Not what I expected at all, but it was a great experience. The "farm" was in the middle of an urban area with very little plant farming -- more chickens, goats and SO MANY BEES!
When I pulled up there were bees flying everywhere -- turns out they were cleaning up a honey bucket from a honey extraction. Bees WORK HARD. I didn't expect so many bees just out and about.
People were sitting at picnic tables with a hickory smoker going that smelled like BBQ. I thought I had the wrong place lol. Lots of people were late because of a huge accident on the main highway. I was caught on the rubber-neck side for 30 minutes. Luckily I was set to be early, unluckily that meant no bathroom stop. I thought it was just me for the tour because I was the only one on Airbnb experiences. He must register elsewhere too -- 9 of us total. Really nice group and it was fun to chat with them.
Edward was a chatter and we learned a lot of info, but he REALLY liked to talk about all the ways he makes money doing bee farming -- not what I was interested in hearing. He ran over time -- should be 90 minutes. I left at the 2 hour mark and the honey tasting wasn't anywhere in sight. Everyone was still checking out the hives.
I could have asked a shit-ton more questions, but for time sake I edited down my curiosity. Also, google can answer a lot. I'll do some reading while I'm in Asheville. I'm not bee farming (no way!!), but I'd like to plant bee friendly gardens.
Holding the hive was so cool -- watching the bees working like crazy. The bees flying all around were the ones I was worried about, but no one got stung. Of course the head part didn't fit my head well. Big head, but I think it was the bun in the back that was making it get stuck. Long sleeves, long pants, TUCK a huge shirt inside pants to create a barrier and HUGE gloves ... and he puffs them docile so I wasn't worried.
I wish the farm was closer and/or hubby was home so I could've stayed for the honey tasting. I needed to get back for Monti. I was also up against it getting dark and I didn't bring regular glasses to drive (my bad). I'd go again to learn more. HONEY BEES are AMAZING and our world needs all that they do.
We're heading to Asheville this morning. I'm in no rush because I'm tired from yesterday -- 3 hours of closet cleanup (how does it get so messy?) and 5 hours for the bee trip. Slow rolling. This means I'll probably miss book club, but I'm not upset about it. I think it'll be boring on zoom anyway.
Have a happy Sunday. Later gators.
No comments:
Post a Comment