West Tennessee state park welcomes bees to grounds

MCNAIRY COUNTY, Tenn. — Some insects are now calling one West Tennessee state park home.

Big Hill Pond State Park is home to over 4,000 acres of trees, 14 miles of trails and now bees.

“We’re hoping they’ll bring in an opportunity for us to do some extra programs at the park,” interim park manager Justin King said.

The park was created in 1853, but the bees have only been there for two weeks.

“Once the hives get established, we’ll be able to open them up and show them to our visitors, and pull out the frames, and show them the bees, and possibly show them the queens within the hives and the worker drones,” King said.

Their ultimate goal is to show people how to start their own colony at home.

And Big Hill Pond State Park officials say they hope to continue to grow the hives and even harvest and sell the honey at the park.

But the bees aren’t the only new addition to the park.

“We’re working on a program down at the Big Hill Pond. We’ve put in a new road to that area, we’re working on a new boat ramp, and a handicap accessible canoe launch dock,” King said.

Before this road, there has been no easy access to the Big Hill Pond.

“Since the park opened in 1977, we estimated less than 100 people saw the pond each year, and now we’re averaging two or three boats a day,” King said.

And this weekend, they’ll have their third annual Big Hill Trail Run 5k at the park.

To register for the race, or to see other activities coming up at the park, head to our website and click Seen On 7.