does anyone keep honey bees?

we are driving from pa to ga the second week of april to pick up 300 packages of bees. hubby is selling some, then keeping what he doesnt sell. he wants to go all out and gung ho about starting a bee keeping supply business. (also selling the honey, etc.) i am excited to learn how to make candles, lip balm and anything else i can from the wax! We also love the honey :) i'm a tea fanatic, so honey is always in my tea, hot or cold :)

what scares me is that we are in such a small town i'm not sure we would get much business. which leads me to another question, how much does it cost (on average, nothing too big or small) to get a good website up?? we have no clue how much or how to do it, we just DONT want to get ripped off.

Who is gonna tend the bees while he is flying? You are far braver than I... course I have a tiny back yard and 5 direct neighbors and I know they would not approve!

Mead is a honey wine. Regular wine is basically fermented grapes. Mead is fermented honey. It's not necessarily sweet though. It can be very dry. I used to enjoy a glass of wine once in a while but the tannins always caused problems. Mead doesn't have that. DH also makes it in all sorts of flavors from plain to blueberry to chocolate chipotle.

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Originally Posted by Vee030473

I put it in hot tea to sweeten,I also use it in place of sugar when I make small pitchers of sweet tea. I add a tsp to my morning oatmeal,in steamed baby carrots,I am a honey fiend LOL
Where in Maine are you? I live in Cape Elizabeth. It would be neat to meet up. Have you been to Wolfe's Neck State Park in Freeport? I love hiking and picnicking there.

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I live in South Paris. I have never been to that state park, but I think my sister goes there. I love Freeport and its not too far. JKAT lives not too far from there too. I wonder if she would be up for a picnic sometime this summer? We should really do it. Do you have kids?

I am going to try honey in my tea. I use alot of it in the summer.....goes into all bbq sauce. But I love the flavor, I really need to try it in more stuff!

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Originally Posted by Airbuswife

we are driving from pa to ga the second week of april to pick up 300 packages of bees. hubby is selling some, then keeping what he doesnt sell. he wants to go all out and gung ho about starting a bee keeping supply business. (also selling the honey, etc.) i am excited to learn how to make candles, lip balm and anything else i can from the wax! We also love the honey :) i'm a tea fanatic, so honey is always in my tea, hot or cold :)

what scares me is that we are in such a small town i'm not sure we would get much business. which leads me to another question, how much does it cost (on average, nothing too big or small) to get a good website up?? we have no clue how much or how to do it, we just DONT want to get ripped off.

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That sounds super neat!!!! I'd be interested in trying your lip balm once you start selling!

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Originally Posted by Urban Cowgirl

I live in South Paris. I have never been to that state park, but I think my sister goes there. I love Freeport and its not too far. JKAT lives not too far from there too. I wonder if she would be up for a picnic sometime this summer? We should really do it. Do you have kids?

I am going to try honey in my tea. I use alot of it in the summer.....goes into all bbq sauce. But I love the flavor, I really need to try it in more stuff!

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She lives close to the commissary I shop at. I've been meaning to get in touch with her,I remember her telling me she wanted some eggroll or wonton wraps from the commissary. I have 3 kids,18 16 and 12. I love Freeport too,especially after the tourists leave LOL. I use honey to make my mesquite bbq sauce,the best smoky sticky just enough sweetness sauce I've had. My husband makes a delicious peach and honey ice cream using Royal Hawaiian honey. If we get together,I will have to bring some along!

UrbanCowgirl, try to find a beekeeper near you, within 5 miles or so. Its the pollen the bees collect that helps you. You're having allergic reactions to local pollens and ingesting it will help your body build an immunity to them. Its an amazong thing, my oldest dd used to have terrible seasonal allergies and we started getting local honey and comb. She likes chewing on the comb and she puts the honey in her tea too, she doesn't get nearly as miserable as she used to.