Our family likes trying new things, enjoys being outside, and isn’t afraid of using some elbow grease, so in 2017 we decided “let’s get some beehives!!” We choose the name WYLD BEES because we really had wild bees! After watching many YouTube videos about installing bees into a hive, we were feeling confident when we got our first nucs of bees. Many people take care of their bees with minimal protection, and we assumed that our bees would be gentle. All four kids, the dog, and the neighbor (husband was conveniently out of town) were a safe distance away and eagerly watching as I, fully dressed in bee protective gear, opened a box to install the bees. The next thing I know, kids are running and screaming in all directions. These were not the nice bees we saw on YouTube but upset attacking bees. After the bees were installed, I went searching for everyone. I finally found them, with the dog, shut in bedroom closet inside the house. No one escaped unstung. After a year of vicious bees, we requeened the hives with "gentle" queens and we have acquired additional hives of nicer bees.
We had our first honey harvest that year and boy was it a harvest!! We had plenty for ourselves and much to sell locally. Of course, one of the things you get when you harvest honey is beeswax and we wondered what we could do with it. It turns out that there are many, many uses for beeswax, homemade cold-process soap being one of them. And so the journey began.....
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