We did not exactly plan on it being this soon, but there was the ad in the paper:
"Honey bees and hives for sale." It listed a number from a town near us, less than a 30-minute drive away.
It piqued Lisa's curiosity enough to call and get more info, and I am glad she did. The man had 19 hives and wanted to downsize. He was selling existing, working, hives with a proven track record for $100.
We thought it was a fair price, and after talking with him in person, we realized an added benefit: free neighborly advice and help on down the road when we need it. The man was 70 years old and enjoyed talking about his hobbies very much. We visited for about 3 hours with him when we went to pick up the bees and I know that we can call on him any time if we need help! I am even hoping he will start attending our church.
We also bought from him a super with the frames and a feeder for another $30, so all together we have invested $130 in it. He said we should have honey this September! We will probably need to put another couple of hundred dollars into it as we go along for the needed tools and equipment to harvest the honey. Once we get all set up, though, there should not be much expense to harvesting our own delicious and nutritious liquid gold in the future!
I had read on someone's blog or comment that they were going to call their first hive "Genesis" and I liked it so well I guess I stole their idea! I'm not sure who to give the credit to and maybe there are many Genesis bee colonies out there. Genesis means beginning, and this is the beginning of honeybees here at Pure Water Hollow!
Welcome, Genesis Colony, to your new Pure Water Hollow home!
If they swarm and start a second colony for us we will call that one Exodus! The man we got them from told us how we can catch the swarm and put them into a second hive if we want to. We are going to study up on that. Right now we are thinking that we would like our Genesis colony to get built up bigger and stronger so we will probably try to keep them from swarming.
We located the Genesis Colony up on the middle of the mountain behind our house and garden. There is a level bench of sorts in the mountain where we have a trail that we have always called the Pear Tree Trail. Instead of going toward the pear trees you turn left toward our boundary line. Anyway, I think it is the perfect location. It gets the first sun of the morning and there is water directly down the hill from it. It is on a neglected piece of our property but it is a nice spot. We just have never come up with a use for that area or a reason to go over there. Now, that land has a good purpose and the hive is also out of the way from all the activity that goes on around here.
We spent an hour or so each day on Saturday and Sunday afternoons just sitting and watching the bees come and go. We were only about 6 feet away from somewhere between 20,000 and 80,000 honeybees! They are really gentle creatures who mind their own "beesiness". The puppies were curious about the beehive and stuck their noses right up to the opening! The bees left them alone Saturday, but Princess did get stung on Sunday, however. I guess their "repel the bear" instincts kicked in.
Here are some pictures of the Genesis Colony of Pure Water Hollow honeybees. I guess the pictures are not very impressive or interesting, but I wanted some pictures to record this moment for us anyway.
Next are a couple of pictures of the super with the frames. They need to be cleaned a bit, and then we will add it to the hive body. This is where they will be making the honey.
We give God thanks for our honeybees. The Bible mentions honey and honeycomb numerous times as being a good thing. One beautiful verse is Proverbs 16:24 :
"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."
May our conversation to one another be pleasant, sweet and healthy! And may our literal honeycomb up on our mountain be sweet to our soul and health to our bones, also!
We have a lot to learn about bee keeping and harvesting honey. I will try to record what we learn as we progress. It is sure to be an exciting adventure!
6 comments
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Debi on March 13, 2007 at 7:30 am
That is so cool, I would love to have honey bees. Except for the fact that they sense fear, and I am not sure that I would ever be calm around them.
But it is something that I hope to try one day. Can't wait to hear how yummy that honey tastes come fall.
Blessings,
Debi
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Morning Sunshine on March 13, 2007 at 8:17 am
yummy. I cannot wait for mine
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~Melissa on March 13, 2007 at 10:15 am
What a buy! I am also looking into bees, but have not gotten any. I am looking to rent them for a season for pollinating our fruit trees… I still haven't found anyone specific. But thought it all goes well, we'll get a hive of our own.
Glad you weren't offended by the fence comment I left. And by the way, I really enjoy your blog.
Melissa
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~Melissa on March 13, 2007 at 10:21 am
I think my comment went into blogland! We're also thinking of bees. I am currently trying to find someone to rent us bees for a year to see if we like having them around. Then we might buy our own hive. However the prices I've gotten, I might as well buy it first, other than not knowing what I am doing. There is a certain price for knowledge. Sounds like you have a wonderful mentor.
Anyways, glad to know you weren't offended by my post on the fencing. I just love reading your blog.
Melissa
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Henry on March 13, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Congrats on your bees! We have talked about getting some when we get to our farm. I took a class in bee keeping, oh about 25 years ago. Not sure if the man told you, but one thing you have to watch out for is skunks. They like to eat the bees. So make sure your hives are set up high enough to keep the skunks out. Make you up some biscuits and load it down with some of your own honey! YUM!
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harmonyhomestead on March 15, 2007 at 9:31 pm
What a wonderful addition to your homestead! Like someone else commented, I would be too fearful to have my own, but thankfully we have a beekeeper just up the road from us.
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