The bee-gining of my Bee journey

It is Monday October 23 and this is officially my first Blog post. I started beekeeping three years ago when we were all locked in our homes. I just moved back to Florida after escaping the craziness of California's reaction to the "rona". Living in Northern Cal was incredible and I am a huge California fan. Lived there a total of 15 years but when the madness of the Virus began I knew it was time for me to fly. So I packed up and headed back to the family compound in Ocala Florida. Nicknamed the horse capitol of the world, It's a beautiful spot in central Floridas famous horse country. My sister and Mom live here along with my two nieces and one nephew. It is a 15 acre mini farm where the animals seem to rule, lol. Here is the creature inventory. 4 dogs, 4 kitties, one horse, 20 chickens, 2 ducks, a fish and a whole lot of bees! Animals have always been the heart of the farm. Over the years we have had the honor of taking care of some incredible pets. It is always sad when one leaves us but they get to live an incredible life here with lots of love.

The bees are the newest addition to the farm. I started out by going on one bee rescue with a friend and instantly caught the fever! I can remember suiting up for my first encounter. I was expecting to be attacked by a bunch of angry bees but instead found them to be gentle and very easy to handle. Even though I was completely covered and protected I found scooping up a handful of bees and putting them into a hive box was extremely satisfying! It wasn't long before I wanted to test my limits and work with them outside the safety of the bee suit. With the suit on the bees are unable to reach me. I can be as rough as I want to be with no repercussion. After a while this became kind of boring, and I also did not feel the connection I was looking for. So I began working my bees without the safety of the bee suit. When working without a suit your senses become more in tune with the bees. You become more aware of shifts in their mood and behavior. In other words you must stay on your toes! Now this does not mean I never wear a suit. When going on a rescue I always spend time checking on the temperament of the hive. If they seem super protective and aggressive(hot) I will put the suit on, momma did not raise a fool lol. In Florida you also have honeybees that have cross bred with the African honeybee. This can lead to super aggressive and protective behavior. So its always a good thing to spend a little time around a hive you plan on relocating so you know what you are dealing with.

So fast forward a bit. now I have a few hives and I am working without a suit for the most part and I am videoing a lot of my bee work. As I begin posting more and more videos I find that so many people are in love with these little industrious creatures and enjoy watching me do crazy things with them. My goal soon became showing off the bees in a different light. The more I worked with them the more I could see how misunderstood they were. So I felt like the bees needed a voice and an ambassador that would tell their story and show how vitally important they are to our environment and our survival. Give them a little personality and share a lot of their positive qualities with the humans.

My love for bees turned a hobby into a mission. Spread bee knowledge so people understand how important they are and use them as a source for inspiration. I began thinking about selling my honey but then the idea began to grow. You see not all honey is created equal. the flavors depend on the region and foliage that blooms there.. Honey is a lot like wine. Depending on where and what the bees are pollinating and feeding on will determine the flavor of the honey. If you are strictly using honey for allergies then you would want to use local honey as the pollen would be local and you would build an immunity to those florals. I love my own local honey and use it daily. But I have discovered how unique honeys can be and love exploring new favors and types from all over the world. With that in mind my idea that started out as 'selling a little honey' too promoting Bees and working on conserving them for future generations. The BHIVE Company will not only sell the best honeys from around the world but every kind of bee merchandise available. Yes you could say im passionate about these incredibly important creatures. This Blog is where I will be sharing all my Bee adventures. I am hoping that the Bee fever spreads and more and more people learn the importance of these pollinators. I will be posting this Blog weekly and look look forward to all the feedback. We are just getting started so stay tuned for more Hive activity!