I wonder how many beekeepers there are in America these days.
When I was a kid there were dozens of beekeepers in my township alone. Now I only know of a couple in the county. The old veggie farmer down the road from me has about 6 hives for pollinating his squash and pumpkins. He keeps a little honey for himself but feeds the rest to his hogs. He says he can’t sell it due to government regulations and competition with foreign imports. Back in the 50s he had more than 30 hives.
Strange, about the regulations. Maybe he was referring to state regs? Here, a lot of people keep bees. The local Co-Op (farm and garden store), has everything you need to keep bees.
Every year I buy two gallons of local honey, dividing it into wide-mouth jars for easier usage. The beekeeper also makes a huckleberry and honey mixture that is beyond delicious. You can find honey from various local producers in every store. There is no regulation problems in northern Idaho.
We can also go into a grocery store and find fresh, raw cow or goat milk, lightly pasteurized and/or homogenized or not...
I have borage, mints and other bee favorites planted in areas bordering my food gardens. I feed the bees. ;) The wild bumblebees are a riot. They can smack into you, then slowly “bumble” away in a circular, bizarre manner of flight.
Yellow-jackets and hornets get the tennis-racket death if they bypass the traps. Amend that- the hornets get whacked, but seem to still survive a zillion-volts to their ends more than not, unless you hit it hard enough. My husband found an underground yellow-jacket nest that was bigger than a football. Vinegar, “neat”, did it in. The commercial spray only irked the hive.