Observer's Notes: The Beehive is an easy naked eye cluster. Through a telescope, it presents an interesting series of paired stars, quite unique among clusters. In the last several years, Mars has passed through the Beehive twice. Since it's located in Cancer, one of the Zodiac constellations, the Beehive is very near the Ecliptic, the path that the Sun, Moon, and planets travel through the sky. Be sure to look whenever a planet passes close to the Beehive- it's also an excellent photo-op!