Liquid Gold

 The day finally arrived when we "robbed" the hive and harvested honey.  It is important to leave approximately 80 pounds of honey for the bees to consume during the winter so we only gathered honey from the supers.  One hive had honey for the taking and we managed to harvest approximately 18 pounds of the liquid gold.

Imagine, it takes the lifetime of 12 bees to produce one teaspoon of honey!  Realizing that, the golden nectar becomes even more valuable than it
actually is for, believe me, this honey is

priceless. 

The gifts of beekeeping are many....I enjoy sitting and watching them as they come and go from their hive.  They do that little "bee dance" at the hive entry to advise their sisters of the best sources of nectar and pollen.  To help them out, I've started planting "bee friendly flowers" in our yard.  I think the bees struggle in Silver Springs to find enough nectar to keep them going.  I also want to thank my neighbors for contributing to the adventure by growing gardens and planting flowers.

 I enjoy watching the bees at their local watering hole, the bird bath and am delighted to see them returning from gathering pollen with their "baskets" full.

I think beekeeping makes me slow down a bit as I watch the bees and enjoy the flowers.  I am thankful for the honey they gave us this year and look forward to the next season.  Now it' s time to prepare for winter; put up the mouse guard to keep themrodents out of the hive, test for vorra mites and feed pollen patties. 

 I'm so very grateful for my dear friend, Debbie, who has walked me through my first year as a beekeeper.  Her knowledge is immense, her patience is equally as large and she shares without reservation.  So, as I write this my first beekeeping season is coming to an end and I'm thumbing through books... looking for more flowers to plant and anticipating the adventure of a new year.