We’re thrilled to report that our first 10 beehives are installed. We have a system in place to monitor the bees and expand the hives to accommodate the healthy, growing population. The bees have settled in well and we’ve watched them forage for lavender pollen to carry back to the hives. They’ve already started producing honey!
Our crew, which before now had limited or no apiary experience, are doing a great job learning the ropes and working with the bees. So far, we’ve had no “swarming” and there have been only a few bee stings (and no allergic reactions). And while we have had a few bear sightings, none of them has gotten past our electric fence to sample the honey.
Over the past 30 years, the protein content of pollen has declined dramatically and bees often struggle to get the nutrition they need to thrive. We are fortunate that our bees can find plenty of nutritious pollen in the surrounding lavender fields.
We expect that our bees will collect more pollen than they need – which should leave us with extra pollen to sell to other beekeepers, customers, and health food stores. Along with the bee pollen, we’ll have raw lavender honey available for sale by sometime this fall. Watch our Culinary collection page for the opportunity to purchase these products.
MEET THE AUTHOR / CHAD FOREMAN is the Communications Manager at Appalachian Botanical Co. In his spare time Chad is a free lance photographer specializing in wedding, portrait, and adventure photography. He is also an avid outdoorsman who loves spending time in the mountains of West Virginia, especially kayaking and white water rafting in New River Gorge.