Are bees safe? Is it hard to keep honeybees? Is it a lot of work? What should you know before getting hives of your own?

Honeybees, beekeeping and honey farming are foreign subjects to most of us. Every so often, we hear news reports about "killer bees," mysterious natural disasters such as "colony collapse disorder," and a smattering of information about crop pollination.

We think of bees (like other insects, or other livestock) mostly in terms of what they can do for us. However, honeybees are fascinating just for their own sake.

They're cute. They're fuzzy. They're gentle. They're productive, organized, and know geometry. (Do you know what a hexagon is? Honeybees do.) They're also fragile, and can suffer attacks from predators even smaller than themselves.

If you're interested in beekeeping, looking for a science subject to study, or just want to know how beekeeping works, you've come to the right place. The links at left will take you to pages on this site and blog entries from past seasons detailing our activities throughout the beekeeping year.