Our journey into the world of bees all started with honey! There we were on the sidelines, helping our friend with his harvests and turning our kitchen into a big sticky mess. If it weren’t for a fall off a ladder we’d probably never have suited up! Fast forward – we’ve been keeping honey bees for 8 years now.
Believe it or not, I didn’t even like honey before I became a beekeeper.
But then again, not all honeys are created equally – come and explore the mystery of honey with us.
We’ve always taken a systemic view of beekeeping. Plants and bees are intrinsically linked, especially flowering plants and trees.
We don’t believe in feeding our bees sugar water – ever. We want our bees to survive without intervening in their diet directly. Instead we plant for our bees and while we’ve planted for our bees, we’ve actually been planting for a range of pollinators.
Not all plants are created equally.
Homes for bees
So you want to keep bees? WHY? How you keep bees will be determined by the answer to that question.
You can make a value-based decision or match your objectives of having bees in your garden.
There is a long tradition of creativity in hive sizes and shapes through the centuries and honey bees in nature are highly adaptable and often pick surprising places to build their colonies.
What do you want to get out of keeping bees? Do you want to improve pollination in your garden? Do you want to be part of the “Save the bees” movement? Is honey your main goal? A little honey? A lot of honey?
Answering those questions will help you figure out the “Bee Home” that is right for you.
We opened our private residence, and Wildlife Garden at our beloved Melcrest to the general public as part of the Gardens of The Golden City initiative. Thank you to everyone who showed up for us and supported us. We sincerely appreciate it and hope that our space was inspirational to you!
As part of our charitable work and passion for gardening and gardens we’ve been actively working on the committee of The Gardens of The Golden City and we hope you’ll continue to support our events to raise funds for our chosen charities this season, Little Eden and Kitty Kazz Kitten Rescue. If you haven’t heard of them before you’ve been missing out!
GARDENS OF THE GOLDEN CITY
With honey subscriptions to suit various budgets and tastes, starting from as little as R420 every quarter, there’s something for everyone. You’ll get exclusive and limited edition honeys, invitations to events and much more. Every subscription helps to ensure a sustainable future for Urban Apiary
