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Karen Pence learns honey-making at Billings apiary

Posted at 6:54 PM, Jul 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-25 20:58:35-04

BILLINGS – Second Lady Karen Pence traveled Wednesday to Larson Apiaries, Inc. in Billings to meet business owner, Todd Larson and learn about making honey.

Larson manages about 4,000 hives for honey production in Montana and Wyoming.

According to a press release, the Second Lady installed last year a beehive on the grounds of the Vice President’s Residence in Washington. About 60,000 bees live in the hive.

“All types of pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, birds and bats, are critical to providing our nation’s food, fiber, fuel and medicine,” Mrs. Pence said in a statement. “However, our beekeepers have been losing colonies for many years. This presents a serious challenge to our ability to produce many of the agricultural products that we enjoy today. Bees provide an added bonus to the vegetable and flower gardens by making them well pollinated and taste even better at harvest. I am looking forward to the visit to Larson Apiaries, Inc. to see first-hand the Larson family’s contribution to our nation’s agriculture.”

Last week, the beekeeper extracted honey from the bee hive at the residence for the first time since Mrs. Pence installed the hive.

Reporting by Zoe Zandora for MTN News