Even bees need a little love

Garlic farmers, beginning shepherds, and now, another moniker: beekeepers.

Yep, apparently that's us. Beekeepers.

The honey bees come from an abandoned beehive in one of the back pastures.   The hive spent this summer--when temperatures soared over 100 degrees for weeks--covered in tall Johnson grass. Then there was the drought. How these bees survived those harsh conditions is anyone's guess. But they did.

Anything with that much of a desire to live deserves a chance to thrive, especially since bees are becoming endangered as a species. That's where we come into the picture. We're now reading up on caring for bees, and we've got the state apiarist coming to inspect the hive. He should be able to identify any problems plus give some sound advice on how to increase honey production. A sound hive should be able to produce 50 pounds of honey in a given year.

Becoming beekeepers wasn't part of the operational plan. As Forrest Gump would say, you never know what you're gonna get. That's especially true with life at a farm. Keep your fingers crossed  we get a good report from the ag agent!