Class held for hobby beekeepers

Honeybee populations continue to decline, and without them the world wouldn’t be the same.

“A third of your produce in your grocery store would disappear without bees, and another third would be markedly reduced without bees,” said beekeeper Glenn Cox.

These environmental factors have driven many to take up hobby beekeeping.

“I enjoy seeing the excitement people have as they get into it,” Cox said.

Hobbyists are helping their own gardens and extracting tasty honey, but beekeeping isn’t as easy as it seems.

“It’s tough to raise bees right now,” said Cox. “It has a high failure rate.”

Knowing how the hive works, types of bees, honey harvest and diseases are just a few of the topics covered in Cox’s introduction to beekeeping class.

“We thought, ‘Well we’ve mad a lot of mistakes, here’s a chance for us to share some experience,'” he said.

Cox had equipment for sale and told his experiences to help those still on the fence about jumping into the bee business.

“They don’t require a lot of work but you have to get in there and keep an eye on things and make sure things are going okay,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re just throwing your money away.”

Despite the hardships that come with beekeeping, there are always sweet moments.

“When everything is going great in the summertime and you pop the hive open and the bees don’t even care you’re there cause there is a great nectar flow,” said Cox. “They are feeling good and they have plenty of food. Just watching the little guys run back and forth on the frames, that’s my favorite part. My next favorite would be watching the grand-babies lick the frames of honey”

Cox will be teaching another beekeeping class at the East Idaho Home and Garden Show on Mar. 11.

For more information on beekeeping you can contact Cox at glenn@dadsgardenseeds.com or (208) 557-3910.