Woodland Acres Ranch

Honey has many very important benefits for our health. More important than that, it tastes good.
The Sweet Taste of Honey
Authored on August 28, 2021
We were not planning to keep bees when we began our homesteading journey. That all changed when our fence installer, Bernardo, found a honey bee hive in a tree. Bernardo is an experienced beekeeper and he quickly convinced us of the benefits of keeping bees and how rewarding it would be. We are now on our way.

We cut down the tree and began searching for the queen. We needed to ensure that the queen made it into the new hive without injuries. Locating the queen proved to be difficult because of the crevices in the tree trunk. Eventually, the queen was located and moved to the new hive. Once that was completed, we began removing honeycomb. I was surprised by the amount of honeycomb we were able to remove.

We split the honeycomb with Bernardo and we were still able to "squeeze out" enough honey to fill 12 8-ounce jars. When I say "squeeze out", I mean we literally had to squeeze the honeycomb to extract the honey. There is equipment for that but we aren't at the point where we are ready to make that investment. So, for now, we will be squeezing it out by hand. We ran it through a sieve to remove any debris and now we have enough raw honey to last us through the winter.

We have learned a lot through this process and we are looking forward to the spring. Equipment has been purchased to setup 3 more hives and our bees have been ordered. They should be delivered in the early spring just in time for the kickoff of the honey-making season. We are excited about the prospect of beekeeping and we can't wait for our bees to be delivered.

As mentioned in the video below, I had no idea of the impact that smoke would have on the hive. I was going to add a second box to the hive but I forgot to bring the smoker. In spite of this, I attempted to add the second box. That was a huge mistake. I had setup my phone to video the process and it took the brunt of their wrath.

We have researched a lot regarding keeping bees and the equipment needed. If you are interested in learning more about the equipment we used, see the links below.
Honey Bee Fun Facts
- Male bees are called Drones. (They cannot sting) They die after mating with the queen.
- Female bees are called Worker Bees.
- The average bee hive contains approximately 50,000 bees.
- Bees are important because they pollinate approximately 130 agricultural crops. That's almost 80% of all vegetable, fruit, and seed crops in the US!
- The honey bee queen lays 1,500 eggs A DAY.
- The honey bee is the ONLY insect that produces food eaten by humans.
- A hive of honey bees will fly over 55,000 miles to make 1 pound of honey and can create 100 pounds of honey in a year.
Humble Bee 410 Polycotton Beekeeping Suit - https://amzn.to/39CdcFL

HNYBEE Bee Gloves Premium Goatskin Leather Beekeer Gloves - https://amzn.to/3CKe3kf

VIVO Stainless Steel Bee Hive Smoker - https://amzn.to/39tEBt3

Harvest Lane Honey Beginner Beekeeper Kit - https://amzn.to/3EygFTP

VIVO Stainless Steel Honey Strainer Double Sieve - https://amzn.to/3nNT9fG

The Magnificent Bee Honey Filter Bag - https://amzn.to/3EB7ceE

Jar With Serving Spoon - https://amzn.to/3zlZ7ql

Bee Entrance Feeder Beehive Feeder - https://amzn.to/39mImk5

Bountiful Bee's Brood Booster and Feeding Stimulant - https://amzn.to/3CAiPAF

Honey Bee Fun Facts

Recent Articles