Beehive Update!! - April, 2023
The effects of global warming have never been so apparent in our area than what happened over the winter. The temperature spikes appeared to have confused our bees as to when Spring was actually coming and the results was the death of four of our hives. One of the two that survived was only doing “okay” and other was thriving. Our dedicated group of intrepid bee-keepers, depressed over the results but undaunted towards the future, split the very healthy unit into two hives with the hope that the bees would not swarm away over the next few weeks. With the temperatures still fluctuating we hope that we can have three healthy hives by the middle of May. As you can see from the pictures, we already have a new queen on the way.The chances for honey have been greatly reduced but we remain hopeful. Bee-keeping is not an exact science and the best we can do is try our hardest over time, a lot like life.
Welcome to the Ideal Beehives!
My good friend Jerry had been keeping bees for years and I slowly became fascinated with the entire process. In order to operate a beehive in New Jersey, you must register it with the State and pass a bee keeping course. The thought of not being in a classroom for over 40 years was daunting to say the least, but I wanted to learn as much as I could about bee keeping and ended up enjoying the process. Additionally, I also started to listen to a podcast of a bee keeper from England, as well as reading various other books and articles. We decided to take the plunge this summer and bought two working hives and hired a “bee coach.” As Jerry keep telling me, the best way to learn about bees was working with them - and he was right!
Not only have I been fascinated by the entire bee keeping process and the bees themselves, but so have various members of our New Jersey Team. How do I know this? Well, we recently had to purchase more bee suits because our employees wanted to go into the hives and work directly with the bees. The hives are located on the roof of our building and we go up to the roof most days to watch them for a few minutes. We find them fascinating and the short time of our visit to be cleansing for our minds. What you see on this page are various photographs and videos of our adventures up on the roof.
We are hoping to expand to a total of six hives in the spring and a honey harvest by July of 2021. The bees have been an amazing experience, and have helped ease the COVID-19 restrictions that have mentally weight on all of us. This endeavor is a to the wonderment of nature, God, and the bees themselves. It never gets boring. If you are ever in New Jersey, you are invited to “suit up” and experience the bees for yourselves.
Regards,
Andrew
The Honey Harvest Has Begun!
We started Harvesting Honey - June 2021!
We started Harvesting Honey - June 2021!
We started Harvesting Honey - June 2021!
