Monday, November 15, 2010

Adventures in Beekeeping - Part One

Back in late Spring my husband and I began the first steps in becoming beekeepers. We took a class... my Dad went along for the class too because I guess he wants to be a vicarious beekeeper. It was fascinating stuff and we were ready to dive in and start but it was too late in the year to actually get our hive, so plans were laid and the idea began to grow. Last Friday we took the next step. It was a gorgeous Fall day and we all hopped in my Dad's truck and made our way to Brushy Mountain in western NC to pick up our hive. It wasn't that far, about a 90 minute drive...or it would have been if some people listened to directions...and soon we arrived here...


We had a wonderful time poking about and looking at all the cool bee stuff. Here's my DH looking bemusedly at our haul.


We got everything we needed (hopefully) to get started, piled it all in the back of the truck and began the journey home ...or at least that was the plan..but my Dad has never met a dirt road that he didn't want to explore so we spent an hour driving up and down some tiny back roads and seeking some adventure. The trees were gorgeous...


...but eventually I had to nicely tell him that if he didn't get me some sustenance very soon I was going to probably start gnawing on his leg...low blood sugar makes me extremely cranky, it's a family trait...so we made our way back to civilization and some lunch. Next up we paint our hive and then wait until Spring to get our bees. I'll keep you posted!

And I leave you with our inspiration for beekeeping. This is our friend Mark, the bee whisperer, in the act of capturing a swarm and convincing them to live in one of his empty hives. It was taken by his wife and is such a cool picture.

2 comments:

  1. wow wow wow. so daggum exciting. i would like to come visit and watch.

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  2. I'll be following your progress on this. Hopefully next spring there will be some bee hives in my yard. Not mine - my friends want to put their hives in my yard and look after them.

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