Photo Gallery: Backyard Beekeeping Adventures
Dan Corum, aka Dr. Doo, manages the Woodland Park Zoo Compost program, delivers engaging environmental and natural gardening presentations, is…
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Seasoned Seattle gardeners but beekeeping newbies, Dan Corum and Kate Reedy prepare to install their backyard bees. Photo: courtesy of the authors
Seattle gardeners Dan Corum and Kate Reedy have years of combined growing experience but are new to raising bees in their backyard—an adventure they have found both enlivening and humbling.
“Pouring” the bees into their new hive. Photo: Dan Corum
Queening the hive. Photo: Dan Corum
From their story Gardening with Backyard Bees:
“What is going to save honeybees is changing from one guy with 6000 hives to 6000 backyard beekeepers with one hive.” — Vanishing of the Bees
Warm summer evenings and a couple of lawn chairs provide good conditions for watching their “Bee TV”. Photo: Dan Corum
Flowering kale is left in place to feed bees in the early spring. Photo: Dan Corum
Broccoli, Kale and other brassica family crops are left to flower after providing an edible crop. “We’ve learned to see the beauty in a plant’s entire life cycle instead of just its productivity for our use.”
Common borage is a bee-favorite. Photo: Dan Corum
Kate shows off a healthy frame of industrious bees. Photo: Dan Corum
“The idea that we could make a difference helped us to override our fears and take the plunge.”
