After a few years of learning, we were gifted with two colonies. From there, bees took over. We quickly grew to 22 hives our first year. Last year, Andrew assured me we were still under 60 colonies. Technically, we had 59, so I guess he was right.

The kids tease me that Dad is spending a lot of time with his girlfriends–Beatrice, Beeyonce, Gertrude . . . yeah, I know, Gertrude doesn’t fit, but she’s here.

The first time I witnessed a swarm of bees, I happened to drive right into one when I arrived home with the kids. I admit, it freaked me out, and I backed right up out of it. Nowadays, when someone yells, “swarm!” we snap to it to see and catch the swarm.

We have a “bee phone” for swarm calls. There’s a “beemobile” in our driveway that’s ready to go out on a swarm call. Yeah, we even have a bee wreath hanging on the front door.

Beekeeping is about helping both bees and people. So we hope we can help others who also love bees!

Thanks for being here!