Monday, December 14, 2009

Ahh, the SWEET life..

Remember THIS POST about the bees who adopted us and our back yard? Well, take a look at what those little creatures have been up to!


Daniel found a beekeeper and asked him to come out and help him take a look at our bees. They cut open the computer box that the bees had occupied and found this beautiful honeycomb!


We are thrilled about this sweet surprise from the Lord! Daniel learned all he could about how to handle the bees, and the bee guy gave us a smoker, which is used to calm the bees while they are being dealt with.


The bee guy said these are excellent honey bees, and very docile. These are bees that people WANT to attract, or go out and purchase. And they simply came to us. I think the Lord sent them. :o)


We cannot allow them to stay in our cardboard box because it makes harvesting the honey difficult. (Not that we complain about mounds of luscious honey in the comb.)


..So the guys began to carefully remove large portions of honeycomb, and the bee guy tied them to the panels of the artificial hive Daniel had bought. These panels can be inserted into a honey extractor in the future, which will spin the honey out of the panel without damaging the honeycomb.


Our bee guy found the sections where bee larvae were, where he knew the queen would be. He said once she was in the new artificial hive, the other bees would follow.


Looks like the transfer is going beautifully. I hope they like their new home!

Meanwhile, back in the house...


We have this beautiful comb in three big bowls, draining the sweet honey out. Yesterday at church we presented our firstfruits to the Lord and asked His blessings on our bee hive, and shared our abundance with the brethren.

One nice aspect about beekeeping is that it really does not require much time or expense. Another is that raw, natural honey is so nutritious, and renders many health benefits. I'm so thankful that we will be able to harvest our own now. Thank You, Lord!

11 comments:

Bro. Daniel said...

this was a thrilling activity!!

Tammy said...

Ooooh! I'm jealous - I know that's not very Christian like maybe even sinful but I will confess it later. LOL :) Really, we would love to have bees but right now cannot. We rely on Bob's brother who DOES have them. How wonderful for you all. Enjoy!

Myah said...

Tammy, that looks amazingly yummy! What a blessing :)

Unknown said...

Amazing and beautiful!!
Let us know when you have more than you can keep up with, and I'll be a customer!

Jenifer Harrod said...

That is just soooo coool how we wish we could do this too. Maybe Daniel could teach Lonnie and the boys too. They would love it!

Unknown said...

Daniel ~ You're the sweetest beekeeper I know. :o) <3

Tammy ~ I'm glad you have access to good honey, even if you can't keep bees. ;o)

Myah ~ Thanks!

Amy ~ We would love to share! I think we will have an even larger harvest next time. This hive was only a couple of months old.

Jenifer ~ Sounds like a plan!

Tori Leslie said...

Oh my!!! Wow, you guys are such wild folk down there in Guatemala. You let bees live in your house???

I will say that it looks like it was worth it but what a way to get honey.

Now that the hive is changed over to a new place, I bet it'll be really interesting to learn about them and watch as the little buggers give honey.
COOL!!

Unknown said...

Oh MY, Tori!! No, they don't live IN our house, LOL! Their hive is on a high shelf in Daniel's work shed out in the back yard. The shed has walls on just two sides, so the bees have easy access to the outdoors. I guess that's why they chose that spot. :o)

Amy said...

Oh what a treat for us if you do end up with more than plenty! We've been trying to get contact info for a beekeeper in Palestina for a while now, but somehow it keeps slipping our "middle-man's" mind.

Dorothy Rimson said...

Wonderful

Aaron Romero, Two-Bit Specialist said...

That is the most wonderful story I've heard in a long time. I'm really amazed at God's goodness.