We started out with one beehive purchased through trade for a goat. Since then we've made splits, captured swarms and won hives through our local Roane-Morgan Beekeeping Association. We now have nearly 30 hives (half of which are for sale). Beekeeping is a fantastic hobby.  Those of us who have got into beekeeping often get what is called "bee fever."  This is a hobby with many facets and gives our whole family an opportunity to learn more about nature and the role of the productive honey bee.  We are also members of the Tennessee State Beekeepers Association. We are still learning about this hobby and continue to enjoy not only the honey but also the beeswax products, including creams, lotions, lip balms and soaps. The modern use of hive products has changed little since ancient time.

 Beekeeping is one of the oldest forms of food production. Some of the earliest evidence of beekeeping is from rock paintings. It was particularly well developed in Egypt and was discussed by the ancient Roman writers. Western honeybees are not native to the Americas. Our bees are the Carniolan variety. This bee is a subspecies of the Western honeybee that is from a region of Slovenia. It is favored among beekeepers for several reasons, not the least being its ability to defend itself successfully against insect pests while at the same time being extremely gentle in its behavior toward beekeepers. These bees are particularly adept at adjusting worker population to nectar availability. It rapidly expands worker bee populations after nectar becomes available in the spring, and cuts off brood production when nectar ceases to be available in quantity. With high worker populations they store large quantities of honey. They are resistant to some diseases and parasites that can debilitate hives of other subspecies.

 Dogs

Our son wanted a companion dog and used his allowance to buy a registered black-brindle French Bulldog female in 2004, named "Gracie." We were also able to show her at AKC shows and she became a champion. After breeding her, we kept one cream male, "Sluggo," because of his excessively sweet personality. Another fawn male from the same litter (LOMAH's Pomme De Terre - "Tater") is currently being shown, is an AKC champion and ranked in the top 20 French Bulldogs in the U.S. Shown below is our cream male as an adult and puppy, plus his mother.

 

The French Bulldog is sometimes called the Bouledogue Francais or Frenchie. They're descended from the English Bulldog. They were initially just diminutive English Bulldogs, but they were  bred successfully wit French Terriers. French farm households loved their companionable traits and rat-killing instincts. The lowly street beggars, prostitutes, and poets took on French Bulldogs, and the upper classes copied them in like manner to demonstrate their racy, avante garde, and edgy personalities. When the dogs were brought to England for exhibition, there was a massive cultural clash because the English were upset that the French prefix had been attributed to a Bulldog from England. They can weigh 19 to 28 pounds. Their standard height is 12 inches. French Bulldogs can be a bundle of energy, but they're mostly placid companions. French Bulldogs come in a variety of colors that include black, cream, red, fawn, blue, tan, and brindle of all sorts.