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sweet ‘ WAIJCERTONâ€"Qulch. answer this ques- tion: what do you keep in an Apiary? Well. no. not apu. An apizry is a beehive or group oi beehlva, like the ones kept by Shirley and Don Garland, of RR 2. Cargill. Don has been harvesting honey since 1945. Until two or three years ago, the bees were just one part of the Garlands' mixed lam:- ‘ing operation. but now they're a full-time business, That's understandable when you consider the Gui-lands keep track of 300 hives with 50,000 to 80.000 bees in each col- ony, located at ill area locations lrorn Paisley to Mildmay. From their willing workers, the Garlands expected to get about 90pounds of honey per hive this year. “I don't know where they (the beesi got it this summer." said Don. Because honey production IS dependent on a good plant growing season. the Garlands figured the drought would restrict them to less than 50 pounds per hive. in the past they‘ve gotten as little as lwo pounds per hive and as much as 130 pounds The l’lOnC‘v'rl’lfli'VeStlJ’ig season begins in April‘ when the Garlands cpnn up the (air times to check on the insects.‘ food supplies and on the health of each colony's queen bee. Generally‘ two to five percent of the queens limo lay all the eggs for each generation of insects! Will have died over the Wmll‘l’. so new ones have to be imperial: from Australia tat $10 per royal bugl. Throughout the summer, the hues llmil procuutiun is monitored. u the amount of room mere is in the colony, ilus lost Ci)an iflawfl swam». . Honey harvesting is an time zzzncss: " ~â€"_ ,-~_â€". tion is important. [I a hive gem too crowded. some oitbebeesswarmandgoofftostarta new colony somewhere less cramped. Aside from being dangerous and annoying to the beekeeper‘s neighbours, the beekeeper loses a lot of his workers. Checking each colony every twu or three weelfi, Garland said he gels stung all the time. The bees are more agressive on cloudy or cold days, since they can‘t work. He added they're also more lilier to sting you if you‘re tense or airaid of them. In fact, bees are a lot like people For ex- ample. moving house causes a lot of confu- Sion. ii a colony is moved more than a foot and a hall away iron: its original position, the insects won‘t be able to find their way home for a day or longer. They're also not always strictly honest [i a bee tram one luve finds another hive unguarded, it will go get some friends and sneak of! with the home) inside Perhaps the strangest thing they have in common With us is they like to dance. By a series of motions and gestures in the air Ithe "danue‘W the insects communicate with each other about the snu't‘v“ of honey and r they find. With a smile, Don pointed out one trait people own always have in common with hues ‘Bees i‘D-OPEFalE. They Cluster together it‘! “arm”: during the winter in a mass gyna. ll” sizn » 1:: liJoLlJall The wiles an the ». ill‘l vlilisnli- pork their way in and iii: ones n’ the 'ixafl'l centre work LhUlr may nu: ‘ w nit-r To help their be» last through the winter. the Garlands spend the tall packing the hivu with food and insulation, having finished the harvesting around the beginn- ing ol October, They process and package the honey themselves. sell what they can locally, and market the rest to a wholesaler in the Orangeville area. The winter is spent repairing equipment, and then the whole cycle starts again in the spring. The business has its disadvantages. Peov pie can suddenly develop serious allergies to bee i'enom‘ showing hives, swelling around the eyes and eventually nausea and dangerous respiratory difficulties. The Garlands' daughter had been helping her parents with the bees for six years. when one day she started to react to a sting. “We barely got her to the hospital in time, Now she gets shot: once a month, but one sling will cancel them out." You can have bigger problem than the bees themselves. however. Although Don said it's never happened to any of their luves, 3 Durham beekrzper has had eight my.an mm unm’l h-u hv'ns with a sweet tooth. Sn whal ‘5 so great about honey anyway, to maku it uui‘tli all this trouble‘.‘ linn stresses it's a natural sweetener it adds mOISllu‘t‘ in bah er am hi it till l'rml on cereal or in ('03 There must be \tmvthint' sot-rial about the slut! l‘lllLt'n million bet-x 'Mi'l be wrong