Cantigny Golf’s Scott Witte not only thinks “outside the box,” but also “inside the hive” to help distinguish the property and gain special insights for its environmental mission.
Golf course superintendents often have to grapple with the whims of the weather to keep their properties in pristine condition. At Cantigny Golf in Wheaton, Ill., however, Certified Golf Course Superintendent Scott Witte prefers to work hand-in-hand with Mother Nature.
As the superintendent at a property with Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program certification, Witte likes to think “outside the box” when it comes to maintaining an eco-friendly environment. And in Witte’s case, this also involves thinking “inside the hive.” The self-taught apiarist maintains 10 honeybee hives, plus three more natural hives in trees on the golf course. And while he derives personal enjoyment from the honeybee project, Witte finds that the bees serve as an effective indicator of his property’s environmental health as well.
Witte’s beekeeping efforts also uphold the principles of Col. Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, on whose estate Cantigny was built. In his will, McCormick stipulated that the estate be used for philanthropic purposes, and that his home and lands be used as a source of recreation and education for the people of Illinois.
Super in the Spotlight: Scott Witte, CGCS Position: Golf Course Superintendent, Cantigny Golf, Wheaton, Ill. Education and Training: B.S. in plant and soil science with an emphasis in turfgrass management from Michigan State University; working on Masters in Leadership Studies at North Central College, Naperville, Ill. Years at Cantigny Golf: 18 Years in the Golf Course Maintenance Business: 30 Previous Employment: Barrington Hills Country Club, Barrington, Ill.; Merit Club, Libertyville, Ill. Certifications: Certified Golf Course Superintendent since 2001; state pesticide applicator’s license Honors and Awards: Cantigny Golf has been certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program since 1993. Witte is a Past President of the Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents, and he won the 2009 MAGCS Ray Gerber Editorial Award. |
Witte recently spoke to C&RB about how his beekeeping efforts enhance his role as a golf course superintendent and caretaker of the environment.
Q: How did you start beekeeping at Cantigny Golf?
A: Since 1993, Cantigny Golf has earned status as a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. So we’ve always been an environmentally conscientious golf facility. A friend came up to me and said, “You have a great habitat for honeybees, and you should start keeping beehives.”
The first time I set up my first hive, it had this amazing calming effect that I didn’t expect. Bees are buzzing around you, but it’s so spellbinding. I started doing more research. As a self-taught apiarist, I started realizing how much trouble the honeybees were in. Small hive beetles and veroamites carry viruses that are detrimental to the health of the hive. These stresses are causing great losses, in the 30-percent range, in the country’s and world’s bee population. I came up with a concept called the Cantigny Golf Bee Barometer Project, to help gauge the health of the environment.
Q: How many hives do you have?
A: Currently, we have 10 domesticated hives on the golf course, and three more wild hives on the golf course, in trees. It gives me a good opportunity to educate the public that honeybees will not bother the golfer. A lot of people confuse honeybees with wasps and hornets and think they will sting them. The only thing the honeybee has on its mind is where it will find its next flower to get nectar and pollen. They make honey from the nectar and store pollen as a protein source.
We have a volunteer program here at Cantigny Golf within the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. We have a great core of volunteers that help with our bird monitoring and our beekeeping program. Our lead volunteer, Melanie Robinson, a science teacher, and her daughter, Sarah, help me check on the hives once a week or every other week, to see that the queen and hive are healthy and not attacked by beetles or mites.
Q: What do you enjoy most about beekeeping?
A: The excitement that is generated within our golfing community. It has been a tremendous public relations tool to grab people’s attention, whether they are a golfer or nongolfer. It’s a wonderful conversation tool to break in with a group of people, and has brought so much interest in all of our environmental initiatives on the course.
A Golf Digest survey said 76 percent of golfers prefer a golf course that integrates natural habitats into the surroundings. We basically take that and run with it. You can’t help but experience nature when you play golf at Cantigny.
Q: How have the golfers reacted to the beehives?
A: They absolutely love it. They’re constantly asking when the honey is coming in, because we sell out every year. It’s local honey—raw with a lot of healthy benefits.
Q: What bee-related products do you sell, and where do the proceeds go?
A: We sell our honey and beeswax candles in the pro shop, and in a gift shop on the Cantigny Park side as well. We just started selling our lip balm products that use coconut oil, jojoba oil, and peppermint oil. A good portion of those proceeds go right back into our Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary programs.
