Our cover photos

Beekeepers constantly work to keep their hives healthy and productive. The majority of bee hives in use are referred to as Langstroth Hive named after a beekeeping minister in the 1850’s. Shown here are tow keepers performing a hive inspection and checking for pests, disease, and the overall development of the hive. The queen’s performance is assessed at each inspection. If she is missing or starts to fail, she will be immediately replaced.

Bee hives are frequently moved around the country to pollinate crops as needed. Every year in January and February approximately 1.5 million hives will be shipped by truck to the California Almond groves. Later in March they will be redeployed to pollinate apples, blueberries, strawberries and any number of other crops  This is a photo of a typical transport trailer able to carry 400 or more individual hives. Watch for them on I-10, I-40 and I-80 early in the year.