I don't know anything about Bees- Except I like them!

When I was young my good friends father had a hive of bees not far from their house, I can remember walking out with him to work the bee’s one day and received my first lesson in bee handling. My friends father worked his bees without the use of any protection or smoke, I was shocked when he opened that hive up and started poking around in the hive all the while teaching me a lesson I never will forget:
“The bee’s will warn you when they get mad, you see they bump themselves against you to warn you before they sting.”  Not long after saying this we noticed the bees started bumping his bare arms. “Now, you just pause and give them time to relax.” A few moments later the bees went a back to business and so did the Beek (a fun term meaning bee keeper). I walked away from that experience in love with bees, lovely little things that they are busying themselves with pollinating all our food for us, providing us with ever so sweet and healthy honey while also wonderful wax! I decided then and there that I wanted to be a bee keeper some day and work the bees just like my friends father.

YEARS later in 2011 my Uncle happened to get a job working for a Bee Supply Manufacture in Minnesota that allowed him to take home all the defected hive pieces. After a while my Uncle had collected enough pieces to piece together 3 whole hives and he sent them on home with me –LUCKY ME!! With the encouragement of my supportive family back home in Minnesota I dove right into bee keeping and purchase 3 swarms of Carniolan bees from an experienced SD bee keeper who had ordered them out of California.

Now is the end of my first year of learning how to tend a hive while learning EVERYTHING as I go. I am walking away with only 5 stings, includeing one on the face, and I am following my dream of working them with no protection and with-out the use of any smoke, SO FAR, but I have yet to collect on the “gold” and sadley will not actually be collecting this year, I have been told its because the first year the bees have to build the wax to put the honey in as there is no pre-made comb, so next year I will harvest sweet rewards!!