3: 3rd/4th ++ Experience

 

Three days in a row now, I've experienced something bee-related, I just can't seem to contain my interest!

2: Fan-Girling a Local Beek

 

 

Yesterday I met with a gal named Tracy to pick up some honey since I’ve missed the Saturday Market the last 2 weeks. 

Tracy is a retired teacher and owns Willow Wood Honey Farm in Athol. 

She she loves bees, honey, lotions, and also basket making.

👩‍🦳💛🐝 🍯 🧴 🍞 =

I'm totally fangirling!

We met in the parking lot of Red Robin and because of the time of day, it was nearly empty, so we stayed in our cars to make the exchange -it seemed all suspicious. I laughed because if I were doing something suspicious I probably wouldn’t be driving a bright orange car with matching hair. 

Tracy was incredibly helpful and encouraging!  She indulged my many questions, made some suggestions about people to contact, and also informed me that she sells fully equipped bee boxes in the late winter/ early spring right before the bees come. The price that she quoted me was very similar to what I’ve seen, and so I’m very excited to support her local business. 

We talked a lot about the most common pest for honeybees, varroa mites. There are a lot of different philosophies when it comes to treating (or not treating) honeybees for these mites and with her clarification on what she does and why, I will definitely follow that example. 

We laughed as we discussed the different philosophies in how people approach beekeeping, we both compared it to religion. It seriously feels like I’m supposed to pick a “religion” when I start beekeeping!

Well, I’m a Christian, but when it comes to beekeeping, I’m going the Buddhist route.

👩🏻‍🦰 + ✝️ = ❤️         🐝 + ☸️ = 🍯 

When I got home, I loaded up on eating the honey I bought- I needed my fix! 

 

Philip complained that I keep leaving honey on the counter I need to clean up after myself. I said that I have been making a conscious effort to do that, but honey is just messy. He then pointed out a small honey spot that I missed, and so I did what any reasonable person would do- I took the honey bottle I was holding and smeared honey on his hand. Then, realizing the natural consequence of my recent action, I decided the best next move was to run into the other room. I was safe, and I think we both learned a lesson. 

I think that my next step towards beekeeping is indeed to clean up a certain part of my yard and add some features so that it will be ready for hives. I want to create a BEE OASIS!

 

 

I have some grand ideas, but I’m not exactly into landscaping, especially when it comes to things like adding water access to that side of the house, leveling the ground, and adding pavers/rocks/gravel/cement to that section. 

I think what I need is to have a beekeeper tell me where the best placement of the hives will be, I contacted a guy that Tracy suggested and we're chatting, so we'll see if he's the guy for that or what. I then need to talk to my friends who knows a bit more about landscaping and decide what I really could do in the next couple months for next spring. If any of y’all are into that kind of thing, please let me know because there will be wonderful rewards for you in the future if you help me set up my bees!! 

 

🙋‍♂️👷💪  🚧 🧱  ⛺⛲️  = 🐝= 🍯🍯🍯

1: The journey begins.

How'd I get here? 😍💛🐝🍯

 I've been interested in bees for a long time, but in the spring of 2021 when my life took a dramatic turn, so did my interest in bees. 

I found an odd sense of escape, fascination, excitement, and even emotional connection to honeybees and bumblebees. As things continued to shift around me, I began to see a connection between my life and these fascinating little critters. 

 Then, I had a sort of revelation and began insatiably learning about the world of honeybees. I began reading books, watching countless video snippets, watching full documentaries, joining about a dozen groups on Facebook, contacting local beekeepers, eating raw local honey at least once a day, and...had helped a new beekeeping friend actually attend to her bees. I'm completely in love!

I've learned that the philosophies behind beekeeping is vastly diverse which means there's also diverse approaches with personal interactions with prospective newbies, like myself. There's also a lot of misinformation about beekeeping, especially anecdotally. The veteran beekeepers (aka "beeks") become frustrated with misinformation and sometimes become cranky with the newbs, so the newbs find other newbs, and the misinformation is perpetuated. My teacher's heart now wants to find the local veteran beeks that are passionate about sharing their experience without arrogance, so I can eventually do the same.

I went to the Art on the Green (massive annual arts, crafts, and farmer's market) where I came across a photography gallery of a man who lives in Utah. He and his with have a large garden, a couple of hives, and he is a professional photographer. He takes pictures of various wildlife but seems to specialize in photos of bees. He told me that he posts new pictures daily of bees on his website: https://bees.photo.

Photo by J. Steven Robertson of Emmisoure Photography and https://bees.photo

I was totally mesmerized by the photo above. I was staring and kept saying how beautiful she (the bee) is and the photographer shared his memory of snapping the shot. I wanted to buy it, but felt like I couldn't justify it because of my recent employment status. My best friend, was there to witness my reaction and turned to the photographer and said, "We'll take it.". 

I was overwhelmed with gratitude and teared up, I just couldn't explain my attraction and connection with the picture. The photographer then said that he has to charge for his work to make make a living, but my reaction to his work was really what it’s really all about. It was a beautiful moment.

I later named the bee in the picture "Muse", even though I think I see myself in her. 

I then made some decisions about my career and it's new direction which lead to a new clarity in my heart also. A few days later I found a necklace that I purchased to symbolize my new direction and posted this on Facebook: 

113 likes and loves!? Yes, people I care about seemed to confirm my perception.

So, I talked with my husband to let him know that I really do want to start beekeeping along with this new career direction (which, of course, is related). He is not a bee lover, which I totally understand. He's has a mild allergic reaction when stung by bees in the past, so I respect when people dislike bees. However, I did inform him that it's quite unlikely that it was a honeybee or bumble that stung him...it was probably a wasp.

I still hold fast to this funny meme that I found years ago:

 

Philip basically told me to go for the beekeeping thing, but that it's my thing. Fair enough! 

So, I posted on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested in following my journey and was quite surprised at the quick and large reaction of my friends. Yes! 💛🐝💛 

I created the group and decided to try a blog for the first time to catch up those who are interested in the process below the surface, we'll see how it goes. 

I figure that anyone who helps me in the journey, in any way, will be entitled to the golden reward once I start harvesting. Typically the first harvest of honey doesn't happen the first year for hives in this region, so the actual reward of honey and beeswax will likely be later- like 2023.

    Will work for honey? You're hired!

• You like doing yard work? You're hired! 
• You love gardening and can help plant the right flowers for next spring? You're hired!
• You have beekeeping equipment or purchase a needed supply for the venture? You're hired!
• You want to help with the actual handling of bees when it comes time? You're hired!
• You offer support and encouragement throughout the journey? You're hired!
  

I've made lists on the steps to take and the timeline. 

STEP ONE is to work on creating a space for my bees next spring.
I need to clean up an area in the yard and make a new spot in the garage so I can start collecting the equipment. 

Specifically, this is what I need to do now, and don't expect it but would love help 🙋:

• sell our non-running truck & snow tires to make room (we want about $1000 for both)
  
  
• borrow a running truck to make dump runs
• yard waste
• wood from a couple trees we removed years ago
  
• prep the area to make it level-ish
• remove large weeds, etc
• add gravel or pavers?
  
• figure out which of the flowers/plants I need next spring/summer that can be planted this fall
• I found this book at the library as a guide: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That pretty much brings me to now. Let me know what you think of my very first ever blog post! 

Thanks for joining me in my bizzy bee journey!
💛🐝💛