We tried beekeeping back in 2012, I think our hive lasted almost a year, and then we were not able to keep it queen right and it died. So, this spring we decided to try again. This time with two hives (which is suggested by beekeepers). Once again we got our bee supplies such as hive bodies and frames from Full Moon Apiary that has a shop at Tupelo's Bakery in Monticello.
We ordered to NUCS (nucleus colonies) from Bobbee's Honey and Pollination Services. The owner is an old friend of my husband.
When our bees were ready my husband went and got them and we installed them in our hives.
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We had a chance to educate the neighbor about bees while we did so. Fortunately he is cool with us keeping bees between our two houses.
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Find the queen! This years queens are marked with a green dot (if your order them marked). They can be hard to spot when they are not marked, but after some practice you should be able to spot an unmarked queen as well.
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At the suggestion of some beekeepers with the Apalachee Beekeeping Association (I suggest that you check them out if you want to keep bees in the Tallahassee area) I got free paint from the Swap Shop at the Solid Waste Authority. Beehives don't have to be boring old white.
I make my husband do a lot of the beekeeping stuff, poor guy.
I have to admit, the bees are really fun to watch.
The bees seem to be doing ok, we just put a super on the purple hive. I don't know if we will get honey this year. Beekeeping is not easy. Fortunately we have a number of farms that sell locally produced honey. I am listing a few of them below, I suggest you check them out!
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