How does any hobby start?
Well, in our case, it started when a live beehive display caught our eye (and ears) at the Vilas County Fairgrounds in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Well, that...and the sparkle of the sun glistening off the bottles of pure, golden, local honey that were stacked up on the table just waiting to be sold to visitors like us. It was mezmerizing and it was calling our name!
So, in 2007, we joined the Oneida County Bee Keepers Association, started making connections with new and seasoned beekeepers, bought one hive and a few books like Beekeepers For Dummies and started our way to producing nature's liquid gold. We've gone from one hive to eleven and back down again as you can never predict what Mother Nature has in store for you from year to year. But it never ceases to amaze us at the tenacity of these tiny creatures as we watch and learn about their one purpose in life...to produce honey
So, in 2007, we joined the Oneida County Bee Keepers Association, started making connections with new and seasoned beekeepers, bought one hive and a few books like Beekeepers For Dummies and started our way to producing nature's liquid gold. We've gone from one hive to eleven and back down again as you can never predict what Mother Nature has in store for you from year to year. But it never ceases to amaze us at the tenacity of these tiny creatures as we watch and learn about their one purpose in life...to produce honey
Keeping it in the family...
Thinking that this would just be a small hobby to suppliment our retirement income soon changed as we saw how keeping bees was influencing the growth of the apple trees on our property and probably helping with what our neighbors are growing as well. Once we started educating ourselves, we learned how bees and honey have played such an important role in the course of life from ancient times to present day. We've seen first hand at how precious these little lives are and how they can just die off or disappear in the blink of an eye and yet, with all the research being done all over the world, experts still can't understand exactly why. With this and the fact that our daughter has taken a liking to bees, we've come to the conclusion that this isn't something that we want to do, it's something that we need to do..for us and our children's future. So along with some of our neighbors in the Town of Phelps, Wisconsin, we are making an effort to do our part.
What's in a name?
When we moved to Phelps, Wisconsin we built a home on 5 acres of land that my husband would always refer to as "The Dogwoods". One....because he's a dog lover and two...because we live in the woods. Simple enough! Being the sentimental guy that he is, I knew he'd love this welcome sign that I had made for him with carvings from photos of his 3 favorite dogs (past and present).....JP, Sweetie and Maggie. When we decided to start our honey hobby, we needed a name. What better than "The Dogwoods"? It just seemed to fit! I'm sure some folks wonder if the name comes from having Dogwood trees on our property. We did.....only two...they got eaten by the deer! I think we'll stick with the dogs!