What's Buzzing in The Gardens: May

What's Buzzing in The Gardens: May

by Beth Conrey, Owner, Bee Squared Apiaries

Each month, The Gardens on Spring Creek features an article about what's blooming. This month, we have a guest writer to tell us what's buzzing!

Next time you visit The Gardens, be sure to check out my new honeybee hives located at the back of the Theme Gardens.

My name is Beth Conrey. I own Bee Squared Apiaries in Berthoud, and I have been a Gardens supporter for several years now. This year, The Gardens decided to install honeybee hives to highlight the plight of pollinators as well as to educate the public on the many benefits of bees. I am your Gardens beekeeper.

I have always been a bit “buggy”. I collected insects as my 4-H project and won both the Maryland and New Mexico state fairs with my collection. I stopped collecting insects and pursued a more traditional educational path, receiving my MBA in 1982. I worked in institutional foodservice for 20 years and then, one year, I got my first beehive. I was enamored. I was entranced. I was hooked on beekeeping and now, another 20 years has slid by in my second career as a beekeeper.

Beth delivered the hives late last month

Bee Squared Apiaries manages more than 100 colonies of bees from the roof of the Denver Botanic Gardens to Silver Reef organic farm in Wellington. We continue to expand hive locations and would like to eventually reach somewhere in the 200 colony range. We love partnerships with like-minded organizations and institutions! It is also becoming more and more difficult to find “safe” places for bees and The Gardens offers an opportunity to buffer bees from many of their stressors: pesticides, poor forage, pests and pathogens.

Colorado is home to over 930 species of bees! Yes, you read that correctly! Most of these bees are solitary bees that live in little holes in the ground or in the hollow stems of plants. Many of these are gregarious bees meaning that they live in large groups—but are still solitary. Some of these bees, such as bumblebees, live in small colonies. Only one, Apis mellifera, lives as a large perennial colony.

Beth installed two hives along the back fence at The Gardens

It is the ability to function as a colony that allows them to produce honey! And did you know that a honeybee produces only 1/12^th – yes one twelfth - of a teaspoon of honey in its short life? Or that it takes 2 MILLION flowers to produce a single pound of honey?

On your next visit, look closely at the insects in the Gardens and discover how many pollinator species you can see. You will be surprised!

Gardens on Spring Creek Hive Information:

Number of Hives: Two
Type of Hive: Langstroth
(Beautiful copper top / copper cornered hives made by my husband, Mike.)
Installation Date: April 27, 2020

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