Bees, Birds n Bovine
Bees, Birds n Bovine has been an ongoing labor of love since August 2020. We knew we wanted to give back to the land and create a place of our own. To do that, however, we had to overcome years of neglect and misdirection. We cleared and moved fence lines, then planted trees, bushes, and flowers that would benefit honeybees and other pollinators. The hayfields already gave us six acres of red clover for our future bees?but what else was here? We found privet, soybeans, cotton, sassafras, tree pollen, and all manner of blooming things that already had a strong foothold. Early on, we found a beekeeper who let us work his bees alongside him. We were hooked! We soon discovered that there were certain kinds of bees we weren?t ready to handle. We also learned that quite a few methods simply would not work for us. During the winter, we watched every educational YouTube video that seemed credible. Each year, we sowed more seeds?white and yellow clover and perennial wildflowers?for the bees. We finally gained enough ground on the property to begin planning for their arrival. We bought hives and assembled them over the winter while dreaming of all that honey! We waxed frames with entirely too little wax, then entirely too much. We made our own swarm traps, joined the Jackson Area Beekeepers Association, and laid the groundwork to purchase our first Nucs. Through all of this, we never saw a single bee on our property. Our beekeeper friend came by, walked our fields, and couldn?t find any bees either. We were a bit concerned. Why were there no bees? We talked to people who said it was hard to keep bees in Henderson. Well, Henderson was where we were, and we were determined to make it work. We would continue building a pollinator habitat and see how it went. Then early spring came?too soon for the Nucs to arrive?and Mother Nature blessed us with a primary swarm that simply moved into our Bee Barn, where we kept our meager supply of beekeeping equipment. We were thrilled! The colony was huge and kept growing. Our bees arrived, and so did a few more swarms. We had planned on one, maybe two, hives that first year. Before we knew it, we had far more bees than we had planned for. Everything was coming up roses until it wasn?t. As usual, it was our fault, which made the loss even harder to take. Bees are wonderful teachers. They teach their lessons the hard way, so you learn them the first time. We overwintered all but two of our hives and managed to double the apiary the following spring. We are now concentrating on adding perennial flowers, shrubs, and cover crops to the property to help our bees thru the Dearth, the time of year summer flowers are thru blooming and fall flowers have not started. The bees have to dig into their winter stores of honey if they cannot find anything to forage on. More successes and setbacks throughout the spring and summer led to a very productive harvest. Bees never let you rest! You are always tending to them, talking about them, or learning from them! We greatly enjoy the challenges and adventures Beekeeping offers. We definitely enjoy our customers we?ve made at the Henderson Farmer?s Market every Friday and our other shows at the Four Seasons Nursery and The Pinson Mounds Bee Festival. We are looking forward to many years of Beeking and the adventures ahead of us.
Contact the business, visit the website, or check social media for hours and availability.
Phone |
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Location(s) |
950 Inca Rd |
Available Products & Experiences |
Honey |
Method of Sale |
E Commerce, Farmers Market, Retail Farmers' Market: Henderson Farmers Market, West Tennessee Farmers Market |