A Mahoney Apiaries Grand Tour... with a Bonus Gift at the End

A few days ago, I had the treat of going through Langstroth Bee Hives with a wild cowgirl/ entomologist/ tinkerer named Megan Mahoney. She has the awesome responsibility of tending her 50 + hives in New Mexico. Most of the langstroth hives we worked through were a combination of swarm captures, trap outs and bee removals. She keeps a few of her hives close to five points and 20 feet away, you would never guess they were there pollinating the fields around them. She has several other yards that are primarily topbar style hives.

It was a real treat to work with a person who is soooo knowledgable about bees. Every question I had been trolling the internet for in the last few weeks, she was able to answer in seconds. Did you know there is no gross receipts tax on raw foods in NM? Did you know that bumble bees sting? Did you know that you can make a bee vacuum with a pvc nozzle that can reach 15 feet? Did you know that you can stop bees from robbing a hive by closing down the hive entrance to a single bee width using sticks? Did you know that while trying to prevent robbing you can have a swarm land on your behind? I didn't know it either before a few days ago. (The swarm landing on Megan's behind and boot was very random and stumped both of us. I guess there is always a first.)

Anyway, at the end of working about 15 hives, we let ourselves into the land next to her family's plot and helped ourselves to a great treat. We were able to fill our empty fuel buckets with dried horse manure. How many people do you know that you can go dig through horse manure with at the end of a days work? 3 cheers for Mehan Mahoney. You are my kind of beekeeper!