Get to Know
Our Bees and Gardens
Bees
The goal we have is to be as close to nature as possible. Beekeeping in the United States has become very dependent on chemicals and feeding bees sugar instead of providing enough of their natural habitat and food source of pollinating plants.
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In researching about bees, I came across Dr. Leo Sharashkin in the videos of Doug and Stacy on YouTube. I purchased the books from his website and learned about the way to "Keeping Bees With a Smile." Dr. Leo translated and edited the book from Russian to English by Georges de Layens. The Layens horizontal hive method provides much less disturbance to the bees and the insulated boxes provide more protection and simulate the normal tree hallow where bees prefer the protection and temperature regulation.
Gardens
To provide a food source for the bees, we are located in a prime location surrounded by orange groves and farmland in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Besides our acreage, bees can find more resources from 2 to 6 miles away.
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To provide a food source for the bees and ourselves, we are also growing fruits and vegetables along our fences, trellises and raised beds. We cleared land behind our house to start a meadow of clover for this first year to prepare the soil with rich nitrogen. The clover meadow will be surrounded by patches of fruit trees, sunflowers, lavender and wildflowers of Texas.
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We plan to build arches with cattle guards for grapes, roses, and
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