Caren von Gontard holds one of her honey combs. She extracts the honey, then leaves the remaining wax out for the bees to clean up. With what's left she makes candles.
Credit Marty Durlin
This comb was created free-form by the bees and the cells are a variety of sizes.
Credit Marty Durlin
Caren's hives are constructed with five sides, mimicking the shape of the cells.
Credit Marty Durlin
Credit Marty Durlin
Inside the hive, you can view the activities of the busy bees.
Here in the North Fork Valley, healthy bee colonies continue to swarm and thrive. But there are threats. Back on March 6th, fourth-grader Noah McDaniel reported to iSeeChange that he’d seen his first bee of the season during recess at Paonia Elementary. Now, a few weeks later at Caren von Gontard’s farm on Lamborn Mesa, the bees are – well, busy.
2012 was a bad year for West Nile Virus in Western Colorado. Mesa, Montrose and Delta Counties accounted for nearly half the confirmed cases in the state. In Delta County, the 22 cases included the death of an 82-year-old man from Orchard City.
