Beguiling buzzing bees at Fauquier farm
January 26, 2017
From: Faquier Times
Six years ago, Diane Graves decided to expand her Catlett-based farm business at her 180-acre Moonraker Stable. She boards horses, nurtures fruit trees and grows vegetables and, she said, “I wanted to do something to pollinate the fruit trees.”
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But it’s not all pretty flowers, beguiling bees and gooey, sweet honey in this aspect of agriculture. A varmint lurks and wreaks havoc on the hives. It’s called the Varroa destructor, a blood-sucking mite that carries a lethal virus. “It was first identified in 1987 in Wisconsin,” Graves said, adding it eventually found its way here. “It’s the worst parasite to have.”
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