His hands, worn from years of building and woodwork, moved delicately to avoid disturbing the bees when he checked on the hives he keeps in the Laurel area this month. He stopped wearing gloves years ago - the bee stings are barely noticeable now.
Kolpack said he takes about two-thirds of the honey the bees produce, leaving the rest for the hive. Each hive typically produces 50 pounds of honey each season, he said. He usually sells each pound for about $4, and each hive lasts three to four seasons, he said.
That's not to mention the other profits that can come from the hives.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in yesterday's Maryland section misreported the type of bees kept by a Howard County man who had some of his hives stolen. They are Italian bees.
The Sun regrets the errors.
"Beekeeping has a lot of extra commodities - beeswax, pollen and propolis," he said. Propolis is a substance bees use to construct hives that is sold in health stores as a traditional medicine. "And honey has the ability to heal cuts, scrapes, abrasions," he said.
Kolpack said he's out about $4,000 because of the thefts, taking into account that the colonies would have produced honey for about four seasons.
He said he's convinced that the theft of his hives wasn't a one-person job because each stands about 3 feet tall and weighs about 75 pounds. Despite his efforts, which included running a classified ad in a local shopper, he doesn't expect to find them. But he'll keep searching.
"It's like voila! - it's gone," Kolpack said. "It will set you back somewhat, but you will recover from it. It happens."
tyeesha.dixon@baltsun.com
