I can learn from my mistakes, but I would rather learn from yours!
Sounds harsh at first! When you think about it, it's rather smart and very generous of the person willing to share their struggles and failures so that I don't have to repeat them. I've long wanted to have bees on my property, and that desire started long before I had property of my own. This is the genesis of a dream that I have had for quite some time. I was 8 years old.
I was 7 years old when I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The hospital that I was getting treatment from hosted a camp just for kids that were going through cancer treatment. Camp Periwinkle was the place that my interest of bees was born. The beekeeper there, Mr. Bee, introduced me to bees and gave me my first taste of honey comb dripping with that sweet natural honey!! Fast forward 30 years. I was 38.
My family and I attended an annual emergency preparedness expo at a church where a local bee keeper was giving a "Beekeeping" presentation. Listening to him tell of his bees immediately brought me back to this memory as a child watching Mr Bee! In the coming months I poured over you tube videos and devoured beekeeping podcast as much as I could stand. I had decided that I wanted to keep bees as natural as possible. The bees have been surviving for thousands of years without our input. The recent addition of pesticides and cruel chemicals in the hive and on crops has , in my opinion, caused what we now call Colony Collapse Disorder. I want to let the bees adapt and overcome as naturally as I can. My worry was that I would have to learn everything from videos and articles. The next year at the preparedness expo I was able to attend the beekeeping presentation again and was pleasantly surprised to find out the presenter, Brian Muldrow, kept bees the exact way I wanted to! This was truly an answer to prayer!
__NOW WE'RE TALKIN"!!__ In the coming months I enrolled in bee college. A year long beekeeping class at a local community college. Brian Muldrow became my beekeeping professor, mentor, and friend. I could now learn from his mistakes, saving myself countless frustrations and money. What I learned from Brian in the course of a day spent working bees would have taken me months otherwise! (_If you are interested in learning beekeeping, I would highly advise you find a local beekeeper who practices beekeeping the way you want to and learn from them._) I had started to take on my own bee recovery jobs and it was spring of 2017.
Bee recovery jobs consist of removing feral bees from structures. One of my first bee recovery jobs. A trapout from a large cedar tree.
This particular bee recovery would be the last one for a long while. Weeks after I started this bee recovery, I came down with a wicked case of Pneumonia that landed me in the I.C.U and home recovering myself for the next two months. Sitting on the couch for days at a time gave me plenty of time to think of where my life was heading now. I needed to find a job because my previous one was no longer available to me.
Beekeeping Bandits My youngest and I in my shop building bee boxes
We're on Instagram and facebook
You had cancer as a kid?! Wowsers! That's a story all by itself.
It makes me sad to look at the apiary...I really hope there will be plenty of bee recoveries to do this summer too.
Its a great story! One that I may tell one day!
I dig it!
thanks for dropping by!!
Great story, wonderful to hear you are living out your childhood dream...sorry for the big setback this year!
Thank you! The father has a plan!!
I so wish we lived closer! I've been wanting to keep bees for ages and would love to learn all the natural ways possible. I plan on doing this when we get to our homestead so now is my time to study and prep. I've got my start box ready (won from @mericanhomestead )and waiting for our move. I can't wait to hear more about your bee farm as you guys get rolling.
Find someone close to mentor you! It will save you tons of mistakes
Oh the cliffhangers! Don't let me wait too long...I like the design on your boxes, did you paint them yourself?
I did paint hem myself. Cut the pattern from an old cardboard box and went crazy with the spray paint!
Great idea! They are so pretty and interesting for the eye compared to the regular ones.
You’re too nice🤩
We have been following your adventures of beekeeping for a while. You made us want to get into it. We haven't yet, but it is one of our goals. We have been prepping for them by planting more flowers and by choosing organic alternatives for keeping the bad bugs away from our garden. I'm sure we will have lots of questions for you when the time comes. Thanks for sharing!
if you plan on Bees this spring, right now i would start treating the ground beneath where you are going to put your hives. The way I do this to buy the cheapest liquid laundry detergent at the family dollar. Mix one measurement of soap
(whatever that lid holds) to one gallon of water. I usually mix up 4 or 5 gallons at a time. drench the ground all around the hive site 18-24 inches out. Repeat this every other week when its dry and once a week if its rainy.
What this does is stop the brood cycle of the Small Hive Beetles (BAD NEWS) and will give you a head start combating them!! The soap goes into the ground and will not effect the grass or bees!
I was not aware of these small hive beetles. We will have to get a spot picked. What would be considered a good spot? We have open areas, wooded areas and a pond.
Great question!
First off, ask around and see if SHB are a problem in your area. Most likely they are. They like dark, damp, mulchy spots.
Put hives in the sun or a spot that gets partial sun.
Put their front door in a spot where their flight paths don't intersect with usual human walking paths.
If your in a colder climate, face the front door (bee entrance) south so they can benefit from the suns warmth on those cold days.
That's great info. From what I see online they are in our area. I think I may know of a good spot for them. I will keep you updated!
Looks amazing! Great job guys!
Thank you! When you gonna get in the beekeeping game?
Yeah, like I need something else do. I can live vicariously through you and be satisfied.
Bees is something I want to get into here on my Nicaraguan homestead. Your story is truly amazing. Following.
Thank you for stopping by @cecicastor!! This story gets better.
STAY TUNED
One of my neighbors has bee hives, and the honey tastes just like wild flowers. Another old freind of mine in North Carolina keeps bees, and the bees know him- he doesnt have to smoke them, he doesent even wear protection, he pulls apart the frames an rakes the bees off by hand. In the winter, when there isnt any flowers, he puts those giant candy canes out by the hives and the bees land on them and go back to the hive and the honey tastes like peppermint.
I'm not that brave just yet
I have captured swarms without a veil but when working with hives, I always suit up! Ive found that bees can sense your nervousness etc and react acccordingly. I tend to be a bit wound up and excited so theyre not so calm around me. Another factor is most of mine were recoveries so bees tend to be a bit aggressive when you're ripping out their home!
Ive never tasted a wildflower but if they taste as good as they smell then I am sure the honey tasted good! haha
I'll have to try the candycanes once and see how it turns out. If nothing else the bees will have stellar breath all winter long!!
The small jar on the left has honeycomb, we chew it like gum in the south. The jar on the right is pure honey, run through the centrifuge, not boiled. Out of this world.
oh yeah!!!
A nice story...and a great business to get into. Bee's are "endangered" and the more people like you protecting them and encouraging others the better! It is something that I hope to be able to do one day. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by! Even if you start with two hives and allow them to swarm, that will increase the population of wild bees. A small start but a start nonetheless.
WONDERFUL story about overcoming such a life threatening illness... you are a survivor!
Thank you!
I love the passion and determination you put into your hobby! I am the kind that would dive in head first and make lots of mistakes. I cannot believe you studied for a whole year! Who knew keeping bees could be so involved and complex! Thanks for sharing
I was fortunate to have a class to go through as others suffered large losses the first year! Thanks for stopping by