Becoming a beekeeper is one of my dearest homesteading goals for myself. I’ve long had a fascination with honeybee lore. And while having ready access to honey and beeswax will be a nice side effect, what I truly want is to be a human who has a relationship with honeybees. I want to watch them and understand them and interact with them in ways that are positive for me and for the bees.

In a fortunate little turn of events, the house Joshua and I bought comes with a honeybee colony already installed! The previous owner (a friend of mine) began learning about beekeeping here, and he decided to leave his colony behind rather than try to relocate it.

The first day I arrived at my new home, when the weeds were so tall and overgrown, I noticed tons of honeybees flying about the property and settled on the flowers. I spent some time sitting down just watching them as they climbed all over the plants. Over the next few days, Joshua mowed much of the property, but you could still spot the honeybees on a plant here or there in the yard.

The west side of The Wallow is a woody, overgrow area that slopes down towards a creek. The previous owner had installed two hives and colonies down in this area. He knew that one colony had not survived, leaving that hive empty. The other colony he suspected of being very healthy and he wondered if they might have overgrown the hive and left to find another home. I headed down to the hives to see if the honeybees flitting about The Wallow were living in the hive or had taken off and set up house elsewhere. They were clearly coming and going from the man-made hive!

The previous owner of this home remains the “owner” of this honeybee colony, though I will be keeping an eye on them and care-taking as necessary. Come spring, I’ll be installing a second colony of my own in the other hive so that I can be involved with the process from the start.

To aid in this endeavor, a lot of beekeeping equipment was left behind at this house, as well. If I decide to build a 3rd (or more) hive, the materials for that are already here. There’s also some of the materials needed to inspect the hive, such as a smoker.

I’m still learning about beekeeping as much as I can from reading. I’m trying to answer some philosophical questions for myself, like how I feel about taking “excess” honey in the fall versus the spring.

I’m in no hurry, though. Unlike other animals that I may bring to The Wallow (like goats, pigs, and chickens), it’s not a requirement that the bees “earn their keep”. As I said, honey and wax are nice, but my primary goal is simply to be in proximity to the honeybees’ home, learn from them and about them, and to be of use to them if I can.