My Beeginning with Bees..

Well, it started with a bee bite when I was little and I've been fascinated ever since. Love works in mysterious ways. Besides, beekeeping comes with a really cool outfit! I know when people think of beekeepers, they might visualize a middle aged man with a beard & overalls, living on a farm, with some cute cows in a barn, but beekeeping in fast becoming a more popular hobby for people like me~ a younger generation living in urban cities. Did I mention I'm making it a "girl" thing as well!?

Everyone's asking me "why bees?" Well, there are so many reasons! Bees are fascinating, hard working creatures. They live together in a complex community, & are very important to the cycle of life, pollinating the crops we eat. All of these are attributes to be greatly admired. At a time when our generation suffers from a term coined "nature-deficit disorder," bees bring us closer to the beautiful world of flowers & trees whose nectar is the source of their honey. I think raising honey bees is my personal calling to help my environment.

AND ohhhhh, the HoNeY!!! Honey contains vitamins B1,B2,C,B6,B5, & B3. A bit of local honey everyday, will rid you of your seasonal allergies better than any pill. It's a genius thing these honey bees do for us by pollinating our local plants! Honey is an awesome moisturizer for your skin & hair (you can use as a mask). It helps cure a sore throat, heals wounds & ulcers, kills viruses, bacteria, & fungi, helps your upset tummy feel better. It can keep you from getting dehydrated & who doesn't LOVE honey! It's nature's oldest & bestest sweetener in foods & drinks.

So many beekeepers' goal is to just produce as much honey as possible and measure their success based on the quantity harvested at the end of a season. But my goal, my hope, is to introduce as many of my friends as possible to what modern beekeeping can be and the joy & fruits of my honey bees labor. Please experience with me the amazing enjoyment we're going to embark on, having one of nature's most wondrous creatures residing in my very own garden. I hope this blog will get you thinking outside your bee box and get you excited about something new. Maybe it will even encourage & inspire you to bring bees into your life, wherever you are in life & on the world. It's un Beelievable!

Just the facts, bees!

I'm thinking you probably don't know how IMPORTANT bees really are. I mean, we all know how cute they are~ all fuzzy & flighty, but they're seriously important. No less than 70% of the food we eat is dependent on being pollinated by bees. Food crops such as almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, & watermelons (to name a few in awesome alphabetical order) all rely on pollination by honey bees. 1/3 of our food supply relies on their very polite pollination services, essential for the reproduction of the plants. Happy bees, happy plants, happy people :)

So here's the sad bee state of affairs: bee populations around the globe are on the great decline. It's information like this that can put a girl in a great depression. With gross & neglectful things like intensive farming & urban sprawl & disease, the honey bee’s vital role is under great threat. There's a serious need for bees! 

Because of our ECOSYSTEM, we all should know that without bees, life just won't be as sweet! Bees are super huge deals in our ecosystem. (Did I mention they're responsible for most of our food crop reproduction?) Remove one element of the ecosystem, & the system has to make huge, not great, adjustments with all these connections & actions & interactions that take place within them. Without bees, Earth's ecosystem is just a BIG, HOT MESS! 

We need bees! If honey bees disappear, we can't find replacements that can do all the busy bee work they do. All that yummy delicious food we take for granted will always be there for the “picking” (literally) will decrease in supply & increase in price~ emptiness in our tummies & our pockets. Sad for you, me, & the bee. In an ecosystem, every single thing is important. A dwindling honey bee population directly affects being able to provide food for our families. 

Oh, yea ... & did I mention all that super delicious honey! bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :)