Bees & Honey

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Permalink Reply by Walker Marchal on July 14, 2009 at 3:15am

Hey - I learned a lot about bees by reading and then teaching a literature class on the novel, "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. The book actually inspired me to get bees! I've heard there's a book about the shamanic approach to beekeeping. Also, Anastasia has info about bees in one of the books about her. One of the things she taught is that the practice of moving bees around as many beekeepers do, is detrimental to them and their connection to their own territory. I found a nice little shady spot of trees to put my super (bee box) in. Shade and a quiet spot are very good. Noisy lawnmowers and curious kids or dogs are very bad! Also, I've heard from two master beekeepers that horses and bees don't mix.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Snyder on July 10, 2009 at 3:11am

Awesome! It sounds like a fun project. David Wolfe owns a few bee hives. His bees make black colored honey. He says the bees eat a mineral rich diet, which makes the black honey. There is a description of the honey on Sunfood

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Walker Marchal on July 14, 2009 at 3:17am

Wow, I've not heard of black honey before. I just found out from my bee teacher that some bees gather nectar of prickly pears, which are magenta in color and it turns the honey magenta! Honey is a super food and i eat it every day in mountain spring water. It really helps with hydration.

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Permalink Reply by Hanli Prinsloo on July 14, 2009 at 6:05am

How exciting!
Best wishes with your bees! I grew up on a farm in South Africa with a visionary grandfather who planted different kinds of eucalyptus trees that flower in different seasons, so the bees have food from the trees year round.
Interesting about the bees and horses, my dad is a horse breeder so we have horses and bees, but the paddocks are very large, so there is space for everyone to co-exist I guess. At present we have about 20 hives all doing amazingly well, a little 'unkept', but happy and full of honey. So if any of you ever come to SA, come harvest yourself a hive!

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Permalink Reply by Walker Marchal on July 15, 2009 at 2:37am

Thanks Hanli! That's a great offer. I've been to SA once in '92 with Bishop Tutu on a ship traveling around the world. It was a wild time. I would love to see your family farm some day when I get back to Africa. I would like to open a school for children in the village of Atlantis someday, which I visited in South Africa, so there is a chance I will get to meet you. Do you know Atlantis? I have only one hive at the mo, but I plan to have 15 by next year. I'm planting loads of trees and flowering plants in my organic garden so that the bees will have plenty to eat. Aloha, Walker

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