Beeline Apiary is located just south of West Monroe, Louisiana in the community of Luna. In 2003 I wanted a few beehives to pollinate the fruit trees in my yard. My family had some equipment stored in a barn, so I got it cleaned up and caught a few swarms. Each year added more experience in beekeeping, more equipment, and better bees. I began assisting in the queen yard of a commercial beekeeper and learned the art of grafting cells and raising queens. It was a very enjoyable experience and I have since started raising queens from my own hives. My hives have been queened with Minnesota hygienic queens for several years. I perform my own hygienic test with liquid nitrogen as described by the University of Minnesota every year to ascertain the hygienic level of my bees. My bee hives are fairly gentle to work with and have produced a good amount of beautiful honey with a slight fruit flavor. In April, 2010, I have plans to set up a new bee yard that is populated with the VSH bee from Glenn Apiaries in California. With these new bees, I hope to have a good stock from which I can raise hybrid queens – VSH queens mated with Minnesota Hygienic drones. Amy Weeks |