Bees!

Our departure from Lake Okeechobee led to a Harvest Host location a little further up Central Florida. This was our first non-winery Harvest Host location - it is a farm and it's all about the bees.  The products they sell at the bee barn range from honey to lip balm to jelly.

Beautiful honey selection

Bees. Not enough of them to go around, so these bees are always on the move, contracted by farms as the timing is right.  This month they're out in Bakersfield, California pollinating almond orchards.  Their dance card is quite full afterwards visiting an assortment of orchards across the country as they make their way back home, only to do it again.

On moving day, the beekeepers wait until all the bees make it back to the hive at  sundown, wrap the hives in plastic wrap and move them at night by truck to their next gig.

Inside the Bee Barn

I was thinking about the dance that bees use to communicate their findings, and it occurred to me that these traveling bees are always in new environments, and therefore always communicating new routes to one another.  I'll bet they are superior dancers.

We parked behind the barn alongside a field, and we were visited by an assortment of chickens and cows. Chloe was not amused that they were grazing right outside the window, but the cats  really seemed to enjoy watching the white birds that follow along with the cattle, likely gobbling up all the bugs on display from the freshly disturbed earth.

This Harvest Host location had no hookups so it's good we are self-contained.  What it did have was plenty of elbow room, peace, quiet, and truly brilliant stars after dark. Oh, and morning rooster song with my coffee. The hosts were friendly and told us of their plans to someday open an RV park, and we'll enjoy their hospitality there, too, later down the road.

Fabulous and friendly beekeeping hosts