Herald Staff report
About 40 people gathered Saturday outside Durango Joe’s near Walmart, but they weren’t on a tasting tour of coffee shops. Instead, they broke into two separate groups for the Traveling Road Show – a series of presentations featuring area beehives.
One group was lead by Beth Conrey, president of the Colorado State Beekeepers Association, while another group tagged along with Tina Sebestyan, founder of the 4 Corners Beekeepers Association.
4 Corners Beekeepers Association President Paula Nelson said the opportunity to assess local hives and beekeeping practices was important given threats to bee health and the rapid growth of beekeeping in the area.
Increasing interest in beekeeping, Nelson says, can be a good and bad thing.
“The hobby beekeeper may not pay attention to the good bee practices,” she said.
In roughly four years, the local association has grown from a six-person club to more than a hundred members strong. “It’s just exploded,” said Nelson.
