An Un-BEE-lieveable Journey!

As many of you know, we recently added bees to Gather. We were SO excited to get our hive from Lockhart Honey and get our bees settled. So we ordered our bees and headed off one morning to pick up our nuc. We came back early on a Saturday morning and Dave got the hive all set up for their arrival.

We got them settled and they were calm and happy. We consulted our friends over at Buckley Homestead Supply if we had questions and away we went with bee maintenance. Except for one small thing. We've never had bees before and we only knew what we could read in a book. And there were a couple of rough days. Days where the bees were aggressive and days where we were worried that we weren't doing the right thing. Days that Dave really got a bee in their bonnet and they chased him all the way to the alley (funny, not funny...) And a day where we BOTH got stung in the face. It was frustrating and even a little disheartening.

And then I saw a post from Lockhart. They were offering a 1-hour private consultation with Leo, where he would answer your questions one-on-one (or one-on-two, in our case) and you could learn about how to take care of your hive. As much as Dave and I are both chefs, we are also teachers. And teachers value education. So we decided to schedule a session. And it was the BEST thing we could have done for our bees and for ourselves.

We want to be responsible bee keepers and good stewards of our hive. And learning from Leo gave us both so much more confidence that we COULD do this! We were able to ask questions directly and get a real answer. Leo showed us simple things, like how to take out the and the best way to look at them in the light. How to move things around in a way that doesn't upset the bees.

And as we were learning how to lift frames and hold them in the light just right, it hit me. This is the exact same thing WE DO! We show you how to hold the knife, how to apply just the right amount of pressure. Why you should stop stirring...I had to say it!

Leo & Laura Lockhart are dedicated and passionate about their business and what they do. And it was a true pleasure and a gift to have them share that with us. It not only helped us with the day to day physical part of taking care of the bees, it helped up appreciate WHY the bees are so important and see the amazing society that lives within the hive. It gave us a deeper understanding of something that we were unfamiliar with, until now.

I've taught honey and bee classes before, and while I could talk to the subject well it's nothing like what I now know and how I feel about our bees. I can only hope that when you come to cooking classes that Dave & I share that same passion for food with you and that you leave with that same feeling of understanding and feel the power of the knowledge. That you leave with the same excitement about learning something new that we took away from our bee consultation.

It was a great session to learn about the bees, but I took much more away from it on a more fundamental level. It was an eye opening experience in a multitude of ways. It's a good time to take a step back and look at our business in a whole new way.

You'll see some major changes coming from Gather in the next few months and we're SO excited to start sharing them with you. Working with Lockhart Honey and Buckley Homesteading is a great way to let you know that we are more dedicated than ever about sharing other small local businesses with you. Covid has been a challenge, but it has also opened up so many new partnerships with other local business owners. We can't wait to introduce you to more and show you what our community has to offer!

You can also now purchase Lockhart Honey directly from Gather! We've added it online with the option for pick up or you can grab a jar next time you're in the studio. We love that they are a couple that owns their business together, is passionate about what they do and bring you an amazing, high-quality product. Sounds like someone else we know...

These are the business we hope you will support and fall in love with. These are the ones who care about the products they are producing and truly value each and every order. Help up support companies that make a difference in our local community!