Brookside Farm

03/29/2020

Bees must understand that hives are "essential businesses". Our hives are definitely open for business! We have honey available with no human or bee contact. I took this picture yesterday as they exhibited, "bearding". There are two reasons bees "beard". One, the hive is full and they are hot. Just like you and I might want to hang out on the porch on a hot summer day. Being that yesterday was not that hot, our Purple hive exhibited bearding for the second reason. They felt it was a good time to swarm. It is understood that when colonies swarm, they have made a new queen and half the population leaves with the older queen to make a new colony. A misconception beekeepers make is thinking they will only make one new queen. After taking this picture, Kathy put together a new hive box. I stuck it under the beard and brushed them into it. Like most beekeepers, we thought that was that. New hive, if they stick around in the new digs provided. Thing is, more and more bees accumulated under the hive as bees were going in and out of the newly created one. Kathy put together another hive box and I brushed those bees into the next. We don't know yet, but our purple hive may have given us two more hives. Or, Purple has given Williamson County two more hives living somewhere nearby. Hope they want to stay with us on Brookside Farm.

03/10/2020

Kathy and I planted some bulbs. :)

12/12/2019

Our popular Williamson County Wildflower Honey makes great Christmas gifts, party favors and tastes pretty fabulous too. It's available here on Brookside Farm and at Sanctuary South in the Westhaven subdivision.

12/05/2019

So cool!

“I’d like people to understand that hearing is not only for ears.”

11/12/2019

Right now it's 27 outside the greenhouse, 60 inside. :)

10/30/2019

Breakfast is ready on Brookside Farm

09/23/2019

The Earthwatch Institute concluded in the last debate of the Royal Geographical Society of London, that bees are the most important living being on the planet, however, scientists have also made an announcement: Bees have already entered into extinction risk.

09/12/2019

06/25/2019

"We are going to need a bigger bowl."

05/02/2019

Beautiful morning on Brookside Farm.

03/17/2019

Having happy bee hives, we are vulnerable to swarms. Our Pink hive swarmed late last fall, which left them without enough bees to keep the queen warm in winter. This morning our Pink hive box was assembled into a swarm trap. Spring time is a great time to catch swarms, because the queen has all summer to build her population up to get them thru winter. Kathy and I are optimistic that a wayward colony will appreciate the pink hive box and join us on Brookside Farm.

12/02/2018

Beautiful sunny day on Brookside Farm. The bees are loving the warm weather and sunhine. After a few moments with them, I noticed bright red loaded pollen sacks coming into the hive. We aren't positive, but can't believe this would be pollen in December, even though it is geting close to 70 outside. Kathy and I think it is propolis. Bees collect sap from early tree buds and convert it into an amazing glue they use to hold the hive together and plug drafty spots, termed propolis. In the video, watch the back legs on a few of the bees. You will see them bringing bright red propolis into the hive. All the hives are doing great and wish to let anyone needing honey know, we have it!

11/25/2018

The farmers almanac is calling for a cold winter. Also, I understand our sun has very few sunspots right now. Sunspots are a good indicator of solar activity, which has a huge impact on our climate. In anticipation of a cold winter, we decided to protect more of our garden than what we grow in the greenhouse. Today was a great day to build hoop houses.

11/15/2018

Need gift ideas? Look no further. Brookside Farm has local honey available in 3 sizes and all dressed up with holiday ribbon. PM for details

09/02/2018

Good Morning from Brookside Farm.

08/17/2018

Kathy made a special treat for breakfast this morning. Cucumber, peaches and tomatoes over whole wheat pasta. If you have never seen a bunch of chickens eat spaghetti, you are missing out. :)

04/24/2018

Swarm season is upon us. If you or someone you know sees one don’t be afraid and please don’t spray. Very quickly call a beekeeper. We may rescue the swarm or know someone who can.

