James Rhein of Mountain Home will present a program on beekeeping at the next meeting of the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society Tuesday evening at 6 in the Knox Room of the Donald W. Reynolds Library Serving Baxter County in Mountain Home.Rhein is well known in the area for being the “Bee Man.” Rhein has been tending bees for over 40 years.Rhein says his passion for bees began with a friend who kept honeybees. Rhein says the friend kept telling him he should get bees, too, and when he did, he got really interested in them.Unfortunately, he says back then, there were few local beekeepers, no beekeeping clubs and no beekeeping classes, so he had to teach himself about bees by reading books and through trial and error.
Rhein says the average beehive contains 50,000 to 60,000 worker bees, 200 to 500 drone bees and one queen. The average life span of a worker bee is only six weeks, but a queen in the wild might live five to six years. During warm months, the queen lays 1,000 to 2,000 eggs each day.
The Baxter County Historical Society meets the fourth Tuesday of each month. Most meetings are held at the Donald W. Reynolds Library Serving Baxter County. Meetings are free and open to the public.
For more information, contact the society at 870-425-2551, visit the Baxter County Heritage Center at 808 South Baker on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon until 4 or visit the website baxtercountyhistory.org or on Facebook.
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