homecoming bees?

Dear Family & Friends

Four years ago, we were dreaming of becoming beekeepers. A village beekeeper was happy to sell us a family of bees for 30 euros. A village grandma was happy to donate us her broken down beehive. Our CEO fixed it and we ended with two beautifully rennovated houses for the honeybees. We then purchased all other equipments like honeycomb frames, wax, smokers, protection hats etc... The kind beekeeper expert transfered the bee family into one of  our prepared hives.

beekeeper's place

After a year and a half, there were spare honey we could harvest for ourselves. Perhaps, we took one too much honey, or perhaps we were not prepared with a better insulation for the beehive as we had a harsh winter that year. By spring, we noticed we lost our bee colony...Have they left? Have they all died? The garden was eriee,  so quiet. It was strange for I love garden noises from the bees. We were devastated for we lost our bee colony.

our two real estate properties for the bees

The following year, another beekeeper promised to look out for bee swarm for us as he can't spare to sell us some of his bee family. It was hard to find swarming bees, but he got one for us:) He offered to care for them at his place before handing it over to us once they've settled down. Unfortunately, his own established bee colonies didn't like the presence of our new colony...there was a fierce battle! We rescued our beehive and quickly brought it over to our own garden premise...sad to say, they didn't survive the trauma...they became the casualty. Another great big lost ...another devastation for us.

interior of a beehive

We became a bit discouraged about the whole idea of beekeeping. With an empty beehive in the corner of our garden, it's all a reminder of our past sadness..Once in a while, I visit the bee area and one day, I noticed a few bees going into the hive....Are these bees scouting for a new home? Could I convince them to settle in? Perhaps they are just there gathering all the honey  left by the last lost bee family. We hoped for miracle: we hope a bee family will come to stay. Would they? Have they?

We will find out when a village grandfather will come to our house on the weekend to check it all out for us...for now....the story is to be continued. Till then...

Yours