5Apr 08
The Sweetness of Diligence
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March 22nd, our family multiplied the workforce on our land in Culpeper by several thousand. Midmorning on this fine Saturday, Kenan, Adam, Daniel, and I bounded into the old pickup for a ride to the dump. While there, we filled the bed of the truck with a load of leaf mulch. 
Everyone worked so hard that the gentleman to our left paid us $10 to fill his trailer (gas money)! From there we drove over an hour to the rolling foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our destination was 
Windsong Apiaries, owned and operated by Virginia’s State Bee Inspector, Mr. Bob Wallemeyer. He had two packages of Italian bees ready and waiting.
From valuable insights shared by Michael Staddon, Mr. Andrew Voell, and others, all necessary steps of preparation had been taken. Supers were built, frames assembled, sugar water prepared and jarred, and instructions read through. The whole family worked together on the project, expressed great 
desire to learn, and so made the entire process fun and exciting. We look forward to providing updates along the way!
Here are some fascinating facts about honey that we have discovered along the way:
- Honey is the only food consumed by humans produced by insects.
- It is sweeter than table sugar (1 to 1.5 times sweeter).
- There are 300 different types of honey produced throughout the United States.
- 1 Tablespoon of honey contains 17 grams of carbohydrates and 60 calories.
- Bees travel the equivalent distance of 3 times around the world to produce 1 pound of honey.
Honey bees are an amazing creation of God. Like the ant, so well described in Proverbs, they buzzily apply themselves to the task before them. The honey bee works with such fervor and dedication that though their bodies could exist for some time, they expend all their energy and die approximately 3 weeks after birth in order to raise a healthy, productive offspring. In so doing they provide not only for their own “family” of bees, but also the entire human population. What an example of how true Christianity should look (Phil. 3:8)!
Diligence: Visualizing each task as a special assignment from the Lord and using all my energies to accomlish it.
It is thrilling to see your honey bee undertaking launched! When I checked them with you last week they were in good shape. Doing your “homework” before you get started in anything new is key to success, and a step not to be abbreviated. I’m glad you all have taken the time to study up and learn all you can before going forward. God bless your diligent work!
You definitely did multiply your workforce! Congratulations.
What an exciting adventure we are on! Thank you Josh for leading us all in this and teaching us what you have been learning.
The bee is such a fascinating little insect.
It is a joy to actually be using our land in a fruitful way. I look forward to seeing what God will do through this.
I am so encouraged at y’alls faith and energy in getting started with bees!
The day I read your post, we had just had a conversation about bees over lunch so I decided to forward a link to the site to the others on the Taiwan team here. Particularly encouraged was the family that lives here with us. They wrote back and said: “Thank you so much for sharing this website with us. It’s always an encouragement to ‘meet’ another special Christian family that loves to work together to the glory of God! This site has so many interesting things on it to share with our girls. Of course the new beekeeping adventure was inspiring to read about.” The Lord is using you, your good works, and the word of your testimony. Keep it up and God bless your beehives this summer.