The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
icon of list

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor – January 2016

- January 1, 2016 - (excerpt)

Feral Colony

Just thought you all might be interested in this. I discovered this in a park down along the Grand River near us in Lansing, MI. If you look closely, there is a hole in the tree above the honey comb. So, maybe the hollow in the tree is full, and they moved their hive outside. But, you can see the bees between the layers of honey comb. When it warms up, the bees become more active and cover more of the comb. When it cools down, they pull up more tightly between the layers.

Dan Bratt
Michigan

Montana Beekeeper Enjoys Taking Photos of Her Bees

Attached are a few honey bee photos I took this fall on the asters in the garden at Chico Hot Springs Resort near Pray, Montana. The photos were taken a few days after we had harvested honey from the 40 hives we maintain on the resort property.   My husband, Shawn, my son, Kenyon (age 14), and I take care of the bees at Chico.  My hobby started with one hive in my back yard at my house (in town), in Livingston, Montana, we now have two. My dad, Bill Knutson, is also a hobby beekeeper in Helena, Montana. My husband was a hobby beekeeper before we reconnected (2014) and married (2015). We had been friends in college, over 27 years ago. I am the hotel manager at Chico Hot Springs Resort, and luckily I get to take care of the bees as well – it is a great, relaxing, project compared to the rest of my job here. Most of our “bee time” is volunteer.

If you’re at all interested in knowing – our two hives in town (Livingston, MT) produced nearly 130 pounds of honey, whereas the 40 …

VIEW SITE MAP