Bees
Bees are amazing little creatures. Albert Einstein said that if the bees disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four more years to live. We should all honor the pollinators!
We thought we knew a lot or at least enough about them to begin raising them, but the more we learned the more we realized that it’s a bit more complex than simply buying a package of bees, a box, a white beekeeper suit and sticking them out in the orchard and letting nature take its course. They are of course essential for food production and as most people are aware, bees are dying off at an alarming rate. Just as it is important to grow heirloom plants and collect those seeds it is important to raise bees if your living situation can accommodate them.
While we have planned to raise bees for sometime 2013 was going to be THE year, but we missed the optimal timing for beginning our hive. So, we just decided to wait until the next spring, meanwhile we would collect the necessary bee accoutrements. Well, we were up in the orchard checking out the early development of fruits and nuts when out of no where we heard the strange and indescribable sounds of a swarm coming our way. We stopped, looked up and through the rays of sunshine we saw the swarm slow to a halt right in front of us. They just slowed down and within five feet of us started to land in a branch of a hazel nut tree. We stood there waiting, watching and within a few minutes they gathered together in a heart shaped clump of bees. The universe obviously was saying, ‘hey, here are your bees!’
We borrowed a box from a beekeeping neighbor, scooped them up and after dusk moved them to a more ideal long term location. Here we go! We look forward to having homestead honey and beeswax products in the next few years!
We thought we knew a lot or at least enough about them to begin raising them, but the more we learned the more we realized that it’s a bit more complex than simply buying a package of bees, a box, a white beekeeper suit and sticking them out in the orchard and letting nature take its course. They are of course essential for food production and as most people are aware, bees are dying off at an alarming rate. Just as it is important to grow heirloom plants and collect those seeds it is important to raise bees if your living situation can accommodate them.
While we have planned to raise bees for sometime 2013 was going to be THE year, but we missed the optimal timing for beginning our hive. So, we just decided to wait until the next spring, meanwhile we would collect the necessary bee accoutrements. Well, we were up in the orchard checking out the early development of fruits and nuts when out of no where we heard the strange and indescribable sounds of a swarm coming our way. We stopped, looked up and through the rays of sunshine we saw the swarm slow to a halt right in front of us. They just slowed down and within five feet of us started to land in a branch of a hazel nut tree. We stood there waiting, watching and within a few minutes they gathered together in a heart shaped clump of bees. The universe obviously was saying, ‘hey, here are your bees!’
We borrowed a box from a beekeeping neighbor, scooped them up and after dusk moved them to a more ideal long term location. Here we go! We look forward to having homestead honey and beeswax products in the next few years!
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And the bees made honey in the lion's head.....Traditional