I started beekeeping about 25 years ago. It has been a minor source of income since then. Beekeeping has been a valuable model for studying the dynamics of insect colonies vis-à-vis, the more important, but cryptic Formosan termite.
Adrian servicing beehives at Pointe-a-la-Hache, LA.
After a decade of keeping bees, I found the manuscript of my mother's 1957 novel "Evike" in the attic and published it as: "Evike" by Anne Bruder, 266 pp., and 50 illustrations order from us for $24 +$3 shipping. "Evike" means "little Eve" in Hungarian and is the story of two soul mates: a Jewish boy and a Christian girl who grew up in Budapest at the twilight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The book documents bits of Hungarian history as well as the origin and fate of the lost Banater Schwaben. In the book, I discovered that my great-grandfather was a beekeeper and county judge in what is now Nerau, Romania. Travelling there while doing research on this book, we found his grave. Here's a bit about beekeeping from "Evike" chapter 16:
"Grandfather had a big Bienenhaus (a structure with many beehives) in the garden behind the backyard. It was called an apiary. The front wall of the apiary was divided into four-square houses for the bee families. It was swarming season and grandfather sat all day long on a wooden bench in front of the Bienenhaus watching for queen bees to come flying out."
"'When a queen flies out, they all follow her,' he said.' The queen will sit down on the branch of a tree and the rest will hang onto her. Then I'll gather them in a beehive and put them in a house of their own. But, if nobody gathers them, they will know that nobody loves them. Then they'll fly out in the forest and become wild bees.'"
"Evike sat with grandfather to watch. He had some plants on the bench beside him that he called 'Bienenkrautel' (bee-herb). He showed Evike how you can rub the bee-herb in your hands so they would smell good. 'Bees like this smell,' he said. 'And when you rub the bee herb, then they know that you love them and they won't want to fly away and become wild bees. They will want to remain with you.'…
"He said that bees were very smart and that human beings ought to watch them and learn their ways, for bees never broke the law that God put into them."
Adrian on the Evike trail, 2007 Crossing the Balaton. Balatonfured and the hights of Tihany (and the Echo) in the background. Hungary, 2007.
To obtain a copy of the novel "Evike", by Anne Bruder you can download the order form here:
Evike Order Form (PDF, 2pp, 228KB)
Algiers Honey
Algiers Honey or "A-bee-ta" Honey is packed in glass mason jars.
11 oz. jar: $5.00 Plus S&H
A case of 12 goes for the price of 10. F.O.B. Abita Springs or Algiers.
Louisiana honey has a unique flavor, but shipping presents a problem. At 12 pounds to the gallon, it is very dense and shipping can run a significant percentage of the cost. E-mail us at adriantree@aol.com or call 504-259-2031 with your requests and we will try to accommodate. Shipping in plastic containers and using USPS standard price boxes helps with the cost.