Farmer of the Week: Warm Colors Apiary

Bonita and Dan Colon, owners of Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield, MA.

Warm Colors Apiary is located on eighty acres of woodlands, open fields, and wetlands in South Deerfield, MA. They produce over seven different kinds of delicious regional honeys from Western MA. Right now at Warm Colors Apiary, owners Dan and Bonita Conlon are working to prepare their bees for the coming winter. They are insulating the hives, checking them for disease, and making sure there is enough honey in the hives for their bees to survive through the long stretch of cold weather approaching. UMass Dining is the largest single buyer of Warm Colors Apiary honey. Their honey is used in the Dining Commons and the UMass Bakeshop.

Dan Conlon conversing with UMass Amherst students about their honeybees in Franklin Dining Commons.

Honeybees and other pollinators are crucial to the health of ecosystems and the survival of humans. More than 75% of all flowering plants on earth need pollinators to reproduce, including a majority of the food that we eat. Dan Conlon explained that bees have been around for 80 million years and have overcome all kinds of natural phenomenon, but many species of pollinators, including bumble bees, are endangered. The decline of pollinator species is attributed to a loss in feeding and nesting habitats, and Warm Colors works to provide both of those for their bees and other pollinators.

Bonita Conlon educating students and providing honey samples at Franklin Dining Commons.

Since we last spoke with Warm Colors in April 2017, they have been working with UMass Amherst to incorporate more bees into the UMass landscape, and will hopefully be installing new beehives in different gardens around campus in the coming year. This project hopes to connect students to bees and other pollinators and educate them about beekeeping and honey harvesting.  Installing beehives on campus would also provide ultra local honey for students to enjoy. Additionally, Warm Colors Apiary is working with Graduate students in the School of Engineering to develop sensors that diagnose disease within beehives to help beekeepers like Dan and Bonita catch and treat them early before they spread out of control.  ​

​Dan works to improve the health of his hives in other ways too. He is currently the President of the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association and raises Queen Russian Honeybees to supply beekeepers all over the country. Warm Colors is the only source of “certified” Russian queens in New England. These Russian bees have been bred to improve their tolerance to mites and immunity to diseases, which reduces the amount of chemical treatments necessary to maintain healthy hives. This is part of what makes Warm Colors’ honey so unique and high quality; it is pure and uncontaminated by chemicals. Dan Conlon is thrilled to be a part of this innovation and shared, “I enjoy the involvement with the sciences and that we are discovering things that are going to benefit future generations. That is the pinnacle of my career - participating in things that will make a difference long after I am gone.”

Dan and Bonita in the beautiful fields at Warm Colors Apiary with some of their bee boxes.

Dan urges readers to be aware that “the biggest threat to all of these creatures is human activity. Everyone should be conscious of their activities, actions, and how they affect the environment.” Dan has many suggestions for how everyone can help bees to survive and thrive:

1. Plant flowers to support wild bees and butterflies. Bees and other pollinators eat the nectar from flowers, and you can make a difference by planting native species on any land you have access to.
2. Be aware of the chemicals you apply to your land and follow the instructions on chemical labels. Chemicals can be the most problematic when they are used improperly. 
3. Learn to live with stinging insects. If stinging insects aren’t directly in your way, they are actually beneficial to your space. For example, yellow jackets eat fly larvae which can decrease the amount of flies on your property. Wasps can control garden pests by hunting insects that harm vegetable crops. ​​

"Everything in nature has a purpose and contributes in some way to the cycle of life. Insects are actually very important to humans. I admire these little creatures."
​-Dan Conlon

Dan and Bonita Conlon at Franklin Dining Commons to teach students about beekeeping.

Many thanks to Warm Colors Apiary for all of their hard work to protect pollinators and for their many contributions to the UMass Amherst community. UMass Dining is so thankful to work with you. For more information about Warm Colors Apiary, visit their website. 

Photo credit: Keith Toffling