Since our story was written, Horace Huse has passed on. We honor his commitment to our community and recognize the many people, and bees, whose lives he enriched.
He’s a storyteller, a teacher, a leader, and a successful beekeeper. Horace Huse is tall and thin, with the smile and engaging style that makes you want to be his friend. He retired from a life of pastoring in 2009 and tried some retirement volunteering with Toledo GROWs. In the ensuing years, Huse became a community expert in beekeeping, growing the GROWs apiary (bee house) from 4 to as many as 24 hives.
At the conclusion of this August’s Honey Harvest, Huse announced his retirement from his beekeeping career.
“Horace is such an icon,” said GROWs Executive Director Yvonne Dubielak. “He brings good ideas and a real respect for nature and the earth.” He received a great deal of support from businesses and individuals, especially The Andersons and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who said Horace “Attracts quite a following of people of all ages who learn from him about saving bees that are the keys to pollinating plants essential to our lives. Congratulations and thank YOU, Horace Huse!”
In 2014, Huse found an assistant and beekeeper in another volunteer, Tom Facey. “It has been such a blessing to have someone as skilled and capable as Tom,” Huse said. They built a demonstration beehive frame so kids could see what happens inside the hive. With Huse’s retirement, Facey is taking over the apiary, and has begun training his own new assistant, volunteer James Green-Hudson.
Huse said he’ll miss the camaraderie of the people at the apiary and has promised to be on call for staff who have questions. And though he’s in his mid-90s, he’ll stop by and visit occasionally.
Local honey is available for purchase on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 4:00 p.m. at Toledo GROWs, 900 Oneida St., Toledo (curbside or inside; call 419.720.8714). Also, the honey’s for sale at Unruly Arts at Toledo Botanical Garden.
