Hive & Honey

02/13/2025

When it’s nearing -50 outside with the windchill and 3 out of 4 of us aren’t feeling good, there’s something cozy about lighting up some of my candles ❤️ such soothing vibes 🐝

I’ve got jar candles ready to go in case you’re in need of some of the same, shoot me a message 🐝

Keep warm, Hive & Honey friends!

02/08/2025

When you get a customer who says he wants alot of firestarters, you make ALOT of firestarters! His order compared to my regular 6 pack…. His fires will be hassle free for a while to come.

Need some top notch firestarters? I’ve got you covered. Need a lot of top notch firestarters? I can do that too 😄

12/16/2024

Hey all! Christmas Eve is 9 days away and I still have some last minute gift options available! I have jar candles, hexagon pillars, small jars of honey, fire starters and lip balms…. Message me for delivery in Rivers or Brandon!

Contact me for prices.

11/10/2024

Today I am feeling very hopeful 😊

Since late September when a friend of mine warned me of high mite levels in their hives, it has been a big stress. After testing, I found I had very, very high levels myself and that was after treatment was done 😞 I reached out to a fellow beekeeper and they did one last round of different treatments for me.

Today as I checked my hives (for a very brief peek inside) one last time before winter, I was so relieved when I found lots, and lots of bees still in the boxes. I was expecting small clusters, and unhappy bees. Well, they were unhappy with me 😂 because I opened their hives, but they were beautiful bees!

I am going to take this as a good sign going into winter. It still doesn’t mean I’m out of the woods and that my bees are going to survive. What it does mean is that they have a fighting chance 😊

Feeling so blessed to have help in all this!

10/05/2024

Honey season 5…

I haven’t been on social media for a while, fall is a busy time for beekeepers; honey harvest, selling honey, cleaning up. Now my time is consumed with wax rendering and thinking about upcoming craft sales.

My fifth season as a beekeeper was a struggle, but with all challenges come experience and lessons for the upcoming season. This season was full of firsts… I overwintered multiple hives successfully, then for the first time I learned to do splits with those hives to make new hives. But, for the first time I have had to deal with very high mite counts, late in the season 😞

With high mite counts, overwintering will be a challenge. Mites are parasites that live on the honey bees and quite literally suck the life out of them. The spring outlook may be bleak but I will pray for them to pull through, so I can make new hives come spring.

I wanted to say a very big thank you to the beekeepers who are helping to guide me along the way. Also a big shout out to my very loyal and incredible customers, I am officially sold out of honey and have been for a while. I feel so fortunate to have all your support, and also so fortunate that I have this rewarding opportunity to be a beekeeper. ❤️

10/05/2024

09/01/2024

It’s that brutal time of year…. The boys have got to go!

The male honey bee, also called the “drone”, is a very large and lazy honey bee. The only reason the drone is around is to mate a queen, which may or may not happen once every year. When they do mate, the drones die in the process.

You will see drones in any beehive, whether or not it needs a new queen. So in the fall, the worker bees kick out all (or as many as they possibly can) and leave the drones to die. The worker bees do this because the drones eat so much honey and the worker bees know that in order for the hive to survive a long winter, they need food.

Sheesh, nature is so harsh sometimes.

08/17/2024

Honey harvest 2024 continues….

And so does the tradition of my daughter giving me a honey bee “tattoo” on the first day of extraction season.

This tradition is something I will hold onto forever ❤️

Today I am grateful for my amazing kids, the things they teach me and the traditions we make together as a family. One of them being honey harvest in the fall. (And shout out to my husband for being my muscle man when things get heavy 😉). This year my girl has been the most amazing extraction assistant any beekeeper could ask for. She told me she loved spending time and bonding with me 🥰 she took the words right out of my mouth ❤️❤️❤️

It may be a light honey year this year, but I am grateful for all the honey we receive, grateful to all our supporters and for our loyal customers (you all know who you are 🤗) and darn grateful for the memories. We are so blessed ❤️❤️❤️

07/24/2024

I stopped by my beehives this evening and this sweet little bee landed on my foot and stayed a while. I took this opportunity to pick her up and take some up close photos and video.

Such a perfect little specimen, a perfect little being. I can’t get enough of watching these bees!

I also love being around my hives this time of year because the buzzing is so therapeutic and the smell is fantastic!

They’re bringing home the honey!

07/07/2024

I saw a post today that said “one minute you’re young, hip and carefree and the next minute you’re taking pictures of the flowers in your garden” 😂

That is so me, although I still feel like I’m young and hip… some may argue that haha

But look that this beautiful forager, reaching her tongue into this clover to get some well deserved nectar.

How could I not just stop and snap a photo?

06/19/2024

Such good advice about how to help our little honey bees stay hydrated ❤️ the require this water for honey production and to keep the hive cool. Especially during hot days in the summer. Every little bit helps ❤️

Today marks the start of ! 🐝🌼 A time to share about all the amazing ways that pollinators contribute to our global food security, biodiversity, and the overall health of our planet. (Give these little creatures a round of applause!).

one of the best ways you can help pollinators, is by keeping them hydrated? Seriously! Honey bees need water during the hot summer months. But drinking from large bodies of water can be risky for our little friends.

Here are 3 simple things you can do to create safe and bee-friendly watering spots:

💧 Leave out a shallow dish of water or a small bucket with a sponge or add in corks from wine bottles. This provides a perfect floating pad for bees to safely sip water.

💧 Add a trickling fountain to your backyard garden. The gentle flow offers bees a continuous and safe water source. Plus, it’s a great way to make your outside space feel a little more zen.

💧 If you already have a bird bath or pond in your yard, place a few rocks inside around the perimeter. The rocks give bees a stable place to rest while they drink.

By creating these safe watering spots, you’ll be helping our buzzing buddies stay hydrated and energized for their important pollination mission. Learn more about pollinators at BeeMaid.com.

06/15/2024

The kids and I went gathering pine tips this afternoon. We have plenty of evergreen trees around the yard and no matter which one we went to, we were greeted by many, many honey bees.

Evergreen trees produce pollen and nectar in spring that may attract honey bees. But the pollen produced by these trees don’t have a lot of nutritional value for the bees, so they rarely get attracted to them. However, during times where there is little to no pollen from other plants, the honey bee will visit these trees as a pollen source.

On a hot day like today, +27c, these bees were visiting the pine trees for another reason… to forage the sap for Propolis production. Propolis is a very thick and sticky substance that a honey bee produces to seal cracks in their hive for protection and for air flow and humidity control. They can also use it to mummify dead intruders in their hive if the intruders body is too heavy for them to remove from the hive, like a mouse. (This prevents rotting and contamination of their hive, helping to keep it sanitary) I’m sure there are many uses of propolis that I don’t even know. But what I do know is that on hot days like today, the sap from our trees are more fluid then on cooler days and honeys bees will take advantage and forage!

Propolis offers so many benefits, because like all things that come from a beehive, it’s full of proteins and nutrients. If you scrape some from a hive to tidy up a bit and leave it outside the hive, the bees will forage it back and reuse it… it must be pretty precious!!