For our April 5th evening meeting, we welcome Benjamin Gilmore. Benjamin will discuss: What can you do to help the bees in your area? How are the bees doing? What is honey and why is it so great?!
Benjamin grew up in Gun Barrel Colorado. As a child he would catch honeybees off the cherry tree in his front yard and eat the pollen off their legs. As a teen he was introduced to commercial beekeeping in the Rocky Mountains in Crawford, near the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. In 2004 Ben along with his brother bought two packages of bees, two starter kits, caught swarms, and performed bee removals as The Bee Busters. In 2005 along with his family he incorporated Colorado Pollination Company and began migrating to the almond orchards, providing pollination for pumpkins, sunflowers, cucumbers, and cantaloupe in Colorado. In 2007 Ben opened his first retail honey shop, Copoco’s Honey, in south Fort Collins. In 2009 he opened the honey and beekeeping supply store on N. College Ave. and begun teaching beekeeping 101. He is a former President of the Northern Colorado Beekeepers Association. Today, Ben continues to help manage many colonies and observation hives. He is raising his own Copoco’s line of queens and has begun writing his first book on keeping bees in the Rocky Mountain region.