Beautiful beneficial bees

Way back in late 2018 we decided we’d like to bring a beehive to Tiny Farm. What we didn’t realise then was that we needed to start our hive in spring, when the nectar was flowing and our bees could build a nice strong hive. Now, 10 months later, we are only weeks away from meeting our nucleus hive! We’ve bought and painted a flow hive.

Doesn’t it look classy? That’s because we used left overs from when we painted our house a few years ago. The kids are mildly concerned that the bees will mistake our actual house for the bee hive but I think the risks are pretty low… Since then, we’ve been busy making sure there will be enough pollen around for our newest Tiny Farm residents. Our jasmine and lavender will surely keep them happy

But we wanted even more, and in keeping with the Tiny Farm philosophy, we wanted plants that gave to the bees and to us as well. Cue flowering herbs! We already have a good size planting of flowering purple rosemary in our front yard and this is now complemented by –

Chamomile

Sorrel

Borage

And sunflowers that we grew from seed in the Tiny Farm greenhouse. We’ve also planted out some thyme, sage, oregano and dill and plan to let a few of most plants go to seed so that we can re-grow next year and keep our bees and beneficial insects happy. Happy foraging friends!