Welcome to Nature's Hive

We bought some raw honey in 2009 and loved every single drop. Last year I decided to look into getting more. I started reading more about raw honey and then about how fun it is to keep bees. I called my wife and she knows we're in trouble when I start the conversation with, you know I have been thinking. I told her I wanted to start keeping bees. She wasn't as opposed as I had prepared myself for. This was in March of last year and nobody had bees for sale, they had all sold out. I called my Dad and told him about my crazy idea and he loved it. He said he would buy the first hive if I would do the work. Well, we found one for sale and paid a little more than we should have for it, but we at least had a mentor. They have struggled as we were without a queen for a couple of months. By then they were getting a late start on the nectar flows. We fell in love with this new hobby. My parents love sitting in lawn chairs and watching their hive. My girls have become big fans until they get too close. My sweet wife puts up with my crazy ideas, but loves the idea of all the benefits from the bees. Nobody was stung last year except my Dad. He likes to get a little too close as he prunes the trees or weeds the flower bed. The amazing thing is not one grandchild was stung and we are talking a lot of grand-kids. In fact a lot of our concerns with bees went away as we saw they were so gentle and really didn't bother anyone. We did see an increase of honey bees in the yard, but they were either flying or on the flowers. I realized the wasps and hornets really do give the honey bee a bad name. We harvested just over 2 gallons of honey last year, which was a little disappointing. The one thing we were not disappointed in was the flavor. Some things we learned:

• Bees take their time and grow it good and slow (reminds me of the song by Lady Antebellum "American Honey")
• Try to avoid not having a queen (the hive just doesn't work with out a queen)
• Find a mentor
• There is always something to learn about and from the bees

We will try to post pictures and video to document what we have learned and what the bees are up to.

Hope you enjoy!

Nature's Hive