It has been so cool to share our love of beekeeping with the Little Miss this year. She loves watching the bees and has been a great helper. Shes been stung once this year, and after a couple tears and a little walk she got right in the hives! So proud of this kid.
#bighousehoneys #beekeeping #beekeepingwithtoddlers #3yearsold #honeybees #toddleractivities #teachthemyoung
Check out this beautiful Yellow-faced Bumble Bee keeping busy on our clover 😍
#bighousehoneys #yellowfacedbumblebee #bombus #bumblebees #clover #beesofinstagram #pollenpants
The bees found a small patch of fireweed blooming in our yard 🐝
#bighousehoneys #fireweed #beekeeping #flowersinbloom #summer #honeybees
Its clover time! The bees have been all over the clover in our yard! Did you know clover is a great eco friendly lawn alternative?
1) Clover supports pollinators
2) Clover nitrogen fixes, putting nutrients back into the soil and grows well in poor soil
3) Clover is more heat tolerant and drought resistant than grasses which is great for summertime!
#bighousehoneys #clover #lawnalternatives #supportpollinators #honeybees #nativepollinators
So much activity outside our hives today! So great to see after such a rainy week.
#bighousehoneys #honeybees #beekeeping #flying #spring
A quick peek at whats blooming in my yard right now! A break in the rain yesterday had all the bees out 🐝. I saw various native pollinators as well, but wasn’t quick enough to snap pictures of them.
The clover was just buzzing with bees! So cool to see.
What are the bees attracted to in your yard?
#bighousehoneys #plantingforpollinators #flowers #honeybees #allium #clover #poppy #geranium #osteopermum #spring #pollination
Catch a swarm with me!
Was outside gardening yesterday when this swarm flew over my head. I panicked and thought it was my bees swarming and luckily they settled in a tree on my property.
Caught the swarm and was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t my hive. They were FREEBEES! 😂
#bighousehoneys #swarmcatching #swarmseason #honeybees #beekeeping #freebees #swarm #queenbee
A snowy trek to check on the bees 🐝. Making sure their hive entrances weren’t covered by the snowfall ❄️
#bighousehoneys #snow #snowfall #apiary #winteryard #honeybees #beekeeping
Reflecting back on 2023 today and it’s been a big year for us!
-launched sales of our beeswax candles
-successfully overwintered our largest number of hives yet
-finished construction on our new place with a workshop dedicated to beekeeping
-our biggest honey production year ever
-attended our first ever market
-moved our bees to their new overwinter yard on our new property
-went in to winter with our strongest and largest number of hives yet
-built and planted a pollinator garden
-welcomed our new little future beekeeper to the family 🥰
This year was such a success for us. Thank you to each and every person who chose to support our business - this dream of ours would not be possible without you! We are so excited to head into 2024 with new ideas and plans to continue building our apiary.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year! May 2024 allow you to chase your dreams ☺️
#bighousehoneys #2023 #yearinreview #happynewyear #beekeeping #honeybees #reflections #smallbusiness
Test burning candles today. Super excited about the new candle molds 🔥
Theres still time to pick up some candles before Christmas! Whether for gifting or for adding the finishing touches to your Christmas decor, beeswax candles are perfect this time of year. If interested send me a DM- I have lots of inventory left!
#bighousehoneys #beeswaxcandles #christmascandles #stockingstuffers #shoplocal #smallbusiness
What do you do when you are a week past your due date and are impatiently waiting for baby to arrive? You distract yourself by making candles!
Inventory is restocked for Christmas with some new additions! If you see anything you are interested in shoot me a DM to order ☺️
#bighousehoneys #beeswaxcandles #beeswaxcandlemaking #bees #beeswax #stockingstuffers #christmas #shoplocal #supportsmallbusiness #41weekspregnant
Day 28 - Favourite Bee-themed Accessories
#31daysofbees2023
So hard to pick just one favourite so Ive narrowed it down to 5 of my most favourite bee themed items!
🐝 Bee Quilts- when my daughter was born we had two different friends quilt the most beautiful baby blankets for her and they both used daily. 🐝
🐝 Hex Shelf- this was a housewarming gift from a friend. It lives in our kitchen and features our painted DnD miniatures and beeswax candles 😂🐝
🐝 Bee Mugs- These stunning hand carved pottery mugs are a staple in our house for morning coffee made by @cedarwoodceramics 🐝
#bighousehoneys #beeaccessories #beequilt #beeblanket #beemug #decor #beeaesthetic
Day 23 - Something I Wish all Non-Beekeepers Knew
#31daysofbees2023
Becoming a beekeeper DOES NOT help “Save the Bees”. Honey bees are not a species that are at risk and actually provide competition to native bee species for food sources.
We try to offset our impact by planting a pollinator gardens and wildflowers, leaving no mow areas and educating ourselves about the native bee species in the area. Its amazing how many different pollinators we find in our garden (and not honeybees) when we stop and look. 🥰
Just yesterday we finished building the first (of many) pollinator friendly garden beds at our new property! Ive been picking away at this project all summer and have had help from many friends and family to help preggo me get it done! So ridiculously excited to see it in bloom next year 🥰. Flowers include various coneflowers, bee balm, aster, lavender, catmints, salvia, heather, and herbs including mint and sage.
@evergreenbeekeepingco @rushingriverapiaries @homesteadinthehood
#bighousehoneys #pollinatorgarden #pollinatorplants #savethebees #coneflower #lavender #echinacea #beebalm #aster #catmint #homeprojects #sage #leafcutterbee #bumblebee #calligrapherfly #nativepollinators
Day 22 - Life Outside of Beekeeping
#31daysofbees2023
Looking back at my camera roll over the last year and a bit really put into perspective just how much of our “free” time went into beekeeping this year. The answer is A LOT 😅
As two full time working parents with a side hobby of beekeeping its hard to find time for ourselves, but we try to prioritize family outdoor adventures.
Here is a highlight reel of our last year and a bit featuring the tiny human who runs our world. Our adventures take us all over BC and include fishing, hiking, hunting, canoeing, and home projects on our beautiful new property.
Once the tiny human goes to bed, we enjoy a good dram of top shelf scotch and playing Dungeons & Dragons 😁
@evergreenbeekeepingco @rushingriverapiaries @homesteadinthehood
#bighousehoneys #lifeoutsideofbeekeeping #outdooradventures #bowronlakescircuit #sheridanlake #fishing #hikingbc #mtcheam #highlightreel #familyadventures
Day 21 - Best Sting Story
#31daysofbees2023
The time we as newby beekeepers caught a swarm just after seeing an instagram video of someone scooping bees with their bare hands and decided to try scooping bees ourselves. The first scoop went fine, but on the second one Don got stung 3 times and swore he’d never try it again 🤣😂🤣
Thanks to the hosts! @evergreenbeekeepingco @rushingriverapiaries @homesteadinthehood
#bighousehoneys #beesting #beestingstory #swarmcapture #honeybees #beekeeping #beekeepinglife #beekeeperlife
