The sweet life: Stings don’t deter interest in beekeeping

The phrases “getting bit by the bug” and “busy as a bee” aren’t just idioms for Tom Montavon.Montavon, who’s operated Charter Grove Honey Farm in Sycamore in northern Illinois for about 25 years, grew up on a dairy farm and was interested in raising livestock, but he was fascinated by honeybees.“A guy at my grandfather’s dairy farm had bees. I was always intrigued by them, and I’d go watch him a little bit,” Montavon said.One day he pitched in for his uncle at the dairy farm where the hives were located to chop feed for the cattle. The chopper was pulled by an International Harvester 856 tractor.“We had turned up the tractor’s horsepower, and the bees didn’t like it. They stung the living snot out of me,” Montavon said.“It was hot. I was wearing a sweatshirt, a guy gave me a veil to wear and I still got stung, but it never deterred me from it. I was just more intrigued.”After graduating from college with a business degree, Montavon’s interest in farming and raising livestock stuck with