Did you know there’s an Irish Black Honeybee? I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw these tiny Guinness-colored beauties pollinating flowers in the park during my recent travels! It inspired me to learn more about the diversity within honeybees throughout the world.
This may be the happiest article I have ever written. It’s mid-April, and my bees are thriving! I changed almost everything about the way I keep bees last year, and it worked. Finally, I have a year-old hive.
I would love to tell you that I have finally become a beekeeping expert, but I’m still not there yet. I continue to make mistakes,
Although honeybees are not native to this continent, they are a connecting link between humans and the insect world. For the sake of honeybees, people will plant wildflower gardens, forego lawn chemicals, and advocate for organic agriculture. Fewer people would be willing to take similar actions for the sake of native pollinators such as the paper wasp, but the same actions benefit all pollinators. The honeybee has a certain charisma that helps to affect positive change in the world. I believe that because of the honeybee, and our human relationship with them, the world is a better place. In this article, I talk about the evolution of my beekeeping journey and lessons learned through my first few years as a new beekeeper.
When I opened my hives for their spring inspection, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My bees were dead. I had been visiting my hives every day to observe bee traffic through the hive entrance, and there were always bees coming and going. It turns out, they weren’t my bees.
A few years ago, I decided to become a beekeeper. I read every book and article I could find on the topic. I joined a
When people find out I’m starting a farm, the first question they usually ask is, “What are you going to grow?”ย After I’ve told them