Day 295
If we do end up adding any new animals, we will most likely need to add new structures. For example, if we add goats, we will have to create a goat yard and purchase all necessary materials to take care of them. We will need to plan and budget for any addition, but it is sure to bring a new dimension to Craneview on Plainview. Whatever the next animal adventure might be, the kids are excited.
Sort of.
I told them one potential addition to our farm would be an apiary. No, this is not a home to the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz, but something some people find just as creepy. After explaining to them that an apiary was home to honeybees, the possibility was met with mixed reviews. My kids have a history of encounters with stinging insects that they’d rather not discuss. Of course, while these specifically deal with wasps and hornets instead of honeybees, trying to explain the difference to my children without reliving the traumatic experience of being stung is an uphill battle. After an eventful summer, all three children have now had the pleasure (and associated pain) of discovering an underground hive. But despite a reluctance to accept these occasionally pesky but important nature neighbors, bees are important. It still may take time to convince them of the minimal threats and overwhelming positives an apiary would bring to our farm, an apiary has a very strong chance of being added to the farm.
Just not quite yet.
When the time comes, bees will definitely be a great addition. They will help us improve the health of our garden, improve the overall health of our restored ecosystem, and offer wonderful products we can use and/or sell. But we probably won’t buzz into the beekeeping scene until we get our prairie started. Right now, we are still focusing on improving the land that will hopefully be seeded into a native upland prairie next fall. Triangulating a garden, an apiary, and a native prairie will be exponentially beneficial for all three settings.
Plus, when the kids taste some sweet honey, their uncertainty of bees is sure to buzz off.
