Started with two hives in a backyard
What began as two hives kept for the garden has grown, slowly and on purpose, into thirty-two colonies across four yards. I turned down offers to lease out more land for hives because I would rather know each one than manage a number.
I still open every box by hand, still read the frames myself before a single one is pulled for honey. If a colony is struggling, it gets left alone that season rather than harvested anyway.
Slow is the whole method. The honey is ready when the bees say it is capped, not when an order needs filling.
