Call off the bee-pocalypse: U.S. honeybee colonies hit a 20-year high

This last spring, I started a colony in the backyard. Everything was humming along – I left them their honey to get them through the winter and though they had lost their queen, they were making a new one. (They make a special chamber for the queen larva.) Anyway, they were very sweet and docile – never aggressive. I became incredibly fond of them. Then one day this fall, a rival (wild?) hive mounted an attack, killed every one of my bees and stole all their honey. It was terrible – they even tore open the queen larva chamber and killed her. Dead bees everywhere – it was very sad. Will I try again? I don’t know. The bees seem to be doing fine without me.

Story here.