Small-Scale vs. Commercial Management
Regarding October’s article by Eric Talley, “Should Small-scale Beekeepers Manage their Colonies Like Commercial Beekeepers Do?”:
Thank you for putting into words the answers to so many practices we are unfortunately met with at the beekeeper association level that primarily serve the backyard beekeeper. As an educator of beginners and intermediate beekeepers in our county adult ed program, this is valuable stuff, much appreciated, and will be referenced in courses to come.
Athena Contus
Tamworth, NH
Burlew Puts a Heart Into Beekeeping
I have been a commercial beekeeper for 48 years and a high-school wrestling coach for 28. That should mean that I’m a tough individual, yet when I read Rusty Burlew’s “Requiem for a Bee Buddy” in the August ABJ the tears were coming down my face.
Thank you, Rusty, for putting a heart into beekeeping!
Bob Fassbinder
Elgin, Iowa
Wild Hive
Someone suggested that your publication might have some interest in a wild hive I have had hanging in my tree for over 20 years. I have attached some pictures for you to see it. It started out over 20 years ago in a tire that was cut and made into a squirrel house. Been growing ever since.
They mostly hide inside during the winter but on warmer days they come out and fly around. Sometimes the entire colony leaves for winter. There one day, gone the next. This has not happened in about 5 years though. In the beginning when the tire was about 15 feet overhead I would take it down when they left, clean and wash it hoping for squirrels again, but bees would always come and reclaim it when warmer weather arrived.
Jon Barlow
Richardson, Texas
