Some of you might ask the question, “Why are you here?”
Back in the 1960’s, I asked my father if I could raise bees. We had 150 acres of land, wooded and filled with natural wildflowers and clover. I thought it would be a great place for them to thrive and spending money for me. His answer was not what I wanted to hear as he said no! His excuse was simply the cost of the bees and hives. So, I let
it go. Four years ago, I started going to the Iowa State Fair and every year I would visit the Iowa Honey Producers Booth. Before I knew it, I got the buzz back!! The winter of 2016, I started looking into beekeeping as something I could do with my time. I found out that there was a large commercial beekeeping organization here in Perry, Spring Valley Honey Farms. It is a large enough operation that they send bee hives to California for pollinating the almond groves. After talking several times to Connie Bronnenberg and going out to the farm when they were unloading a semi-trailer with hundreds of bee hives, I was getting more hooked. Maybe now was the time for my dream of beekeeping! The wheels started churning and I started planning. I purchased unassembled deep and shallow boxes and found plans to make the other parts I needed to get a complete hive. I ordered two nucs from Connie and was looking forward to my first year of beekeeping. I could hardly wait but, as with all things dealing with Mother Nature, I was patient (okay NOT really)! Because of problems with the weather, getting queen bees was difficult so the nucs were delayed until the beginning of June. It made me sad because I would see bees in the trees and flowers around my home and knew they were not mine! June FINALLY came and so did the two nucs full of bees, brood, and an active queen. I moved them into the hive that I had put together and started my journey into the world of BEEKEEPING. My dream had become a reality!! I learned a lot that first summer of 2017. I had a queen decide to swarm so the hive had to re-queen itself. I had a few queen cells so I was able to start two new hives with the queen cells. The virgin queens came out and went on their mating flights. She came home and started to lay. The hives looked good but it turned out that they were really late in the season and none of them survived this past winter. I am sad but I have learned a lot during this process. My other hive, Hive 2, did great and today some of the bees are flying and cleaning out the hive by removing dead bees from the winter months. I am hopeful that, in another couple of weeks, after the temperature warms up, the queen will start laying and get the hive built back up. I am so excited and trying to be patient! While I wait for the warmer weather, I am building up my shop so that I can build my hives quicker and I am proud of my skills. Even though my father said it was too difficult to build, I am enjoying my time in the shop. I have purchased some better equipment and have decided to create my company, K & H BEE FARM, LLC.. I have people who want me to put hives on their properties and that is what my plan is. I recently ordered eight packages of bees to add to what I have now. I am working on improving my hive design and making the bees have the best accommodations they can have. I want my bees to be happy and healthy and want to come back home to their hives! I am planning on documenting my successes and failures here on this page. Come along on the journey with K & H Bee Farm, LLC. as we share our bees with you as everything transpires. I want you to remember that failures are not bad. They are just an opportunity to learn more and do things better. See you on the next post. Until then, be kind to the bees – they may be mine!
