About a year-and-a-half ago, Bill’s son Dave made what, to me at least, was a surprise announcement. We are going to become apiarists. Beekeepers to us mere mortals. Perhaps it had been a dream of his for some time. It certainly is a worthwhile endeavor. But it still caught me by surprise.

What didn’t catch me by surprise is the fact that his partner in the buzz business was going to be Dagny Tess. How could it be anyone else? She has been handling bugs and spiders and who knows what else since she could walk. Of course keeping bees was going to be the next challenge she would accept.

Their endeavor started in April, and in August of last year, Dagny told me sadly that the queen had vanished from the hive. She and her dad purchased a new queen who arrived in a little box, undoubtedly with HRH engraved on the outside. The idea was that they would put the box into the hive, thereby allowing the workers and drones to get used to the new queen. Unfortunately, a week or so later, HRH decided to try it on her own, escaped the box, and vanished. Dagny told me there was some hope that another bee had crowned herself queen, but the chances were slim.

The two apiarists were reluctantly optimistic that there would be honey last summer, but alas, there was not a drop to be had.

Fast forward to July 2018……

Hoo-rah! The bees had been producing honey. In fact, when the family came home last week for a reunion and Maggie Faith showed up on my doorstep, she informed me that Dagny couldn’t come because she was gathering honey from the bees.

As it happens, the bees had produced nearly four gallons of honey, and being the nana and papa, Bill and I are privileged to possess one of the first jars of Dee’s Bees honey (the best honey beesiness around, according to her advertising director, Alastair)…..

I will confess to you that I am not a fervent fan of honey. It’s okay, but it’s not something I would necessarily require in my pantry. Nonetheless, I will tell you that Dee’s Bees honey is absolutely delicious. According to the 12-year-old apiarist, the flavor of the honey produced depends on the flowers from which the bees get the nectar. I believe Dee’s bees get their nectar from God’s own garden, because the honey is right tasty…..

And the keeper of the bees is completely adorable…..

When Dagny and her family return from their summer trip in a couple of weeks, honey collection, jar-filling, and sales will begin in earnest. The jars will sell for a mere $10 each, much less than the honey that was selling at a flower nursery I recently visited…..

Local honey, by the way, is purported to be exceptionally effective in helping people with allergies, particularly grass-related allergies. And need I remind you?…..

Let me know if you are interested in purchasing some of Dee’s Bees honey. Remember, it’s the best in the beesiness.