Can you believe that it has been one year since I started bee keeping? I know it is really hard to beelieve! For those of you that follow my blog you know it hasn’t exactly been a boring year. It has been exciting, and very eventful! Looking back I can definitely say I have learned a lot, and I certainly haven’t been bored. When I first started beekeeping I really had very little idea what I was doing. I just wanted to help the pollinators, reap the benefits of getting some honey, and thought it would be a really cool hobby. Little did I know that I would risk life and limb, so to speak, during this year to protect these very special pollinators?
Looking back over the year it has been pretty amazing and very rewarding. I started with 2 TBH and now have 5 hives. The first time I saw Sam Comfort at the Palm Beach County Beekeepers Association meeting he asked me how my bees were doing. I honestly couldn’t answer as I really didn’t know enough. Now I can answer quite honestly, “they are doing great!”
To recap the year in beekeeping my hives grew tremendously in the spring. I split the hives from 2 hives to 4 hives and then battled them over the next few months until they raised a queen. It felt like this would never happen, and of course the weather didn’t help at all. As you know we are almost ready to break a record for the most rainfall since 1959. After several months all my hives were queen right. I got to visit Albuquerque NM, and take a beekeeping class from Les Crowder. I learned a lot from that visit and thoroughly loved that part of the country. I rendered wax from my hives, have made honey Mead, and of course harvested many wonderful jars of honey.
For those of you that follow my blog you know that I experienced an anaphylactic reaction after sustaining several stings in June. That was really scary and I hope it never happens again. I am still visiting the allergist for immunotherapy, which will continue for several years. From my blog pictures I have had several run ins with the bees, and sometimes think I am practicing “Combat Gardening”, but I have survived. My bees have stung my yard and pool guys; thank God no law suits yet. Right now the hives are “bee having” and the Brazilian pepper is in bloom. That means the honey flow is on.
I have learned so much during this first year. Here’s to an exciting 2nd year!! Happy Anniversary to me and my hives! Most people would have given up, but I am determined!
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