apiary
/ā′pē-ĕr″ē/
noun
1. A place where bees and beehives are kept, especially a place where bees are raised for their honey.
2. A place where bees are kept; a stand or shed for bees; a bee-house containing a number of beehives.
3. A place where bees are kept; a stand or shed for bees; a beehouse.
/ā′pē-ĕr″ē/
noun
1. A place where bees and beehives are kept, especially a place where bees are raised for their honey.
2. A place where bees are kept; a stand or shed for bees; a bee-house containing a number of beehives.
3. A place where bees are kept; a stand or shed for bees; a beehouse.
Abide Hollow is what we lovingly call our homestead; a place where family and friends come together: to drink—and cup—coffee, break bread, fellowship, bbq the fatted calf, and have the occasional paint ball session. Situated in the hollow—and aptly named—live our beehouses: Abide Hollow Apiary. Continually growing colonies fed by our wildflowers, sunflowers, three types of clover, lilac, wisteria, lavender, poppies, and a plenitude of Pacific Northwest native flowering plants; a wonderful variety of colorful blooms and scents—a long list of sown seed—scattered across Abide Hollow.
"It is not the bee's touching of the flower that gathers honey,
but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet.
It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most,
that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian."
— Thomas Brooks
Alongside our bees, there are a plethora of pollinators—and an ever-growing animal farm—that make our Hollow their home: hummingbirds, dragonflies, butterflies, and other friends. Cohabitation. Our night shift workers help keep the mosquito population in check while the pollination continues; bat houses have been hung for our winged compadres' comfort.
"It's not a bad thing to
celebrate a simple life."
— J.R.R. tolkien
We keep our plants pesticide and chemical free to keep our honeybees healthy; our practices keep their honey natural and organic. With bees traveling between one to two miles away from their hives—and up to five miles away—in search of nectar and pollination, we do what we can to keep our girls from venturing off and exploring. Continually checking an expanding collective apiary; the overall health and well-being of each hive: vital importance to keep our bee boxen healthy. Apiculture. Happy bees equals happy honey.
“My child, eat honey, for it is good,
and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.”
— Proverbs 24:13
We nourish our plants with a compost concoction consisting of by-products from our small batch, handcrafted coffee: chaff from roasting days blended with espresso grounds from our shop, along with other organic materials added to the mix. Symbiotic relationship. The honey our girls produce is a floral fluid filled with natural notes and nuances. Luscious liquid. Exquisite elixir. Golden goodness.
"Every Christian is either a bee or a wasp:
the most quarrelsome people—the wasps—are the most useless;
those who are the most happy and peaceable—the bees—are generally
those who are doing most for Christ."
— Charles Spurgeon
Not all coffees taste the same; not all honey tastes the same. In that respect—even in our own hives—this year's yield will take on different characteristics as the bees visit, pollinate different flowers, and collect nectar. Weather plays a vital role on how flowers grow and the amount of nectar and pollen is produced; precipitation, cold, warmth, humidity, rate of rain, and dry heats: abudance versus dearth. Backyard harvest. Color. Opacity. Taste. One year's honey may have a wildflower finish while the next year's can be sweeter and more mild. Each year's flow saved for record and testing against the following year.
“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
— Proverbs 16:24
