Published: 6/22/2021 8:49:33 PM
AMHERST A small group of local and state officials, clad in white jackets and netted hats, gathered around Kim Skyrm as he held up a piece of honeycomb crawling with bees.
Skyrm, the state’s chief apiary inspector, had just taken it out of one of the boxes that house beehives. Soon, the overcast sky would also be swarming with bees.
The gathering was in celebration of Massachusetts’ “Pollinator Week,” an annual event that generally takes place the third week of June, which was held at one of the state’s two apiaries. The apiary at the University of Massachusetts Agricultural Learning Center in Amherst is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) and the university.