Local honey?

If you live on the East Coast, all the way from Maine to Alabama... Same Appalachian mountain range, and basically the same trees and plants. Here's a rule of thumb about heating honey: Beeswax melts at about 125'F, so I say if you're heating it enough to melt the container it naturally comes in, you may also damage the useful enzymes. I put the cap at 105'F, but only because my honey house (where I work to extract and bottle honey) sometimes gets that hot. Supermarket honey may be heated to 160'F and pushed through a particle filter. I don't cook with honey. I add a touch of honey after. Slice and fan-out a pear, bake with a little butter, cinnamon, and maybe pecans or walnuts... drizzle honey and serve warm. I do add honey to my hot coffee, which I'm sure breaks down the honey, but it doesn't harm the flavor. Coffee is perfectly brewed at 195"F, and in the cup it's about 160-175'F. I boil water in a pyrex measure, and pour to an empty cup... this cools the water and pre-warms the cup... pour that 190-200'F water back to the pyrex, then pour-over to make coffee. I eat about 1/2 gallon of honey per month. I don't claim honey has medicinal qualities, but its sugars are about 50/50 glucose/sucrose, so... I get a lot less sucrose in my diet. If you want to reduce plant allergies, I recommend local pollen over honey... You can put it in salads, a peanut butter sandwich, add it to your granola trail mix... Just don't cook it.

Working closely with bees... Honey Bee Stings

There's usually no reason to be in the hives during winter, so I'll go for months without being stung... but in the spring there is work to do, and I will be stung a few times in the first few days...

My body will build immunity to stings, and after about a week, I will be lesss sensative to the venom... For all the rest of the year I may not notice when I've been stung...

I may feel a little pinch when someone bites me, but there's no pain and swelling... Getting stung in the beeyard is about as worrysome as going out to pick blackberries... a little sticky, but nothing to worry about!

Unless there is something to worry about!! Some people are allergic to stings, and may become very ill. Some people may get into bees, and at some point find they do not have immunity, and may even become more sensative... I have known people to get out of the bee business.

For most people honey bee stings are not bad, but you should always remove the stinger from your skin... Swipe it off with a sideways motion.

Sometimes friends will visit my beeyard, and some of them enjoy being stung far less than I do... Maybe they are very young, and more worried than injured, but they'll need some attention...

An easy to find remedy for bee stings, and also mosquitos, no-see-ems, and many other bug bites... Plantain is pictured below.

Plantain is a very common plant with a dozen varieties... I advise to rinse the leaves... Rub moistened leaves onto the skin to relieve the sting and prevent some of the swelling.

I usually dress for summer when I work bees... No bulky suit like so many beekeepers... I wear short pants, a light color t-shirt, and a straw hat for protection from the bees... I do use a smoker, burning a little pine-straw...

The first and most magical thing I use in working honey bees is to apply some Kung-Fu Zen to the way I move my hands... The bees are not afraid when I go inside the hives, and they don't attack me.

Honey Bee Queen Photos

I'll generally have a few 'wild Italian' queens or complete hives for sale. Typically 8 or so will over-winter here to be sold in the Spring. I delivered 10-12 queens last year, and about 5 hives.

You come here, it's cash-and-carry, and I'll open a few boxes to let you choose your queen.
















For hives, bring your own box unless you want to buy my equipment; choose the queen you like, and we'll load your box with frames of bees.

As close to organic as possible

I've been working with honey bees for a short time, and all of my hives are completely chemical-free. I use essential oils such as wintergreen, tea tree, and patchouli oil, or minerals like sassolite and salt to treat honey bee diseases, parasites, and pests. That said, I understand the essential oils I'm using are refined substances... but I like those far better than chemicals which have been specifically manufactured as medicine or poisons. I can't control where my bees will forage, but I can control what I deliberately put in a hive. I use store bought 4.9mm foundation in brood areas, and home made wax for the honey supers, which is then free drawn by the bees to whatever size honeycomb they prefer, in all natural beeswax. I'm happy to teach people to use the techniques I use. For example, my bees are fairly calm, and I work my hives wearing no protection. For the bigger jobs, I'll use a little smoke. I'm also happy to sell my excess queens to local area beekeepers, so they may enjoy a more relaxed hive management experience.

Installing a package of honeybees

Packages of honey bees on my counter at home.







New equipment ready to go.







Out in the field, on location.







A closer view of the bees.







NOTE - This ribbon holds the queen cage –
DO NOT let this fall into the box,
or YOU will have to reach in to get it!







A shot of 1:2 sugar water so the bees won’t fly.







My applicator is a water bottle with 2 small holes in the cap.







A second or two through each side is plenty.







A sharp bump and everyone’s on the bottom.







Ready with the cover as the sugar water can comes out…







…and almost everyone stays in the box.







Syrup will leak from the can, so turn it over.







Place it on the cover as a weight.







Now, hold the ribbon as you remove the staple...







If the queen cage falls, you’ll have to reach in there!







The queen cage is out…







The cover goes back on.







Here’s the queen and a few of her friends.







A closer view shows the queen candy.







I use a staple to pry the cork from the candy end.







The bees should reach the queen in a day or two…







…if not, you’ll free the queen in another day or so.







Notice the frames are pushed to the sides.







The queen goes right in the middle.







I’ll wedge a stick on one side for tension.







Our queen, secure at home.







Now a couple of sticks to hold the sugar water.







Invert the can, and place it in the middle.







It may drip, so don’t put it over the queen cage.






The second box will make a clever funnel.







Now we’re ready to add the bees.







Invert the box over the new hive…







…and pour.







This requires a little shaking…







They’ll hang on to the cage.







Tip to one end and shake…







Then back the other way…







…until you get as many as possible.







They want to go in, but they need some help.







Place the box near the entrance…







Whoever’s left will fly home.







The cover goes on, and we’re done here.