In 2011, after dealing with years of illness, at times unable to get out of bed for months, I took the advice of the naturopath I was seeing and we got some honey bees. This doctor had told us for years about the benefits of the bees, being a beekeeper himself. He gave us pollen and honey from his hives and both my husband Scott and I got several rounds of bee sting therapy in areas of our bodies that were hurting or weak. The results were astounding. We were fascinated with everything he told us and wanted to dig deeper. We decided to become keepers of the bees as well! We joined our local beekeeping association and learned as much as we could that fall and winter of 2010. We bought our first equipment, painted our hives all sorts of beautiful colors and by the next May, we had two hives. We were ecstatic, to say the least. Our first experiences with the bees were scary and exciting. I remember being terrified when the bees surrounded us the first time, unable to move, hardly breathing as they bumped into our suits, swarming around us and landing on us by the hundreds. I got stung several times that day on my hands as I had gardening gloves on (lol I know!) but I was determined to keep going. So was Scott. If others could do this, so could we. We learned so much that first year and actually had one of our hives make it through the winter. We were so excited and bought 3 more hives that next year. We watched tons of videos, read mountains of books and attended our bee meetings faithfully, soaking it all up. The beekeepers we met were so generous with their knowledge and honey bees are absolutely fascinating as well as great teachers. It was such a fun time of learning and fellowship. As time passed, we became more comfortable with those mysterious little beings and they became more comfortable with us. We learned to be gentle and not hurry. We saw how important is was to stay calm no matter what was happening. We learned to be prepared when we went into a hive and tried to work as efficiently as we could, disturbing them as little as possible. That is definitely easier said than done as you can be surprised with what you find when you dive into a hive and we can still be seen running back to the shop or shed to get something we need! As we got a little better we were able to collect some honey. We would carefully extract it, jar it and give to family and friends. The taste of our own fresh raw honey was enough to keep us going even when it seemed really difficult and we were having hard lessons.
For many of the first years, we had challenges getting the bees through the winter. Scott says we were bee-buyers instead of beekeepers! About 6 years ago, our oldest son came to us with a proposal. He wanted to become a beekeeper for a living and wondered if we would work with him to make that possible. He had spent countless hours researching, had a few hives himself and wanted to jump in. We didn't think long about it. I had retired from nursing in 2012, being too ill to work and had slowly walked through getting my herbal diploma and nutrition certificate, attended several herbal apprenticeships and had been teaching about herbal remedies, specifically food as healthcare for several years by then. We had weaned off all pharmaceuticals and replaced our medicine cabinet with all natural God-given remedies. One of our major remedies was honey. You see, honey has amazing healing properties and I believe it was critical in assisting me to gain my health back. It contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, organic acids, probiotics, enzymes and so much more. It is the only food that doesn't spoil and scientists still don't understand all its unique properties. Studies have shown that honey can be used to reduce cardiovascular and diabetes risk and may even help people with metabolic syndrome, giving the body a slow, even energy source. It has been shown to help us to have a healthy gut, respiratory system and may even help heal cancer. Topically honey can heal wounds faster than standard treatments much of the time as it is highly antimicrobial and has many constituents that promote repair. There are so many remarkable things honey does for our bodies, besides being so tasty and we are just at the beginning of our understanding about it.
I am so grateful to have healed from my early ailments and as one who was plagued with all sorts of allergies, including environmental, animal and food, I can tell you I am completely cured of all of those. My immune system is getting stronger and stronger every year and I'm doing things I never thought I'd be able to do, all thanks to our decision to work with the blessed honey bees and to trust God in the process.
We originally started our business in 2013 but had a different focus on herbs and topical remedies. We switched completely to honey bee related products in 2018 and were working under a different name but I was awakened in the middle of the night with the name BeeBlesst in early 2022. We all immediately knew that it was the right move to change our name. As we have moved forward with God as our CEO, we have felt incredibly blessed and strive in all we do to "bee the best we can bee" and to give Him the glory for our work. Our son has turned out to be a bee whisperer and has such a mind for it, he can remember what is going on with each hive and what needs to be done at any moment. He loves the bees like us and continues to become more of an expert in the field, finding better ways to keep them safe and healthy. He has had several excellent mentors along the way which has propelled us steadily forward. We keep expanding our business and are now moving in many different directions. Through diligent research, hard work and advice from others, we now have strong, healthy hives of bees that have low mite counts, low attrition rates and who thrive here in our quiet part of the desert we call home. I can see that those first few years working with the bees, caring for them, helped us in ways we will never be able to put into words. They challenged us to gain our strength and confidence. They have pushed all of us beyond our preconceived boundaries and have given us back so much more. Those early years were difficult and very challenging but only made us more determined to be good beekeepers. We knew they were helping us and we so wanted to help them. We truly have a passion for this work and plan on continuing to learn and grow, trusting God in all he has planned for us. And now, we can actually say we are Beekeepers! We have truly been blessed and hope everything we do blesses others, blesses our little but mighty bee friends and above all blesses our Father who made this all happen. KS
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