Here at Sidewalk Farms we have talked for several years about learning to keep bees and have even taken a few introductory classes but have not had the time to really learn all the ins and outs of bee keeping yet. This past spring we were introduced to a great program run by a bee keeper here in New Hampshire named Kagen Weeks. He started a business called Hive at Your Home http://hiveatyourhome.wordpress.com/ where he will bring you a hive of bees and he does the upkeep and at the end of the season you get a quart of honey. It is kind of like renting the bees. We thought this was a great way to take advantage of all the benefits of having bees on site while giving us the opportunity of learning about bee keeping from an expert. We had a hive installed in the spring and have enjoyed watching the bees all summer. Because it was a new hive we weren’t able to take honey from our hive this year as the bees need the supply to overwinter but will be able to harvest honey next year. Instead Kagen brought us a quart of New Hampshire honey from some of his other hives when he came to do a final check on the bees before winter. Next spring when the bees start to come out of the hive again and produce more honey we will be able to open the hive and see all the comb and take honey from our own hive. Eventually we would like to get our own bees but this is a great compromise for us in the mean time and gives us the benefits of bees and honey and allows us the time and space to learn more about what is required to be a bee keeper.
