Homestead Honey: A First Attempt at Beekeeping and what we Learned

The spring of 2015 started out like any other spring in the Northwest: unpredictable. A new line of beekeeping equipment was keeping things equally unpredictable at the stores. Until now, we'd never sold anything like this and knew very little about what it took to become a backyard beekeeper.

As a company, we take great pride in the fact that we have people in our stores that truly know our products and can help you make the right decision when making a purchase. On the same hand, if we honestly don't know about something, we aren't afraid to admit it, but will work hard to find you an answer from someone who does. In the case of bees, we knew very little, so we set out on a mission to get information.

This is the story of Homestead Honey.

Most people get into a hobby slowly by researching, tagging along with someone who has "been there, done that", or quietly observing from afar. Opting for none of those, we took the "both feet in first" approach to this adventure.

To truly learn, we knew we'd have to immerse ourselves in the beekeeping culture and actually attempt to raise a colony of bees. Equipment was quickly secured, bees were ordered, a few hours of YouTube binge watching commenced and, most importantly, we found a real beekeeper that was willing to talk to us and steer us in the right direction.

This last part would prove to be most valuable.

As we stumbled through the year, we found ourselves going back to our best source of information (a real beekeeper) and we could see the results taking shape as we added boxes and tended to our bees.

Before we knew it, the summer had flown by and our small package of bees had transformed into a healthy colony with enough honey to actually harvest. In one, short Montana summer, we were able to raise a healthy hive and harvest 25 pounds of honey. Currently, our hive is buzzing as we approach early-April, and we are excited to learn more in our second season of beekeeping.

Check out some of our blogs as we stumbled our way through the 2015 Homestead Honey season here. And if you are looking for other great beekeeping stories and advice, take a look through the Bee Edition of our eMag.

And no matter if you are new to honey, a veteran beekeeper, or perhaps just starting to feel comfortable around your hive, we have what you need to care for your hive no matter its stage, or yours. Shop all our Beekeeping Supplies Online.