Hunting season in the Love Shack! was enjoyable and quiet. This week I will be enlightening you on a new adventure! The wonderful world of bee keeping.

My boyfriend and I recently took up bee keeping (so learn from our mistakes! ;p ) . I have wanted to be a bee keeper for several years now and my boyfriend heard my plea. Originally Luke had built us swarm traps which we placed in ideal locations for traveling hives but had no luck in collecting swarms. So Luke broke down and bought two hives from a Russian couple moving to the East Coast. Just before he went to pick up our new hives Luke built some very cool top bar hives to give the bees plenty of space and room for honey storage. This winter we will not collect their honey so that they can make it through winter with less additional feed sources.

These bees are Carniolans which are a subspecies of the Western honey bee. They are mostly mite resistant and have a very docile mannerism. This is great for us beginner bee keepers because they allow us to handle them and inspect the hive without to much fuss. Currently the plan is to split the hive come spring as Carniolans are more prone than most bee species to swarm when they feel crowded. I am looking forward to moving the splits over to the homestead as my garden has been specifically planted for their enjoyment! 

These are Luke’s top bar hives from the outside. My hives will be more like a commercial style where they will stack for ease of movement. The top bar hives are nice for allowing the bees to grow into their space and they also cut down on the stress related to checking hives but the sheer size of them is quite intimidating for me.

Next week I will be talking about another income potential on the homestead with Opportunity Knocked, So I Answered.

Do you keep bees? If so leave a comment below! I would love to pick your brain.