I recently had a call from a young man requesting to place some of his bee hives on our land. My husband and I have talked numerous times about the addition of bee hives to our menagerie of plants and animals. Several years ago, we experienced low production in our garden. We had followed normal procedures for planting. Watered and fertilized faithfully. We grew beautiful plants loaded with blooms but few vegetables. I, of course, researched the issue. There were numerous possibilities, of course, but few confirmed solutions. The most likely appeared to be pollination failure. Everyone has heard the stories of the mass exodus of bees or their elimination due to extensive pesticide use by farmers, ranchers, and general homeowners. We have since been planting flowers throughout our garden and beds to encourage insects and assist with this problem. Back to the young man and his request. Josh is the same age as my daughter and they went to school together. He also works with me at our local electric co-op. We ran into each other several weeks ago and ended up discussing his journey into bee keeping. The topic was fascinating and I, of course, peppered him with questions on the subject. I had another friend call two weeks later and ask if I knew any bee keepers. Steven had a wild hive that had taken up residence by his front door and wanted to try to relocate them. I referred him to Josh. Back to the phone call. Josh called and asked if we would consider allowing him to place two hives on our property. He was expanding his broods and needed other locations to place bees.
We, of course, said, ”yes!” Josh came and placed his hives, giving directions to my husband and daughter on how to transition the bees. The hives were set with cardboard boxes of bees next to them and sugar water in the watering troughs. The presence of the sugar water inside the hives lured the bees from the boxes into their new homes and provided them with sustenance until they could find their own food and water around the farm. We replaced the sugar water regularly until the move was complete and then transitioned to plain water. By this time, the bees could be seen throughout the gardens hovering over blossoms and blooms. Our early garden was full of a plethora of veggies and we know who is responsible! Josh came to visit about 2 weeks after placing the bees to check the progress of the hives. He was thrilled at the rapid filling of the boxes with broods and honey. He couldn’t believe how fast they had filled up!! They, of course, had plenty of flowers and pollen to harvest from in our gardens and were making a good work of it! He explained this stage is for the laying of eggs and hatching of new bees. He plans to return soon with another box to place on top of the current hive. This is where the honey will be made and harvested from. The honey process, according to our local expert, takes about a year. We at McTier Family Farms are all a buzz about our bee addition and can’t wait to try our honey….here we grow again……!