Beekeeping is a fascinating and rewarding hobby, which benefits both the beekeeper and the local environment. Honeybees help pollinate garden plants as well as plants that provide food for wildlife. Also, a well-managed hive can produce (in a good year) more than 100 pounds of surplus honey. At one time, honeybee colonies could be found on almost every farm and in the backyards of many homes. As the beekeeper population aged, however, and small farms disappeared, interest in beekeeping declined andfewer people kept bees as a hobby or as a sideline. But with the discovery of colony collapse disorder and the widespread loss of honeybee colonies throughout the United States and Europe, this trend has started to change. People have become concerned about the plight of the honeybee and want to do something to help offset the losses of these important pollinators.
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