"The Thinking Beekeeper"

Ever since I saw "The Secret Life of Bees" many years ago, before the laird and I were married, there has been a small fascination with beekeeping in the back of my mind.  I absolutely love honey, and though I can't remember anything about the actual movie, that was the point when beekeeping entered my thoughts.  Fast forward to today.  The Laird and I enjoy Redwoodshire and playing "farmer/ homesteader" with the 5.6 acres we have here.  Though we've just begun our journey, we have high hopes for the years to come.  The Laird has done a wonderful job with the garden, and we've enjoyed eating the fruit of our land and his labors.  The orchard (apple, pear, & cherry trees) are slowly but surely coming along, despite waging war against the deer who try to thwart our efforts.  Raspberries and blueberries are getting more productive with each year.  Chickens have been on the radar since we moved here.  However, the Laird recently learned that his boss is quite a homesteader and has bees!  Beekeeping just trumped chickens, and is at the top of our list of things we want to start next year.  He learned a ton from that conversation, which then launched me into research mode about beekeeping.  I checked out 6 books from our local libraries and started into some internet investigating as well.

The "Thinking Beekeeper" by Christy Hemenway and "The Backyard Beekeeper"by Kim Flottum are my favorites so far. 

Bees are fascinating and quite beneficial, and it's more than just the honey.  Bees benefit gardening & fruit trees as well.  Which is definitely a plus for us. The raw honey also has health benefits for allergies and even cuts/ scrapes.  I have been sold, and we are definitely going to venture into the world of beekeeping.  

There are 3 standard types of beehives: Langstroth (stacked boxes most are familiar with), the Top Bar Hive & the Warre Hive.  

After reading and researching, I have decided that we're going to go with the Top Bar Hive.  It is said that the Top Bar Hive is the most natural hive and also the least disruptive to the bees during hive inspection.  There is also an observation window on the side that allows you to watch the bees without opening it up.  The "Thinking Beekeeper" is a guide to natural beekeeping and top bar beehives- and was quite influential in my decision to go with the top bar hive.  

Bee Thinking looks like a great place to purchase bee hives, tools and accessories.  They appear have beautifully crafted beehives, with great reviews.  The initial investment into beekeeping is higher than I imagined, especially with the top bar beehive.  However, I am finding that many people build their own beehives and equipment.  Bee Thinking sells their hive plans.  Though there are many free plans online, we are new to Beekeeping and want to eliminate any unnecessary frustrations.  I also really love their design.  Therefore, we are going to purchase our top bars from Bee Thinking, and build our Top Bar Hive from their plans.  The great thing about getting the plans is that we can build more Top Bar Hives in the future if we grow our apiary.

Building the Top Bar Hive is one of the projects on our list for winter.  Another winter priority is renovating our dining room.  Until then...