Corpusfishing.com

[Prof. Salt]

When my son returned from the Marine Corps I was glad to have him back home as he worked on college classes. He became interested in bee keeping and bought a hive box and equipment, then he bought a pound of bees with a queen. That hive has thrived and multiplied in size at the family property in Popalote, and he has become comfortable enough with them that he rarely even uses a bee suit or gloves. They treat him like one of the family and he has a real knack for knowing how to care for them.

It takes two sets of hands to do many bee related jobs, and so I got roped into bee keeping too. He asked around if anybody needed bees removed, hoping we could add another hive or two to the property, and business began to pour in. We have eliminated killer bee swarms (those girls take defending a hive to the inth degree and all available bees go into "kill" mode"), but with normal honeybees we really try to rescue and rehome them. Some swarms that have been in place for several years develop huge stores of honey, and this darkens with age while keeping all the honey tastes we love. Some of it is actually pretty exotic tasting with hints of malt, citrus or strong flowery flavors. He sells the honey and melts down the wax, then gives the honey water leftovers to the bees that live in our back yard hive. Recycling done right, lol.

I love that money is being made, but what has really got this dad proud is watching my boy develop a head for business. We worked together to draw up a good residential contract for removal jobs, he created a business LLC, got a food handlers permit to sell the honey and is researching a lot to improve how he handles and works with his growing army of bees. I loved all the activities from when the kids were growing up, but it's a real source of pride when your son grows up and is becoming a thoughtful and responsible human being.


The original gentle hive.


A frame full of brood (babies). Nurse bees feed them for three weeks in open cells, then cap them over while the baby finishes developing. This is a good indication that the queen is strong and is growing the colony.


A recent removal from a home in Sinton. This hive had around 50,000 bees and they were not happy! We each got 18+ stings on this job.


After removing most of the comb and bees, things were much less stressful. Here is a heavy chunk of honeycomb headed for canning.


Checking on our backyard hive. These bees can be a bit more defensive when you open the hive for checkups, so he puts on the bee suit top and gloves just in case the girls are feeling sporty.


This honey is at least five years old. It darkens with age, so you won't find this on the shelf of HEB - you only get it by removing old hives for relocation.


The portion of the hive hanging here has over 40 lbs of honey, just ready to be canned.



Our home-made bee vacuum may not be pretty, but it gently sucks up bees and keeps them contained until we can transport them to the new living arrangements.


What does seven pounds of beeswax look like? It's a lot. We recycle any comb that can't go into the hive or is destroyed to remove honey.

[slimepaddling]

What a heartwarming and inspiring story! It's truly remarkable to see your son not only embrace a passion like beekeeping but also turn it into a successful and responsible business. The dedication and care he puts into rescuing and rehoming honeybees, while simultaneously creating a thriving enterprise, showcase his commitment to both the environment and entrepreneurship.
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Louis