Friday, September 3, 2021

To Bee...or Not to Bee...

 That really IS the question around here lately. DH has been toying with  the idea of diving into beekeeping. I laughed and told him I liked being his only queen bee. 😂 

A few years ago he bought this book and he recently pulled it out again:

I have been reading a financial planning book at night and he has been reading his bee book. I laughed and told him we had odd bedtime reading selections. 

So last Thursday we drove into town at 7:30 in the morning to spend some time at the tire shop to have some ranch tires repaired :

And to stop in at the local Seed store:

To pick John's brain about bees:

We had no idea there was such a robust bee community in the area, but I think we're swarming (LOL) around the idea of taking part:

DH has seen bees set up around the ranch through the years and they have always peeked his interest. He saw this ball of bees in a mesquite bush the other day when he was spraying Cockleburrs:

So we drove up to North Adobe after dinner and attempted to capture them into our newly acquired hive:

DH scooted the box under the tree 

                                                                                       

Cut the branch


And the bees just fell into the box

                                        

After sliding the lid on                                 

                                          

He loaded them up

                                          

DH wears a lot of hats around here - looks like he's added one more:                                      

                                          

and we drove them back to headquarters, setting them up with some sugar water for 2 days before opening the hive back up and hoping they'd settle and stay. We shall see. I figured he'd tie into this when we slowed down and semi-retired, but if this is something that interests him, then beekeeping it is. I'll admit that I'm a little fascinated as well:



P.S. John siphoned that jar of honey directly from the extractor on Thursday and made us promise not to tell his wife that he gave us the first jar from this year's crop. 😉I have to say, it was the best honey I've ever tasted. I think my initial question of to bee...or not to bee...has been answered. 



13 comments:

Dorian said...

Good morning Karin, good luck with the bees!! We have had a hive for a few years now, and STILL haven't done anything with it. We love honey though, and someone in this house needs to get some bees! LOL Good luck!

Gretchen Weaver said...

Good luck with the new adventure!

Joy Van den top said...

And the best honey for you is what comes from your area! I love to watch them going from flower to flower! Enjoy your new venture!

Sherrill said...

We have a few beekeepers around here and I know they are quick to pipe up when someone has a swarm they'd like removed. I'm not the slightest bit interested in doing that but it's neat to read about. One of the beekeepers has been making 'bee houses' out of dead bamboo and I want one for my yard. We need to take care of our bees.

Donna said...

How fun! I think beekeeping would be so interesting! You need to make some homemade biscuits to go with that honey! Yum!

vkh6210 said...

So excited to see anyone interested in bees. If you have a bee group, that is the best way to learn. Looks like you might have someone to show you the ropes.
It is expensive to get into beekeeping but the benefits are great. I WON'T buy another jar of honey from the store. Tea sweetened with fresh honey is the BEST. They are so interesting to watch. Just be careful. Those stings can be dangerous.

Samplings from Spring Creek said...

I wish DH every success with his beekeeping endeavors. Bess are such a vital part of agricultural. and nothing tastes better than honey on a biscuit hot out of the oven!

Tired Teacher 2 said...

Happy bees make fabulous honey!

Judy Laquidara said...

That is great! I always wanted to have bees. There are lots of bee keepers around here. In fact, one of our neighbors down the road raises queens and I love picking his brain. I'm sure we'll never do it but I'll love hearing about your new hobby.

Lisa said...

We have several area Bee Keepers. One keeps His hives just across the road from us. It isn't our land so we don't get honey but our neighbor is kind enough to share as they get a Case from him for having his bees on their land. I now use it for baking instead of sugar. Especially for bread. It is a learning curve and does have a different taste. Also my guy has allergies. Local honey is good for those. He hasn't had to have allergy shots for years now. Good Luch!

Unknown said...

Best of luck with your new hobby. My husband had bees for many years. We had gotten a flyer in the mail for adult education courses at the local high school. As I was looking thru it, I said to him "Who would take a course on beekeeping???" Well, after that course he took several courses at Rutgers University and traveled to PA to take a course from a well known beekeeper.
After bears became a problem, we had to give them up, but we probably had for 10 to 12 years. He ended up giving demos at schools and had our name with the local police dept, so whenever there was a swarm in town, we were called and gained another hive!

Amy said...

You obviously don't have bears! I have a friend here who was planning on setting a hive at our headquarters until she saw my IG pictures of bear sign. She said, "No WAY!"

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh too cool!!!
I know a lot of people around here do bees too - and they say the honey takes on flavors from the places they live ... interesting!

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