Buzzing hobby

Falkville eighth grader Elizabeth Holladay scrapes off Italian honey bees from a mailbox Monday afternoon to collect a beehive. Enquirer Photo: Brent Maze

Falkville teen enjoys beekeeping

Elizabeth Holladay likes bees but doesn’t like honey they produce.

“I don’t like honey, but I love to watch bees,” Holladay said. “They’re just so smart and it’s amazing to see what they do.”

The Falkville eighth grader got a chance to take another hive home with her on Monday. She and Durwin Jones, who helps Holladay with her beekeeping hobby, removed a hive of Italian bees from the mailbox of Angelo’s Wholesale on Highway 31 in Hartselle.

Lisa Boudousquie of Angelo’s said a lot of people were stopping by to see the beehive, which had appeared on their mailbox just after she checked around lunchtime.

“I knew Elizabeth was a beekeeper and she was excited to get another hive of bees,” Boudousquie said. “She asked her parents to check her out of school just to do this.”

Holladay said this was the 14th hive she has. Although she doesn’t eat the honey, she does make a profit on it.

“We’ll sell our honey,” Holladay said.

Jones, who does like honey, said the honey doesn’t normally start coming in until late April with the peak time beginning in May.

“I doubt that we’ll get any honey from this hive this year,” Jones said. “It normally takes a year to start getting honey, especially this late in the year.

Holladay said this is the second year she’s been a beekeeper.

“I like bees and I wanted to give it a try,” Holladay said. “It’s not too difficult to start, but it takes a lot of time.”