In 1945  4.5 million honeybee hives existed in the USA.  By 2007 that hive count was down to 2 million hives.  What happened post World War II? Industrial Agriculture.  Mechanization, factories and war time chemicals needed a new outlet after the war.   Big Ag supplied it.  Larger farms using machines planted mono cultures of […]

Monarch populations dangerously close to disappearing from the earth.  The winter of 2013/2014 saw their wintering grounds in Mexico shrink from a high of 30 acres covered in monarchs to approx 3 acres.  And they were late arriving.  We are late in understanding the importance of saving a flagship pollinator species like the monarch.  Two […]

Native squash bees pollinating a pumpkin blossom.  There are approx 4000 species of native bees in North America.  Many, if not most, of them better pollinators than the non native honey bee.  Our native bees tend to work earlier, later, and under adverse weather conditions more so than the beloved honey bee.  The advantage of […]

This summer we honored a long ago promise to “some day”  plant pumpkins.  The choice: an heirloom variety, known as Red Warty Thing.  It’s actually quite pretty, and is a good eating pumpkin.  That is all we knew about pumpkins at planting time, and we learned that much from the back of the seed packet.  […]

Working the hives safely may depend on how well your hive smoker is working!  In this photo, you see a bee keeper’s delight.  The fuel used in the smoker is dried cow dung, from the two cows of HF.  Dried cow dung produces a cool smoke which is better for the bees than a very […]

Honey bees in Georgia are collecting pollen even in winter.  That spot of yellow on the leg is a basket designed for carrying pollen from local plants to the local hive. no more than five miles apart.    Honeybees in California’s almond fields are definitely not local.  They are trucked in from around the USA […]

Sharing the abundance of homesteading at Hedgerow Farm is a delightful mission. The custom labels, created by local artists and printers, adds to the pleasure of giving and receiving eggs, jam, and honey from the farm. These custom labels come with stories about local people, intertwined relationships, conversations in the garden, in the pasture, at […]