Golf Course Operations Profile Cantigny Golf Club Website: www.cantignygolf.com No. of Holes: 27 championship holes, plus a nine-hole, par 3 Youth Links instructional course Designer: Roger Packard (27 championship holes); Roger Packard/Andy North (Youth Links course) Type: Daily fee Year Opened: 1989 Golf Season: Early April – late November Annual Rounds: About 28,000 18-hole equivalents Fairways: Creeping bentgrass and poa annua Greens: Creeping bentgrass and poa annua Annual Course Maintenance Budget: $1.4 million for 36 holes Staff: Seven full-time employees, 26 seasonal Other C&G Managers: Patrick Maksymiu, Lakeside Golf Course Superintendent; Jeremy Duncan, Woodside Golf Course Superintendent; Steve Kuretsky, Hillside Golf Course Superintendent; Romeo Diaz, Youth Links Assistant; Phillip Reed, Irrigation Assistant; Tom Weigand, Chief Equipment Technician; Donna Burke, Office Manager Water Source and Usage: Effluent water from the Wheaton Sanitary Plant. Since opening, Cantigny Golf has conserved more than 1 billion gallons of fresh groundwater reserves. Nine of the property’s 11 ponds funnel rainwater into the irrigation pond. Aerating and Overseeding Schedules: Aerifies greens, fairways and tees in the fall; topdresses greens bi-weekly; topdresses for problematic fairways with sand in the spring and fall Upcoming Capital Projects: Master plan concepts have been implemented for the past 10 years and should continue for another five years. The property recently completed a stream bank stabilization project. Cantigny Golf is constantly improving native prairie areas and removing invasive plants. The property updates and rebuilds bunkers on a continual basis within the master plan. |
The products we’ve sold have also helped fund the purchase of beekeeping supplies for students in a bee club at a senior high school in Ghana, Africa. I have a friend whose son works with a British charity that funds and manages the school, and she told me that kids there had started a bee club to maintain hives that produce wax and honey, which they then sell to generate funds for their school. We were able to donate three bee suits and two smokers from the sale of our honeybee products.
Q: How do bees benefit golf course maintenance?
A: They have been a tremendous public relations tool for the golf course, since we are constantly trying to think of ways to improve the environment and to incorporate the environment into the experience at Cantigny. Great golf can go hand-in-hand with a healthy environment.
Q: Are any other departments at Cantigny involved with the project, and if so, in what way?
A: On the park side, we have another beekeeper that keeps one hive in the middle of the park. Periodically, I give our chefs raw honey that they use in high-end cheese plates and certain dishes. We also have our own herb garden.
Q: How do bees serve as a barometer for the health of the environment?
A: In my opinion, a healthy beehive or bee should signify a healthy environment. If it’s toxic, then we wouldn’t be able to keep bees successfully, and you are not being a good steward of the land.
Q: How much time do you spend on the bees each week, and when are your busy seasons?
A: Since we have 10 hives, we like to check on them weekly to every other week. That might require three hours or so on a weekly basis.
We also have a volunteer program through our Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, and I have a couple of beekeepers that help me log information on hive health and production. There are certain periods of the year, such as harvest time and extraction, when it’s busier. We harvest and extract the honey out of frames through a spinning device called an extractor.
Our busiest times are the end of August and September and first thing in the spring, when we’re feeding the bees. In the winter, you want to get the bees charged up, but spring and fall are the busiest times.
Q: What makes Cantigny Golf such a good environment for beekeeping?
A: We basically have at our fingertips a 500-acre parcel that includes the Robert R. McCormick Museum, the First Division Museum, formal gardens and picnic grounds, native prairies, and something that I call “honeybee happy zones.” We have more than 150,000 annuals throughout the golf course. We have several acres of meadows and native prairies. Due to our certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status, we apply pesticides in an extremely controlled manner in the best interests of the honeybees and other pollinators.
Q: How much of the beekeeping work have you done yourself, and how did you learn how to do it?
A: I have a couple of friends that helped me get started. I watched them service the hives a couple of times, and then I just started. When I have questions, I have a go-to mentor, Chris Saad.
Q: Why is it important to maintain healthy bee populations?
A: Basically, healthy honeybee populations are extremely critical to the nation’s food supply. As many people as we can get on board as to the importance of healthy bees, the better off we’ll be. The value of pollinators is exponential when you consider that so much of what we require for sustenance is in need of pollination from honeybees.
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