If you don't already know--I am pretty much obsessed with honeybees. About 18 months ago I became fascinated with the idea of getting a couple of hives for our backyard and since then it has just been a little thing I like to dream about for our future. A couple of weeks ago I decided to watch an amazing documentary, Vanishing Bees.
The movie was so informative and inspiring--I learned about...
-colony collapse disorder- thousands of bees literally vanishing from their hives for no reason
-bees are artificially inseminated (what????)
-pesticides do not just affect us but they harm the bees as well--pollination will be affected and so will the food supply (one big happy cycle)
-monoculture destroys ecosystems--for so many reasons
-bees are the life guaranteers of nature itself
-we cannot change problems with the same methods that caused the problems
-the modern human family has to live in harmony with the environment
Ben is the most amazing husband as you already know and he does a really good job of being a creative gift giver. For my birthday this year he decided to take me to an introductory course on urban beekeeping at Foxhollow Farm!
We spent three hours learning about all things HONEYBEE.
Here is just a small snip of what we learned about...
-different hive types- mainly Langstroth & Top-bar
-bee sizes- they are suppose to be small
-how to start a hive-from a package of 5,000 bees, from a nuc, or from a swarm.
-bee food-honey, sugar water, & camomile tea
-the role of the queen, workers, & drones
-bee products- honey, wax, propolis, & pollen
To say the least I love bees!
