7-14 FB Golden Bee

 Honeybee business is buzzing in the Treasure Valley.

If I were to ask the man on the street what the largest source of revenue would be for a beekeeper, chances are he would say “selling honey” but that would be wrong. Agriculture services, as in taking honeybees on road trips to pollinate farmers crops is the biggest source of moneymaking for most commercial beekeepers. Golden Bee, Inc. is owned and operated by Golden and Jonathan Millet. Golden's father raised honeybees while he was growing up, making Jonathan the third generation beekeeper in the Millet line. Golden bought his first 1,000 colonies in the spring of 1977. Third-generation beekeeper Jon Millet, who runs Golden Bee Inc. in Marsing, keeps his 3,000-plus honeybee colonies busy. “Currently on our summer pollination crop it’s here locally, anywhere they grow onion seed, carrot seed, canola seed, rape seed. I got some in Oregon, we just left California, I pollinated in Utah 2-3 years ago.”

While business is good, Golden Bee, Inc. like other commercial operations struggles with issues related to the much discussed topic of colony collapse disorder.