In 2011 my wife and stopped eating sugar. Neither of us trusts the science behind artificial sweeteners so that option’s out leaving one final sugary opportunity in our lives “Honey”. I won’t go into the countless recipes we’ve mastered (honey margaritas are one my favorites) but it suffices to say we found ourselves going through a lot of honey. That led us to the question, “Should we be raising bees ourselves?” So we did.
Over these past months our bees have absolutely amazed us. Moreover we’ve learned that honey production is just one of many profound reasons to keep bees, here’s a few:
There aren’t enough of them: It’s estimated that in 2007 between 40% – 70% of all North American Bee Colonies died suddenly. Many experts now say that there are now virtually no colonies left in the wild. No one’s sure why but most suspect several factors have combined (Pesticides, Varroa Mite, foulbrood) to create really bad news for bees. The technical term for this is CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder. There is no cure for CCD in sight.
Our neighbors love them: With the potential for human allergies an urban beekeeper needs to alert his or her neighbors. We did and found our neighbors very open minded, now they’re amazed at the results our pollinators have created. We have indeed improved the ecology of our entire neighborhood. Yes we do intend to share the honey.
We love them: At least once a day we find ourselves sitting near the hive, watching intently. I’m not sure why but they’re strangely captivating, my family calls it “Bee TV”. Beekeeping has become a very fulfilling hobby and an integral component on our urban farm.
Would you like to know more? I’d love to help.
