HONEY KING OF COCHISE COUNTY

Story by Anna Mae Stafford Riggs

After he had his ranch operating well, Thomas again was seized by the ambition to have bees.  Cattle were all right in their way, but bees were to become the ruling passion of his life.  It has been said of him when inquiry had been made concerning his where-abouts, “Oh, just look around and when you meet a man who just talks about bees, why this is Tom Riggs.”

          One of his young nephews, Tom, son of Brannick Benjamin, and incidentally his namesake, loves to tell of the time Uncle Tom cut his hair when he was a small boy.  During the process of cutting, and as the hair gradually grew shorter and shorter, he says Uncle Tom said, ”I’m looking for a Beeman.  I just want to see the shape of your head to see whether you are going to be a bee man or not”.  Finally, when the head was completely “shingled”, Uncle Tom announced that I was to be a bee man.  “Whether this influenced me or not to become one, I do not know, but needless to say, I am the only one of the younger generation who is carrying on the business.”

Since he was a little boy watching his grandfather Thomas Riggs rob the “bee trees” in Bandera County, TJ had an interest in raising Bees. His earliest recollections went back to the old fashioned “bee gums”, filled with bees and honey, that were kept by his Grand-father on the Medina River in Texas.  His desire to someday be a “keeper of bees” dated to the time when as a very small boy he saw his Grandfather “robbing the bee gums”.  To his mind no place was complete without bees, so when he heard of there being wild bees in the Graham Mountains, he decided to get some for himself.  Setting out bright and early one morning in the company of a neighbor, who also desired to keep bees, he went to the mountains and captured several swarms. This was a new experience.  Possessing only the most primitive of equipment, they received many painful stings, but undaunted, they succeeded in capturing enough for a number of hives which were placed in crudely made boxes on his little ranch.  The location was a poor one for the bees as they did not prosper, but his love for and determination to someday become a bee-keeper was unabated. To his mind no place was home without some stands of bees.  Although he wasn’t very successful with those first bees, with time and experience he developed a thriving honey business. He made long cement platforms to put his stands of bee boxes on and placed them among the cat claw and mesquite bushes on his ranch.  A room, under a second story room in the house at his ranch, was equipped to be used as the “Honey House”.  This is where the frames full of honey were brought to be extracted.  This room was cool and after being extracted the cans full of honey could be stored here.  You may be interested in how honey is made and extracted. On frames that are placed in the hive, bees make six sided cells from wax they make in their own bodies.  These cells are where they store the honey. When the bees complete filling each cell they cap it over with more wax.  When all or at least most of the cells in a frame have been capped the honey is ready to be extracted.  Using a smoker to quiet the bees and wearing protective gear, the beekeeper removes the frames, takes them to the honey house where the honey is extracted.  At the honey house the caps are cut off the cells of honey with a long knife that has been kept hot in a can of water over a fire. The uncapped frames are then placed in an extractor.  The extractor is a large barrel type container outfitted with baskets, where the frames of honey are placed.  The handle attached to the apparatus that holds the frames of honey is turned rapidly and the honey is flung out of the frames into the barrel.  After all of the honey is removed from the frames that have been brought to the honey house, the frames are returned to the hives and the process starts over again.  The honey is then drained from the extractor into containers such as 5-gallon cans and is ready to be sold.  There is nothing that tastes as good as honey that has been freshly extracted, well maybe chewing the honey right out of the honey comb!  TJ kept all of his family in good fresh honey.  In good years the honey business could be profitable.  As much as 6 tons of honey could be sold and shipped in one year.  As his business grew it was necessary to hire men to help him in gathering his honey crop each year.  TJ became known as the “Honey King of Southeast Arizona”. 

Wearing protective gear of a helmet, veil and gloves, the beekeeper uses a smoker to quiet the bees, breaks the frames loose from the wax holding them and removes the frames of honey with a hive tool and using the brush brushes the bees back into the hive.  He then takes them to the honey house where the honey is extracted.  At the honey house the caps are cut off the cells of honey with a long knife that has been kept hot in a can of water over a fire. The uncapped frames are then placed in an extractor.  The extractor is a large barrel type container outfitted with baskets, where the frames of honey are placed.  The handle attached to the apparatus that holds the frames of honey is turned rapidly and the honey is flung out of the frames into the barrel.  After all of the honey is removed from the frames that have been brought to the honey house, the frames are returned to the hives and the process starts over again.  The honey is then drained from the extractor into containers such as 5-gallon cans and is ready to be sold.   

You may be interested in how honey is made and extracted. On frames that are placed in the hive, bees make six sided cells from wax they make in their own bodies.  These cells are where they store the honey. When the bees complete filling each cell they cap it over with more wax.  When all or at least most of the cells in a frame have been capped the honey is ready to be extracted.