Hello Friends,
Welcome the the Dancing Bee Farm blog. I have been a hobbyist beekeeper in Carrollton, Georgia since 2005. I enjoy sharing the experience of beekeeping with anyone and find that almost everyone is at least a little curious about it. I think the honey bee is simply the most intelligent creature on earth and one of the most fascinating.
In the summer of 2005, my husband Danny and I purchased several acres in Roopville, Georgia; about one hour west of Atlanta. The next big idea we had was to plant an orchard, so we started with about 70 fruit trees including several different kinds of apple, peach, plum, cherry and a number of blackberry bushes. Looking at the big picture, we knew our new trees would be better off if we brought in some honey bees too.
Sometimes we know what we're doing when we embark on a new idea, but this time we decided to jump off the cliff and then figure out what we were doing. The first year we bought two bee hives along with books and videos to learn everything. One of the videos was 'A Year in the Life of Beekeeping' from which we learned that maybe we should have studied up on our new hobby before we took that big leap. Since we love learning new things and are always up for adventure, we charged forward with our new little friends. The following year we upped the ante to 16 hives and have had as many as 38 at one time.
It wasn't until after we got our first two hives that we realized we would have to do something with the honey. Not long after that revelation, Dancing Bee Farm was born. That first year, we harvested 3.5 gallons of honey. something we were very excited about. We didn't know anything about selling honey, so we just gave it all away to our family and friends. Consequently, we attracted some new friends and over the next 4 years developed our own following of folks that simlpy love local honey. Our honey bees have opened a whole new world for Danny and I. In addition to our new customers and friends, we've meet many other beekeepers from around Georgia and gotten acquainted with some of the professors of entomology at the University of Georgia. Thanks to everyone for welcoming us into the fascinating world of beekeeping and honey.
Thanks for visiting the Dancing Bee blog and if you're curious about honey bees, come back often as I share my interestng hobby with you. One thing I've learned is that there is so much to learn about them, that it will take years and years to get it all. In the meantime though, I'd like to share my experience, pictures and information with you. If you have any questions just let me know.
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You can post comments on this blog or email us at dancingbeefarm@att.net.
Thanks, Jill King
