KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — The constant hum of more than a quarter of a million bees and the faint acrid smell of smoke fill the air as Angela Tollerson sets to work carefully inspecting the first of five hives on a farm east of Kalispell on a recent morning. With short sleeves, blue nitrile gloves and a simple protective veil covering her head, she begins her search for the single queen among the more than 50,000 bees the hive contains. The search does not take long.

"It's the beekeeping world's version of Where's Waldo," Tollerson told the Daily Inter Lake. "It's a skill you develop over time a...