Bees

By Tina Mitchell Enjoy cantaloupe or watermelon? The crunch of a crisp apple? That avocado in your guacamole? You might want to thank a bee. Super-pollinators of the flowering world, Colorado’s bees emerge, starting in April, from their hives or their nests underground, in hollow stems, or in tree cavities. More than 20,000 species of …

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Alive in the Hive

By Ericka Kastner

I felt alive (dare I say buzzed?) as I pulled away from Jamie Johnston’s beeyard of nearly 2,400,000 honeybees off County Road 160 near Salida. The murmur of the bees’ song echoed in my ears, and I smiled as I drove, pondering the possibility of establishing my own small-scale hobby hive to pollinate my backyard garden.

Draped in beekeepers’ veils and coveralls, Jamie and I chatted about bee biology, the science of honey making and her family’s rich history in beekeeping as she checked the hives for the timing of the honey harvest.

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