Honeybees aren't what most people think of when they think of hobby farms. Beekeeping used to be a popular American tradition until it faded into obscurity with the invasion of varroa mites.
How did we get into such a sticky business, you say? It all started when we lived in Lawton, Oklahoma when Nick was still a Marine and not the Bearded Beekeeper yet. I was working at our local church as a finance secretary in small town called Elgin. I'd go to the tag agency often for an errand and I noticed a little stand for pure honey and there was an ad for a beekeeping class. Nick had mentioned once that he was interested in honeybees because he thought they were fascinating. Signed him up for the $35 class and he was HOOKED. We started looking into all things honey after that.
The not-so-Bearded Beekeeper (Left)
Our first batch of honey to be sold (Above)
Shortly after that, we moved up here to Kent City, Michigan and the first thing we did was look up how to get bees. Came into contact with a local beekeeper that sold us our first nucleus colony. From there it was a pretty steep learning curve and a lot of face plants but 6 years later, here we are going strong and thriving.
