Because honeybees are native to Africa and Europe, on this side of the Atlantic they must be kept in artificial hives to ensure their survival, said Ray Wright, Sebastian’s father.

He said that of the 13 hives the family cares for, 11 are Langstroth hives — stacked bottomless drawers called hive bodies filled with frames of honeycomb. The Langstroths they plant are typically five hive bodies high, with eight to 10 frames in each, he said, weighing up to 120 pounds at full yield. These are optimal for honey collection, he added.

The others are top bar hives, which are “considered more natural and more disease-resistant,’’ he said. These structures are long, tapered boxes in which bees can build honeycomb naturally, making it more difficult to collect honey, he said.

Bret Hauff