Thanks to @kiaraantonoviche for creating this #homesteadingchallenge to share a project on your homestead that you’re planning to complete in 2018.

You can find the original post here.

(from Beehive Collective)

Our 2018 Homestead Goal:

Expand our Apiary: Build and Put out Swarm Boxes and Add 10 Hives

One of our projects for the year which we’ve been talking about since October is to develop our apiary, one that is aligned with the bee’s natural tendencies, not focused on maximum production or other human factors. After dipping our toes into beekeeping last year, we have become even more inspired. Last year we purchased a Warre hive (aka the people’s hive) and installed a nuc purchased from a bee supplier. We harvested a wee bit of honey from our first hive and are ready to expand.

(Goal Notes from October)

This summer I started work building Layens frames (the most popular hive model in Europe) with a small family business run by the Sharashkins. This fall we attended a natural beekeeping workshop by world-renowned expert on natural beekeeping Dr. Leo Sharashkin. We are so blessed because he lives nearby and we were able to barter for the cost of the course. He has been a great ally in our beekeeping journey.

Needless to say we were blown away many times throughout the course and learned A LOT. We committed to expanding our apiary by building swarm boxing to catch naturally occurring swarms of feral/wild bees instead of purchasing a nuc probably coming from Texas with foreign genetics. Strong genetics and resiliency is the foundation of a healthy bee population. More on this in future posts.

(Notes from December)

The Plan

Swarm Boxes

This spring we will set out 5 swarm boxes in trees on the edges of forests in varying locations around our county. These boxes contain 7 Layens frames with a starter strip of wax and baited with propolis and lemongrass oil to entice a swarm to take up residence. We have built the needed frames already for these boxes and will be starting to build boxes in the next month with the goal to have them hung in trees by March 15, 2018.

Hives

We plan to add 1 more Warre to our existing 1 Warre hive and build 10 additional Layens hives. We will be purchasing cedar lumber milled locally to build hive bodies and will be doing a work trade with Leo for frames. We plan to have this finished and out in our Apiary by May. Last month we walked through the future Apiary and did a rough layout so we have the general idea of where things will go.

Raison d’etre (reason for bee-ing)

We feel strongly in the importance of keeping bees naturally and increasing genetic resiliency. In the face of colony collapse disorder and a variety of viruses and mites that plague bee populations, we believe keeping bees naturally and building and nurturing locally adapted bee populations is very important. We also plan to expand Mountain Jewel’s herbal offerings to include propolis tincture and other honey based elixirs, as well as mead for personal and social consumption!

And we hope it will add increased pollination to our homestead and surrounding 2,000 acres that is the bees natural range. It will also increase our cropping ability, enabling us to obtain the yield of honey, wax and propolis in symbiosis with the bees. We realize we may not fill all of the hives this year or catch 5 or more swarms, but we’re building this to support future growth and have the basic foundation for our Apiary for years to come.

Thanks for reading!

What are some of your homesteading goals?