Beehive at Zoo?

[Jeanne Hansen]

In the past, the Henry Vilas Zoo had an observation bee hive, maintained by one of our members.

Does the zoo still have a beehive on display??

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Jeanne Hansen

824 Jacobson Ave

Madison,WI

608-244-7684 

[Paul Zelenski]

Great question! 

Paul O used to maintain it. 

If there isn’t one but they want one, I would be interested in talking with them about it. 

On Jun 17, 2024, at 10:24 AM, Jeanne Hansen <jeanneh...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Greg V]

I have not been to the zoo for years since the kids grew out of it.

Back then I did look at the hive - it was homed in the tropical pavilion (very warm!!!).

The hive on the display in mid-winter was in a very poor shape.
The bees were trying to fly outside, because it was so warm (I want to bet the bees were thirsty).
Needless to say, none of those bees were coming back.

There were very little observable stores too - being that warm, the bees were very active and ate through whatever honey they had.

The population that I saw was very low - the last remnants of what used to be a colony.

Overall, it is a very poor setting and the bees are pretty much guaranteed to perish.

But for a bigger goal (the observability) it may be worth sacrificing 1-2 colonies per a year.

Not that big a deal.

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