MORRISONVILLE, Ill. (WGN) – Just south of Springfield in the small town of Morrisonville, WGN-TV’s Sean Lewis found a populous of pollinators at the Busy Bee Farm.
Years ago, Joyce and Mike Dullenty began their apiary as a hobby. It’s now way beyond that, with 17 hives.
“If you have a good strong hive, there could be 60,000 bees in one hive,” Joyce said.
All those winged workers only have six weeks to get their stuff done.
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“The bees basically just work themselves to death,” Joyce said.
Nonetheless, what started out as a hobby has become a sweet business.
The Dullenty’s have combed through the best extracting process, gathering the honey to bring to the Illinois State Fair’s honey show.
“We’ve entered the fair for the last four, five years and we’ve won every category in it,” Mike said.
“We also got grand champion and they sold our honey at the fairgrounds!” Joyce added.
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The couple enjoys that they do – buzzing the competition – while promoting a better environment through the important work of the honey bee.
“It’s just fascinating,” Joyce said.
It’s a fascination that will continue to blossom.
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