CLOQUET, Minn. (Northern News Now) – It seems like spring may finally be here and Northland beekeepers are getting newly coronated queens into their hives.<\/p>\n
The people in this line of cars are buzzing because it\u2019s bee day in Cloquet.<\/p>\n
A semi full of queens and their entourages have arrived from spending the winter in California.<\/p>\n
The members of the North East Minnesota Beekeepers Association are minding their b\u2019s and q\u2019s while waiting in line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crowd\u2019s been pretty good and it\u2019s gone pretty fast here and we had about two hundred and eighty packages of bees that went through today.\u201d said Jeffrey Tibbetts of the Association.<\/p>\n
After a winter of pollinating almonds out west, the bees are hungry for something different.<\/p>\n
Our beekeepers hope you\u2019ll leave your dandelions alone this spring because bees just love them.<\/p>\n
The keepers are also hoping for the correct weather conditions which they didn\u2019t quite have last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping for sunny with rain at night so the dandelions will pop and all these new bees in these packages will have something to collect as far as nectar.\u201d said Sandy McComb of the Association .<\/p>\n
The honeybees in this truckload are Italian and Carniolan and are known for being rather docile.<\/p>\n
That makes their keepers quite fond of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it brings serenity to people, watching the bees and taking care of them, a lot of them have almost a pet-like quality.\u201d said Tibbetts.<\/p>\n
Pets that produce a sweet treat.<\/p>\n
In Cloquet, Dave Anderson, Northern News Now.<\/p>\n