and very sweet.” The family also kept a beehive on the roof of their garage at one point and Will was introduced to the idea of urban beekeeping. With his two brothers, Will helped with the family hives until he left for college.


After college, Will’s career path eventually led him to a work as an Environmental Specialist for the Office of Federal Sustainability. He worked on issues dealing with energy and water usage and hazardous chemicals. For the last six years of his career, he served as Chief of Staff in the Office of Federal Sustainability. All told, his career in the Federal Government lasted 29 years.


In 2005, Will and his wife Robin purchased land in the nearby Shenandoah Valley as a weekend retreat from the hectic pace of life in the Washington, DC area. Will tried his hand at raising apples and had about 30 varieties of apple trees. The orchard was not as successful as he hoped so he tapped into his childhood experience as a novice beekeeper and set up hives to see if they would help the orchard be more productive. The apples only improved marginally, but Will found himself back in the business of raising honey bees.

As his career in DC wound down, Will and Robin began looking for a place to retire and escape the hustle and bustle of a large metropolis.  “I grew up in Arlington, so when it came time to do something different, I was anxious to be out in the country and away from things.” Will had roots in western North Carolina - his grandfather lived in Blowing Rock and an uncle live in Boone. Robin’s father had retired to Hayesville, NC. So they were familiar with the area and started looking for a new home in the mountains of North Carolina.

They both love to hike and fly fish and after a year of searching, they found a home nestled between Dupont State Forest and the Holmes Educational State Forest providing them convenient access to the outdoor activities they love. When they finally moved to Henderson County in 2016, Will’s beehives came with him. “I loaded them up at 2 in the morning and drove them down here.” 

The Accidental Park Beekeeper

Will’s association with The Park at Flat Rock came about through some necessary car repairs and a bit of serendipity. He dropped his car off at Dale’s Auto Shop across the street from the park. When they told him the wait would be a couple of hours, he decided to spend that time walking the park trails. 

During that walk, he stumbled upon a single unoccupied hive that had been started but ultimately failed. “I went to the Park Ranger, John Wilkerson, and asked what’s up with the beehive?” When Will offered to help, John took his name and number and called him a few months later. “He invited me to bring a couple of my hives down here.”

Will’s earliest attempts at beekeeping in The Park met with mixed results. “Up until last year I lost hives every year.” Will’s hives, like honey bees everywhere, are constantly dealing with deadly mite infestations. On top of that, the manicured appearance of parks and lawns frequently involves the use of herbicides and pesticides which are another challenge for bees. “The chemicals used are registered and legal but they are hard on a bee population that is already struggling with the mite issue,” Will explains.


Despite the many challenges, Will and his bees are having a banner year in 2022 - so far.  Last year he had three hives but that number has increased dramatically by splitting healthy hives and the addition of hives populated with wild bee swarms collected by Will. Will says he’s also gotten better at tending to the health of his bees. “The bees are all treated for mites twice a year. It’s an organic chemical that the bees can handle but the mites can’t.”


Will describes himself as a self-educated beekeeper who’s learned a lot through many years of experience - experiences both good and bad. He also has family resources with a brother that is certified as a Master Beekeeper. “When I need some information, I pick up the phone and call my brother. But he always reminds me that all beekeeping is local,” Will adds with a laugh. “What works where he lives might not work here.” 

Ultimately, Will manages his hives with a combination of technical knowledge, years of experience, and an intuitive sense of what is going on inside his hives. He also has come to understand what he doesn’t know - an important qualification for a beekeeper in his estimation. “A beekeeper with three years experience tends to think they know everything. A beekeeper with 10 years of experience understands everything that they don’t know.”


The bees at The Park at Flat Rock produce some honey but that is not their primary benefit, according to Will. The hives, like the nearby Pollinator Garden, help demonstrate how individual efforts can have a positive impact on the natural world.  “When people are interested in saving the honey bees, they are helping a much larger population of pollinators and working on a much larger, environmental issue.  All pollinators benefit from people’s interest in honey bees,” says Will.

When Will is working with his hives in The Park, he naturally draws the attention and many questions of passing park-goers. “People are curious and that allows us to open the conversation about what is important from an ecological standpoint.”  Will tends to the hives every few days in the spring and approximately every two weeks in the summer. He prefers to leave them undisturbed during the colder months to help them preserve the heat they generate to survive the winter.


Will’s involvement with The Park has expanded beyond beekeeping and he is currently a member of the Flat Rock Park Commission where he advocates for sustainable practices that help both his bees and the environment. He points to the park’s expansive wildflower meadow as a prime example of a landscape feature that is good for the wildlife in the park and as well as for its thousands of human visitors. “The wildflower meadow reduces the amount of grass that has to be treated and mowed.  It also creates a natural habitat for pollinators and food for the birds that feed on grubs and insects which are not nearly as prevalent in manicured grassy areas.”  

Will’s environmental advocacy is not limited to The Park. He is also on the Environmental Sustainability Board for the City of Hendersonville. 

When not caring for bees, Will has an interest in propagating native plants from seeds he collects in the wild. He brings the seeds back to his home where he cultivates them until they are large enough to take out and re-plant. “Some of the plants are not what you would want in your garden but they are important to the pollinators and other insects so it’s important to maintain those plants. It’s great fun to find the seed pods and a year later you have a bunch of seedlings.”

Last year Will helped plant 30 Paw Paw trees in The Park which he grew from seedpods at home. Paw Paws are the host plant of the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.” 


Will has spent a lifetime learning about bees but particularly loves that he is always learning. “I love the challenge. There are lots of books about beekeeping, but the bees don’t read the books so you are often confronted with situations that require creative problem-solving.”

Thanks to the dedication of Will Garvey, the bees and visitors to The Park at Flat Rock are able to enjoy a world that is healthier and happier for all of us - occasionally served up with a side of honey.


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Note: For anyone interested in meeting Will and learning more about bees and beekeeping, he is hosting a Nature Talk on Saturday, June 25th at 10 am, in Staton Pavilion in The Park. 


He will discuss the life of bees, the process of creating and maintaining bee hives, and his lifetime of experience as a beekeeper. His passion and experience always come through during his presentations making a fascinating subject even more engaging.