The Real Gold Is the Company

The Real Gold Is the Company

For the past few years, I’ve had the sweet privilege of stepping into the hive life — helping friends set up and maintain their bee colonies with one golden goal in mind: a harvest of honey by summer’s end.

The crew shifts year to year, but the rhythm stays the same. The work, the good vibes, the shared mission — solid as ever. The core group of us have been friends, while the year-to-year helpers tend to be family members or other friends we bring in. It sounds exclusive, but really, we just love to share the learning and the process with those around us.

Spring Rituals

It all kicks off in the spring. We clean out the empty bee boxes left out in the field and bring extras from the garage after the previous summer’s harvest. We scrape off old wax, fix up the frames — flipping these wooden condos into prime real estate for our buzzing tenants.

As the season warms, we check in on the bees, adding new boxes when they need more room to grow their empire. Some bee farmers keep their bees close by, but the ones I’ve helped with are about 120 miles away — near Manning, ND, in a different time zone! We make an evening of it when we check on them.

It’s best for bees to be in the country, feeding on wildflowers and flowering crops. If they’re in town, they’ll find every bird bath and kiddie pool around — and make them unusable to those intended. When we visit throughout the summer, we talk to them, thank them, hype them up. They’re the real MVPs.

Harvest Hustle

Then comes harvest season — part science, part chaos. We head out to collect the boxes, trying to leave the bees behind (because 1) they won’t survive away from their hive, and 2) nobody wants to get lit up mid-extraction). There are a few ways to get the bees to stay back. In recent years, we’ve used a leaf blower — taking the boxes off one at a time and blowing the frames to get the bees to release their grip and fly away. We always leave 2–3 boxes per hive at the site. That’s where the queen is, and the bees will find their way back to her. If they hitch a ride with us, they won’t survive — they won’t join another hive.

During the leaf blower process, a bee suit is a MUST. Otherwise, they’ll take out their vengeance on you!

We load the truck, haul the goods to our honey HQ — a garage in Garrison, ND — and stash everything inside. Not outside, unless we want every bee in the zip code crashing the party. Local bees will smell the honey and think they’ve found an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The Grind

The next day is the grind. In a sanitized garage with tarps on the floor, we slice wax caps off the combs with a hot blade, spin the frames in a centrifuge, and watch the honey pour out into a sieve and into sanitized food-grade buckets.

It’s sweaty, sticky, and somehow timeless — no windows (to keep neighborhood bees out), no breeze, just pure hustle. It takes four of us to get the boxes from the field and five to work in the garage. We rotate roles, take breaks, make food, and run supplies. When everyone does their part, the days run smoothly.

Once the honey is in buckets, it’s ready to go. If bottled right away — in whatever container you choose — it’s safe and ready to eat. It tends to solidify quickly (within a week or so), which doesn’t mean it’s gone bad. That’s its natural state.

Just place the container in warm water to melt it down again, or use it solid in a dish or hot beverage. You can heat it to maintain syrup consistency like store-bought honey, but that’s more preference than necessity.

The Sweetest Part

If all that sounds like a chore, here’s the twist: it’s actually a blast.

Why? Because the people make it.

From spring clean-up to summer harvest, I get to roll with my friends. The drives are full of music, jokes, and deep talks. We always sneak in a meal at some small-town restaurant — more laughs, more stories. Even during the hard work of harvest, we carve out time to hang, catch up, play yard games, and just enjoy the moment.

The honey’s great. But the real reward is the friendship.

Gratitude to the Hive (Not Just to the Bees…)

And yeah —we always thank the bees. They work nonstop all summer, and we do our best to keep them cozy through winter so we can do it all again next year.

Because in the end, the real gold isn’t just in the jars. It’s in the company we keep.