By Ericka Kastner
I felt alive (dare I say buzzed?) as I pulled away from Jamie Johnston’s beeyard of nearly 2,400,000 honeybees off County Road 160 near Salida. The murmur of the bees’ song echoed in my ears, and I smiled as I drove, pondering the possibility of establishing my own small-scale hobby hive to pollinate my backyard garden.
Draped in beekeepers’ veils and coveralls, Jamie and I chatted about bee biology, the science of honey making and her family’s rich history in beekeeping as she checked the hives for the timing of the honey harvest.