Wal Mart Now Offering Honey Bees?

Yep. That's right folks and you read it here first!!

Wal Mart has just about anything you could want or need but.....honey bees?
Yes. Even honey bees. Last week Ethan, Brandon's beekeeping mentor, found this "hard to find item" while shopping at Wal Mart. Actually he was in the parking lot getting ready to leave when he discovered a swarm in a tree.

Like any true beekeeper, Ethan just happened to have a super or two in his van! Perfect! The bees we owned left their hive a while back so Ethan was so kind to bring the swarm to our empty hive and I am so excited because they arrived just in time to work in my vegetable garden and the orange blossoms!

Notice how comfortable Bryce has become around the bees. I am not that brave yet! They are even crawling on his back....ewwww!

They seemed to accept their new home right away.

The bees were full of nectar so they can't sting. Me? Still not brave enough for this!

And I am certainly not brave enough to bring a swarm of bees across town in my vehicle. If they were to start swarming around me while I'm driving I would probably crash!

Just look at the bees still left in the van....ewwww!!!

I must say, though, there is nothing better than fresh, raw honey. So, THANK YOU Ethan for thinking of us and for driving the swarm of bees over to our place!! You are the bestest!

Honey Harvesting

We are looking forward to some fresh honey soon! This week our beekeeping teacher/friend, Ethan, came by and picked up our supers so that he can extract the honey for us. We will get wildflower honey this time.
Here is Ethan working the bees. I told him that he is such a blessing to our family. He has taken Brandon under his wing teaching him how to keep bees. When Ethan gets a call from someone to come and get a swarm he stops by and picks up Brandon and takes him along to show him how it is done. When it was time to harvest our orange blossom honey Ethan took Brandon for the extracting process. Bran is learning so much. I hope beekeeping becomes a lifelong hobby for him. Ethan, thanks for all you do and we love you!!!

Here is a proud beekeeper-in training. Can you tell we had a warm, sunny Florida day? Brandon was playing outside with no shirt on!

Ethan gave us a "thumbs-up" on the condition of the beehive. He said they looked very healthy. I was a little concerned because we had an unusually harsh winter with many days below freezing.

Here they are, all loaded and ready to go! The hives were replaced with empty supers so our energetic little bees can get to work on some delicious orange blossom honey, which is my favorite!! The orange groves start blooming in March and the season for orange blossom honey is over about the middle of April. So, get busy all you Florida bees!

Notice in the background that we now have two hives. Several months ago we had a swarm of bees come by our back yard and they stopped in a tree in the back pasture. Ethan came to our rescue. He and Brandon gathered them and he gave them to Brandon to start a second hive.

I can't wait to find out how much honey we will get from these supers. I'll give an update as soon as we get the honey in jars!

Bees For B

For those of you who may not know, Brandon's nickname is "B". Thus, the title Bees For B. This nickname goes all the way back to when he could barely talk. Someone would ask Brandon what his name is and he would reply "B-man". It stuck.

Anyway, Bran has been wanting to start his own bee hive for about a year now. We have dear friends that have several hives and graciously agreed to teach Brandon about beekeeping. We had to wait till the spring to start because the bees have plenty of pollen and nectar to keep the hive healthy in the spring and summer. Brandon was patient but regularly mentioned the bees during the fall and winter months.

Finally, the long awaited day arrived. Ethan, our beekeeping friend and teacher, delivered the bees and taught Brandon all about the hive. I watched from a SAFE distance!!

Ethan taught us so much about beekeeping. He has a passion for bees and it shows! We are so very thankful for Ethan and his willingness to help our family! What a science lesson we had that day for school. I don't think we could have ever learned that much from a science textbook!! Yes, we all got our science lesson that day. Before Ethan left, he made sure Brandon knew how to check his hive for pests and to check on the progress of the honey. He also has to monitor the hive for over-crowding which would lead to a swarm....yikes!

Well, today was the day Brandon had to check on the bees by himself. Once again, I watched from a SAFE distance. As I was watching, I began to think about just what I would do if he ran into trouble. I don't think I would be much help. I would probably just scream and tell him to "RUN!!" as I would head for the back door.

Thankfully, we had no problems. In fact, I was very proud of my son. He just went right out to that hive and worked like a pro. Here are some pictures.

First Brandon must smoke the hive to calm the bees so he can take a closer look.

Here he is inspecting the frame for hive beetles, one of the pests a beekeeper must keep a close eye on or they can destroy a hive.

Next he takes the super (top box where the honey is stored) off of the hive and smokes the lower section of the hive before removing another frame.

Once again he removes the frames and takes a look at the bees and looks for any signs of beetles or ants. He also must make sure the comb that the bees are making is smooth and even so that the frame can be lifted out easily.

Wow our bee population has certainly grown in the last 2 weeks!! EEEETTTTHHHAAANNN!!!

Yes, we will be calling our faithful friend, Ethan!

We are looking forward to some wonderful orange blossom honey! Yummy! I have to ration it with my boys. They love it so much! I'll let you know if we are successful this season.