Welcome Karen Lynn today as our guest poster from Lil’ Suburban Homestead. She’s got a fabulous perspective on beekeeping to share with us today that willmaybe inspire some of you to dive in with your first beekeeping experience. Enjoy! – Angela
Our journey into beekeeping was one that I initially embarked with some trepidation and fear, mostly because I was one of those people that believed all of the horror stories about bees that they would attack and become taken over by a rogue hive, etc…what I did not know, is that when you are trained as a beekeeper and go through your Beekeeper Certification, much of this is just FEAR — and that’s all with little truth.
It is so important to take a Beekeeping course and to join a local chapter of Beekeepers because knowledge is powerful and as you practice your craft you start to have some of your own wisdom from your own experiences and you learn how to deal with common beekeeping issues as they arise.
When we got our first two hives my husband went and picked them up with our daughter and he was so excited and could not wait to get them started. Well getting your first bee hives is called, “hurry up and wait…” Yes, you guessed it, you don’t harvest honey until the following summer, so it can be frustrating and the dream of the beautiful fragrant honey harvest seems like a distant dream.
Once you do partake in your first honey harvest you won’t ever be able to imagine a summer without sticky door knob season as we call it at our Lil’ Suburban Homestead. We use honey daily in our coffee, in our tea, on our toast, and even on our roasted asparagus.
The other day, as the sun was shining down on us in Coastal North Carolina, it was a beautiful 70 degree day — ironically right after an ice storm and a cold snap — and the bees were buzzing about our lil’ homestead. They fly all around me many days when I am working in the yard and the garden, but instead of inspiring fear, they make me feel content and happy about the knowledge that we are helping the future of our planet and generations to come as well.
Fondly,
Karen Lynn
Clarence Dubois says
Bravo. We are getting bees soon, can’t wait.