04/19/2018

Kathy and I try to keep Brookside Farm as much of a mini wildlife sanctuary, as a healthy home for the plants and animals we care for. We expect peace among residents and visitors. So here is the challenge.....Two pairs of bluebirds now call our farm home. We are both excited. But, bluebirds love to eat bees. :( This morning I placed two bluebird feeders out with meal worms. Any other thoughts or suggestions that don't involve BB guns?

04/15/2018

It isn't often, but every once in a while we sell turkey eggs. For those that have not had them, Yum! Way better than chicken eggs. Unfortunately, turkeys are not prolific layers. I don't know why, but bakers love them. We enjoy them over easy. :). $12/half dozen.

04/01/2018

Last week, on our personal pages we posted the capture of a swarm from one of our hives in our yard. The result is the addition of a another colony. Yesterday, Kathy looked up into the sky and saw something like what is shown in the first picture. We have never seen a swarm in flight. It is a sad moment for a beekeeper, because it suggests we missed thousands of our bees leaving to make another colony elsewhere. It is a natural process of how bees populate and spread out in an area. We were not sure which hive swarmed, but guessed it was one of the three in the second picture. Today we are confident it was Blue. You can see how busy Yellow and Pink are this afternoon, while Blue appears to have very few bees. Blue is our original hive and has always thrived. The genes the original queen produced happy almost affectionate bees. We wish her well in her new endeavors and will be missed. The good news is that our area receives another colony of pollinators. Most likely we did not loose a hive, as bees typically don't leave behind a colony that won't thrive. Within a few days a new queen will hatch, carrying half the genes from the original. She will go to a drone congregation area (think singles bar) and come home and start laying eggs. Our hives get babied. But blue will get extra attention this year. We will keep you posted. :)

03/29/2018

Brookside Farm executive management team recently met and announced that sales are up this quarter relative to this time last year. However, results of improved operational efficiencies have caused production to outperform forecasted sales. This means that Kathy and I have eggs and honey coming out of our ears. Each evening I put the chickens to bed and pull eggs. We are getting more and more each night. Our bee families are very happy and expanding! Keep those cards and letters coming folks. We appreciate each of you and your continued enjoyment of what our bees and chickens provide. :)

03/10/2018

On Brookside Farm, lots of new Happy Bee Honey addicts are coming back for more. And we have plenty of honey. Visiting the hives this morning, I saw returning field bees with full pollen sacks. If you look closely at the video, you will see yellow globs of pollen on their back legs telling us the queen is actively laying eggs. Worker bees store and then feed baby bees with pollen, as it is their source of protien. Hope you enjoy the video and thanks for enjoying our honey! :)

03/01/2018

Our bees are thrilled about blooms popping around Williamson County. Allergy sufferers may not. For healthy relief, we have raw honey harvested right here in Franklin available to all that enjoy our clean Williamson County wildflower honey. Please message or call. We deliver very locally. 615-513-3322

01/24/2018

Allergy season is just around the corner. We still have honey available. PM if interested!

11/13/2017

Hello from Brookside Farm! Have you thought about gifting jars of honey for your holiday parties or gift exchanges? Wrapped with holiday ribbon and delivered right to your door. Many sizes and prices available.

11/01/2017

Happy Fall y'all! Do you have uncarved, not rotten pumpkins you are planning on throwing away? Let us know. We will pick them up from your front porch. Our.🐓🐓 LOVE pumpkins!

09/19/2017

Kathy rendered more bees wax. Suspect we will be making candles and maybe some lip balm. You can see that the fall garden is coming in great too.

09/11/2017

Kathy and I just extracted more honey! Did you know eating honey can help you be smarter? It is the only food to contain ‘pinocembrin’ that is an antioxidant that improves brain function. Please let us know if you are ready for an IQ boost. :)

08/13/2017

Another busy day on Brookside Farm. As Kathy and I cleaned out the coop, we felt like a few of our critters were keeping an eye on quality control. I caught this monarch helping our bees with pollination duties. 🙂.

08/10/2017

We love pollinators... How bout you?