{Sweetness & Sorrow - The Plight of the Honey Bee}

So .......

   We've been looking around for a good honey connection, so we could start providing wholesome, honest honey to our friends and collectors (bee pollen too !!)

   And sadly, we haven't found what we're looking for, but we have found the motivation to finally make a direct change to a problem that's been on our minds for a long while.

  

    As many of you know, bees are not only a friend to mankind for their sweet and healthy honey, but more importantly, they play a huge part in the food chain by passing pollen and playing cupid between flowering plants. 

    The majority of the time, the bees are hired out and stuck in some city-sized span of a single crop - called a monoculture. In the States this is largely almonds or citrus, but over a third of our fruits and veggies rely on the bees pollination.

   Feeding bees only citrus flowers is the opposite of what we know to be a "well balanced" diet, like eating nothing but tomatoes or corn. And the product = sluggish bees, more prone to health problems and weak to fend off common internal invaders ; (

   Another problem, and one that is more direct to affect we humans, is that most of the food grown in the States is saturated with chemicals ... sprayed from the air, poured in the soil, and even genetically "programed" into the seed itself. (oh ... no, here's one of these hippie rants coming on .. ha ha ha, I'll spare you, but we'll leave it at this: the bees ingest the nectar (and the chemicals) with which they make your honey ... for your tea and biscuits.)

   This is worse for the simplistic bee than for you. We'll survive, probably, we'll just have to expand our livers, drink an extra cup of coffee to fend off our own sluggishness, and keep filtering this industrial age we're living in.

   Last thing - and then we'll get to the good news !!   

   In the wild, bees eat honey. They eat nectar and honey through the Spring and Summer, and they set aside a lot of honey for the winter months when there's not a flower to be found.

   In the Winter, there's no work to be done, and the bee girls just hang out in their ultra-organized fem community, rubbing wings with the queen and eating their nutrient rich honey till the next Spring. But .. to many beekeepers, these winter boxes are all loss (burning honey with no output) so .... 

   Now I'm going to throw this out there, and I don't want to shame anyone or make anyone feel bad ...  As someone who's been involved in small business for over a decade, and just having an idea of worldly biz, I understand how these things happen. The industry can be a tricky place when things become common practice and the big boys are telling everyone that something is safe (and affordable) .. and there's so much pressure to be competitive with pricing. So most people try to do as much biz a possible ..  But the way the game works right now is that all that Winter honey the bees have been setting aside during the season is normally robbed completely, and a bucket of chemically grown, gmo corn syrup is poured in for the winter feast.

   As I said, I think the corn syrup thing has been handed down as an industry standard, (I've seen beekeeping supply books advertising corn syrup by the semi-truck load..) and the boys upstairs said it was perfectly safe (don't they always say that) and if Joe down the way is pulling that extra honey and feeding syrup, that means he'll have more stock, and he can afford to sell his stuff cheaper, so what choice is there? And we ... the consumer, are bargain hunters, not rich, so the supply, price and standard change, and we're drinking from corn syrup sickened bees with an unbalanced diet and living around so many toxic chemicals ...

   And we wonder why they're dying ???

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   And now - the good news !!!! By the way, I love the people that will sit still and read this much text on the internet. A rare breed indeed ; ) Hungry minds !!

   So .... since it has been proving hard to find sweet gold from bees who eat their own honey, year round, and steer clear of chemical crops ... we've decided to start beekeeping with the theme of loVe, respect, and nature as a guide, rewriting the current script of a bee's life. Free the bees !!

   Our bees will be happy bees ; ) And they will survive mainly off desert wildflowers, cactus blossoms and blooming trees in the wild. (the State offers many sites to leave bees for the season, and their work helps those beautiful spring flowers bloom in all those scenic towns (like Flagstaff and many other under pollinated places in nature ; )

   And the honey that we'll harvest, pure and honest honey from happy bees, will be the most Mmmm-azing stuff you've ever tasted ; ) Our honey will bee raw and unpasteurized! Most commercial honey is processed at high temperatures (to keep it runny) and unfortunately many of the amazing enzymes and health benefits are cooked off ; (

  We'll bee shipping worldwide! They say eating local honey is good for local allergies, and that can be true, but does it outweigh all the other commercial junk that you might be ingesting too? Our girls will be free and wild and happy and healthy ; ) And they'll live and thrive in a buzzing community, sustaining the way mother nature intended.

   I think we'll be starting a kickstarter campaign soon, to raise money for hives and happy bees, and we'll need a nice long trailer to haul our girls into the clean and wild desert. Or maybe we'll find an angel or grant to put wings on our dreams even sooner. We'll have thank you gifts for people who donate - sweet raw honey from our first harvest.

   If you'd be interested in helping out with a donation (and earning a credit for some raw honey at the same time) send us a message or comment below, and we'll make sure we reach out to you when the time comes ; )

   We're excited to make our dreams come true and finally learn the art of beekeeping !! So if any of our friends already have a passion and a gift for the craft, we'd love to hear from you too ; )


   We'll be starting small, but we hope to grow with the Spring flowers and possibly become a known source for the healthiest pure honey, and you can help us make it happen ... and maybe even start a movement among other small honey families. If the people ask for it, and are willing to pay an extra dollar or two for it, I think beekeepers around the globe would respond with a better product from a happier hive ; )

Long live the Queen,
loVe,
p&j


.... let's make sure the honey bee doesn't become a thing of the past.