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Last fall, during a miserable allergy season with no meds working for me, Greg said, "You know, local honey is really great for seasonal allergies.  Why don't we get some bees?"
I gave him the look - bees?  Really?  Why don't we just buy some local honey?
A few days later, he brought it up again.  I started to realize that he was serious.  Did we really want to do bees?  It seemed like a big commitment. I asked Greg to look into what was involved before we made a decision.
The more research Greg did, the more excited he became.  By the end of October, we made the decision to become bee keepers.  Only a few days later at dinner, Enoch said, "Do you know what would be really cool?  If we had bees."  Greg and I looked at each other with shock!  Enoch had never talked of bees before and we hadn't mentioned to any of the kids that we were looking into it.  I guess great minds think alike.
Greg did a lot of research online, read books from the library and Greg and Enoch took a bee keeping class at Thanksgiving Point.  For Christmas, Greg got a lot of bee keeping equipment and Enoch got his bee suit (his favorite present).  By now, they were ready to go.
The morning they went to pick up the bees and hives, Enoch was beyond excited.  Greg said a few bees got out of their cage and were flying around in the car.  Greg tried to get them out the window, but Enoch wouldn't let him.  He let the bees land on his hand, gently pet them and talk to them saying, "It's okay.  I know you are scared but we are taking you home.  I'll take care of you.  You're so cute."  A true bee keeper who really loves his bees.
We have two hives with one queen in each hive.  Enoch named his queens Mauna and Lucille after his great grandmothers.
It was quite a process to get the bees set up.  Once Greg had the hives in the garden and ready to go, it was now time to introduce the bees to their new home.  The bees come in a cage with a lid on one end.  Not going to lie, it freaked me out a little seeing all the bees crawling all over each other.  But, Greg and Enoch were fascinated and couldn't wait to get them in the hive.

After a quick knock on the hive to get the bees at the bottom, Greg just poured the bees into the hive.  That was very cool.

Enoch just couldn't get enough of the bees.

I've had to tell him quite a few time to stay away from the bees, let them be and they will take care of themselves (they really are quite self sufficient).  Enoch can hardly stand not being around his bees.  He will go out after school and just watch them, talk to them and be with them.
We are looking forward to some yummy honey in the fall and some good time with the bees.