A Sweet Treat for the Beekeepers
Philip did some hive maintenance to prepare for our upcoming apiary inspection. As always we spend time looking for the queens and check for signs of new eggs. The bees were building their honeycomb in between the two boxes in Hive 1, essentially fusing them together. He cleaned out all the honeycomb built between the frames rather than on the frames and we got to feast on the honey! One of my favorite childhood memories of Uncle Donald from a local farm was when he would open the hive and give us chunks of honeycomb to suck on. An amazing sweet treat for the beekeepers!
The inspection is part of the requirements in the state of Florida. The apiary is inspected on an annual basis, to check for disease and other problems that might cause issues with the local bee population. Bees are the most important insect on earth as pollinators for our food source.
Sweet Treat for Bees and Beekeepers
Bees make honey for food for their own survival, but carefully managing a hive can create a substantial surplus, a sweet treat for the beekeepers! Since this is our first year beekeeping, our goal this year will be building strong hives. The bees need to be able to sustain the colony through the winter months. In future years we can expect a harvest of honey.
Spend some time with us, as we work through the two hives and complete hive maintenance.
Did you miss the apiary inspection, read about it here.
About the Author: Barbra-Sue Kowalski grew up on a small hobby farm. She was always drawn to farm life, however, she was stuck in an urban life far from her roots. Barbra-Sue was a single mom for 13 years, raising her 3 children on her own. She met Philip in 2018 and they married in 2021. Between the two of them, they have 5 grown children and 4 grandchildren. These empty nesters are following their dreams! As they both turn 50, they are building their off-grid homestead to live the life that they dream about. Learn more about Philip and Barbra-Sue here. Contact them here. To leave a comment on this post, please scroll down.
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