Home beekeeping tips with Beekeeper Cheryl Flanagan

Ashley Davidson
·2 min read

HINTON, WV (WVNS) — Beekeeping is a great hobby to have on multiple levels. For example, the bee products, easy pollination for your trees and crops, and little friends to hang out with can all warm the soul.

Cheryl Flanagan of Hinton has been keeping bees for six years now, and she’s loved every season of it.

“Six years ago, I think I had seven hives. I’ve had as many as 11… That gets a little much. These boxes will weigh upwards between 45 and 50 pounds when they’re full of honey. So it’s not for the faint of heart, you’ve got to be fairly strong,” said Flanagan.

Flanagan told 59News she has had some losses with hives over the seasons, but that she wouldn’t trade the time spent on her hobby for anything.

Local bee expert explains what the buzz is all about

Flanagan has some amazing stories about her time keeping bees. Her favorite is the story of her first swarm.

“I had a swarm, this was before I knew how to prevent them. My husband, he was up here mowing and he saw a swarm settled on a stump over there. He came right down and said, ‘Cheryl, Cheryl, the bees have swarmed! What do we do?!’ And I said, ‘I got this!” Flanagan recalled.

“I took a brooder box,” Flanagan continued. “I took a swoop of the bees and I put them in the box and it was the swoop with the queen in it. I told my husband, ‘Watch this! Everybody get in the box! Get in the box now!’ And the bees marched into the box. My husband was like, ‘How did you do that?!'”

What most people don’t know is that the colony will almost always follow the queen. If the queen is moved, the colony goes with her.

Flanagan says that anyone in West Virginia can get into beekeeping and that the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective is the best organization to help you get started.

The ABC has a mentorship program that allows new beekeepers to receive advice and assistance from veteran keepers.

For more information about beekeeping, please visit https://www.abchoney.org/.

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