I started with one hive in the summer of 2017... I worked with Hiwire Honeybees in Lafayette, New York to obtain a complete hive, frames, and bees. My nuc was installed by Ray of Hiwire, and I have been nursing them along for a year. The hive has grown, and when I opened it on a warm day last February, the hive was active and appeared to be thriving. If all goes well, I should be able to harvest some honey this summer. I wanted to have my own bees because I noticed that my gardens were not producing as much product in recent years compared to, say, five years ago. Through my own observations, I found that we do not have many native bees up here, and my fruit trees, squash plants, and other flowering plants ended the growing season with dead flowers and little fruit. We are in an area with lots of fallow fields that explode with wildflowers. There are no fields within at least a mile where pesticides are used, and there is at least a quarter-acre of goldenrod right around the hive location. It is amazing to open the hive and see the bees hard at work, and it is humbling to realize how many bees it takes to produce a single pound of honey.
I started with one hive in the summer of 2017... I worked with Hiwire Honeybees in Lafayette, New York to obtain a complete hive, frames, and bees. My nuc was installed by Ray of Hiwire, and I have been nursing them along for a year. The hive has grown, and when I opened it on a warm day last February, the hive was active and appeared to be thriving. If all goes well, I should be able to harvest some honey this summer.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to have my own bees because I noticed that my gardens were not producing as much product in recent years compared to, say, five years ago. Through my own observations, I found that we do not have many native bees up here, and my fruit trees, squash plants, and other flowering plants ended the growing season with dead flowers and little fruit. We are in an area with lots of fallow fields that explode with wildflowers. There are no fields within at least a mile where pesticides are used, and there is at least a quarter-acre of goldenrod right around the hive location.
It is amazing to open the hive and see the bees hard at work, and it is humbling to realize how many bees it takes to produce a single pound of honey.
Glad to see you upping your game. Thanks for your work!
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