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WELCOME TO

OUR BEE KEEPING

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"Why would anyone want 10 hives of honey bees sitting in their garden on the top of a 900 foot mountain? " It is a good question, especially since I am sensitive to insect bites, including bee stings. When we moved to the top of the hill in the middle of the hardwood forest, our first garden did fairly well. However, the second year we did not harvest any zuchinis, cucumbers or melons. Something was seriously wrong in paradise if one could not grow zuchini. After some intense pondering, we rationalized that we needed a lot more pollinators. Bees would do for us what they did for all the other food producers, and I would never have to beg for left over zuchinis from friends again.

With one quick call to the local agricultural extension, the four of us were enrolled in the spring's session of Beginning Bee Keeping that year. We got our first hive from a wonderful friend, Johnny, and licked our lips in anticipation of not only the honey but the bumper crop of vegetables that we would have that summer. We were so excited about our new hive that we spent hours poking around the inside making sure that there weren't any diseases and pests like we had learned about in the Bee Keeping course.

All four of us passed the course, and became certified Bee Keepers that spring. I continued with my studies and I am now a Journeyman Beekeeper. Both of my sons went on to be awarded the South Carolina Junior Bee Keeper of the Year awards. I give presentations to the public about the Bee Hive and the importance of protecting America's bee population from mites and diseases. I have given demonstrations in local Elementary Schools for their Science Days, and participated in the Oak Way Agricultural Days events for several years. I was the representative Bee Keeper at Hagood Mill for several years.

Besides demonstrating, we spent a lot of time just messing around with the bees. The most exciting time of the year is when the bees swarm. If you are lucky, you can catch your swarm and create a new hive. The first year, our brand new hive swarmed unexpectedly and we had to drive over to Walhalla to pick up a hive that was ready to go, with wax foundation and all, and race back to the farm to scoop up our bees and make sure that they liked their new home.






We loved to watch the bees go about their daily activities so I placed those first hives near the house under some lovely tall tulip poplar trees. The bees were happy, the shade kept them cool, and I could watch them from the comfort of my front porch. When swarming time came that year, I was estatic to be able to sit on my porch and watch the show. As I sat there with my coffee and camera, the glittering whirlwind of the bees slowly consolidated into an enormous swarm about 60 feet up in the tulip poplar tree. To my mother's heart it looked to be about 200 feet from the ground and the branches seemed incapable of supporting the weight of my enthusiatic son. The frugal part of my personality was was not so delighted to see two thirds of a hive almost beyond my reach.




The year that I moved them under the apple trees, it was much easier to reach the swarms.