I’ve always wanted to see how bee hives work and on the way home from Austin a couple of weeks ago, I got my wish!
Wildflowers on the roadside on the way to AustinThanks so much to Elizabeth Exley and her boys, Paul and Nathan, for inviting our family to stop by before heading back to Houston.
Their family hobby is beekeeping and it was fascinating to get a peek into how their bees live and what it’s like to keep bees!
Meet Paul who is the official beekeeper of the family, though his brother Nathan is very involved in the work too, as is his mother, Elizabeth. They greeted us with dewberries straight out of their fields!
First, his mother, Elizabeth, took me to visit the bees in their natural habitat while doing what they love best--looking for nectar and bringing home pollen.
How Honey Gets It’s Flavor…explained by Elizabeth Exley.
It was quite a windy day when we went to check out the bees in the pomegranate blooms!
Here we visit a brand new colony of bees. It was a swarm that they collected and brought home. They put it in the hive, but weren’t certain that they had captured the queen bee. Without her, they colony would not survive. We didn’t get dressed up for them as we were just looking at them from a safe distance. However, they did let us know when they were bothered. One of them bumped Elizabeth. Their way of letting you know that they consider you a threat. So we scooted back!
After visiting a while, Elizabeth asked Nathan to go check this new hive and make sure everything was going well and to smoke them so we could actually look at the bees and their combs in the hive. Elizabeth helped me get a head gear on to protect my face from bee stings. She didn’t think there would be a problem, but she wanted to be certain.
In this video, Nathan demonstrates how the smoker works. It’s the most important tool for keeping the bees at bay!
Now they get all geared up. It’s important that there are no openings where bees can crawl into your clothes.
Nathan explains what the tools he’s using to check on the hives.
Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! A peek in to the hive. You will learn a lot of interesting things while watching this last video which is a little longer than the rest.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of life in a bee hive and the beekeepers who care for them. It helps us to appreciate our honey just a little bit more, when we know how it is made!
Have a great weekend!
Donna
and the breezes were filled with the scent of wildflowers…