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This is the second time I’ve dreamt of bees this week. The two queens (5-frame nucs to be precise) we ordered are about a month out, and the clock is ticking on getting hives ready, one reclaimed from the abandoned boxes, and one new from a retired carpenter who is taking up bees himself.

Okay, back up … this is the year I decided to bee-keep, and Christina decided to partner with me on it. I’ve been reading on it and going to seminars but am biting the bullet this year because the hives on the farm are no longer and are needed. The dentist from Orchard Park who had them quit the hobby and until I contacted him didn’t even know he left behind any equipment (the hives were all empty by the end of last season).

So I joined the Western New York Honey Producers Association (WNYHPA) just before my accident. Other beekeepers are eager to help, and I’m eager to learn. I even got an antique smoker (with leather of the bellows needing replacing) from a woman who used to bee-keep with her father, and claims that although he never wore protection, he never got stung. I can only hope to be so lucky.

Christina is really busy and it’s hard to coordinate working on everything, especially since her friend Pierce is making a video documentary on the whole experience. But we’re getting things together slowly but surely. People are even contributing money in exchange for promised honey and tours of the hives and farm. I even have plans for a friend to make and split mead with me if there’s enough.