Honeybees are busy with Ike Harbuck

Most of the time Isaac “Ike” Harbuck is busy as a bee leading Mississippi Power’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) Technology project.

In the spring, Harbuck is also busy…as a beekeeper.

“It’s honeybee swarm season in Mississippi,” said Harbuck, who’s spent four years with the company, and 26 years in the utility industry. “I have recently been able to re-home three swarms in Stone County. This time of year honeybees swarm, and sometimes become a hazard to tree trimmers, meter readers, and those who work in the outdoors. I try to gather and save them, because the honeybee population is in decline due to a number of factors.”

Harbuck keeps the bees at bay, but on the job he’s making sure company employees have the most up-to-date wireless communication resources.

“I am responsible for coordinating the work to convert our current iDEN communication system that Southern LINC uses over to LTE technology,” Harbuck said. “Also, our SCADA system uses this technology to communicate wirelessly to our electronic devices in the field and there are many other advantages to having a resource like LTE.”

That dedication to employees in the field goes back to Harbuck’s high school days.

“When I was dating my wife in high school I had the chance to meet her dad who was a foreman for a distribution line contractor,” he said. “Her dad let me know that if I was going to date his daughter I needed a decent job and he put me to work on his crew. I didn’t have much of a choice but I have always loved the work and can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Or for that matter being with anyone else. He and his wife Serina have been married 26 years and have two children.