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FEATURE

MY The hives: The concrete and stone slabs are there in an attempt to prevent a
BUDDY parasite of bees from pupating in the soil near the hives.
THE
APIARIST

By Fred H. Olin, DVM, MD

My friend and veterinary school classmate, Dr. Cosnow testing his smoker. The smoke is puffed into the hive to quiet
Allen Cosnow, D.V.M lives in one of the down the bees and allow him to work with the hives.
lakeshore suburbs north of Chicago. His home
is one block from Lake Michigan and the village’s
beach, with only a leafy park separating them. In
the yard on the park side of his home he has six
beehives, which, in a good year, produce lots of
honey. My wife and I happened to be staying
with him the first week of August when there was
a lot of bee and honey activity. Here are some pic-
tures I took during our stay.

This day’s chore was to insert miticide-impregnated sheets of paper into
each hive to prevent infestations with another parasite. You can see the
sheet lying on top of the frames in the background.

26 San Antonio Medicine • October 2016