The buzz about Bee-lash

Gallery • 8 Photos

Contributed by Mr. Bilash

 (Editor’s Note: This is the first in a multi-part series examining interesting stories about PV teachers from outside of the classroom. Whether it is an unusual hobby, a prior job, or a specific interest, PV teachers have much to tell. Apparently, teachers have lives outside Pascack Valley. Who Knew!)

For most, crowded beehives are a nightmare. But for PV physics teacher Borislaw Bilash, beekeeping is one of his biggest passions.

Since starting 11 years ago, his most recent harvest broke a personal record with 287 and 461 pounds of light and dark honey.

He has been beekeeping since 2005. Bilash started this unique hobby in the Catskill Mountains outside of Hunter, New York.

Bilash hadn’t thought about beekeeping until his mother-in-law brought the topic up to him. She encouraged him to take beekeeping up as a hobby. To begin, they purchased two hives and an apiary, a place where bees are kept.

While beekeeping itself hasn’t been practiced generationally by his family, Bilash’s Ukrainian heritage can be traced to beekeeping. Historically, Ukraine has been Europe’s top producer of honey, garnering over 75 thousand metric tons annually. When his grandfather, a school teacher himself, came from Ukraine to Manitoba, Canada, he took up a career in beekeeping during World War II. In the midst of a sugar shortage, the Canadian government encouraged people to being beekeeping.

Bilash has only gotten better at the activity since he first began his career. His recent record is a personal one- in his twelve years of recreational beekeeping, he surpassed his 2015 record of 700 pounds of honey with a 2016 combined total of 750 pounds over two whole harvests. A huge gain from his first year’s 60-pound garner.

“Without bees, there’s no food, and without food there’s no society. Be good to bees, and be aware of what causes harm to them,” Bilash said. 

Colin Busby, a former student of Bilash when he worked at James Caldwell High School, was inspired by Bilash’s hobby and took up beekeeping himself.

“Mr. Bilash taught me that although beekeeping is not for the faint of heart, it does not require extraordinary courage to face 60,000ish stinging insects per hive on a regular basis,” Busby said.