2019 Tour de Hive

Saturday, August 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit gardens, beehives and meet the beekeepers in a FREE, fun, self-guided tour.

1900 Edgewood Drive

This apiary is located in the backyard at the corner of Edgewood and 19th. It has a single 8-frame Garden Hive with a copper roof nestled in a serene garden in the middle of our busy town. The hive is named Miracle because it survived a bear attack last fall! Many of the plants throughout the front and back yard are pollinator friendly. There is a water way behind the garden fence in the back that makes for a welcoming habitat for the bees. It is a sweet oasis in an urban setting for all the pollinators!

Long’s Iris Gardens - 3240 Broadway

Visit top bar beehives, plant seeds, and decorate your bike on a Colorado Centennial Farm that is still in operation in the midst of urban Boulder. Long’s Iris Gardens is home to bees, goats, vegetable and community gardens, and irises, of course! Today the business is carried on by the founder's granddaughter, Catherine Long Gates and her husband, Dennis Gates. The top bar beehives are built and managed by Bob Greene from Growing Gardens - it’s truly a community treasure. Enjoy a bit of historical Boulder, learn about honey bees, native bees, wasps, and other important pollinators with a BeeChica in the shade of the large elm tree! Bee sure to hang out with the Boulder Public Library’s very cool "Betty the Bookbike” to decorate your own bike or plant your own pollinator friendly seeds!

2200 Iris Avenue

Eric is a second year beekeeper and an avid DIY’er. Hear first-hand how he got started, built most of his own equipment and what it takes to jumpstart success. The original turf-only landscape now includes several new organic gardens (including Resource Central’s Grass to Garden Program) and a water-wise irrigation system to enhance the pollinator habitat. Come talk with an enthusiastic beginner, see vermicomposting, composting and two buzzing hives in action.

1600 Quince Avenue

With two Langstroth hives set up just over the fence in her neighbor's yard, Christine now has a sunny spot that her backyard didn’t offer. The neighbor graciously gives her the space and rent is paid with honey! Starting with one hive in 2017 and adding a second in 2018, bears have been her biggest challenge both years. To keep her bees safe, Christine put up a portable bear fence that is typically used by hunters for protection. This year her original hive, Gaia, is thriving and her new package hive, Fresh Start, is getting established. Visit Christine to hear how working together with neighbors can lead to success!

Harlequin’s Gardens - 4795 N. 26th Street

This stop on the tour provides a great opportunity to meet entomologist Kristina Williams and talk about all things pollinators! Kristina set up and manages one Langstroth hive in the back corner of Harlequin’s nursery lot in an Olde North Boulder eclectic, treasure filled yard. In addition to a smorgasbord of pesticide free plants from the nursery, Kristina’s bees forage on a plethora of Eurasian weeds, blue mustard, sweet clover and many native plants. Tour visitors can also look at the on-site native bee house and watch them in action on the flowers!