Hillcrest Farm & Apiary

Hillcrest Farm & Apiary Homesteading, raising chickens, producing free range, fresh eggs, raising Honeybees, producing honey. Join us as we share our journey. Blessings to you!

We are devoted to this adventure of homesteading, raising healthy, beautiful hens who grace our table with fresh eggs. Our garden is thriving and our Flora and Fauna hives are very busy, producing honey for their winter fare and, we hope, a bit for us this first year.

07/19/2021

I am seeing new faces on my page and wanted to thank all of you for visiting what used to be my heaven on earth. Since my time living in my home state of Virginia, I found myself facing many challenges. A failed marriage, moving to Florida and leaving a life I loved more than anything on this earth. Oh how I miss beekeeping, raising those beautiful chickens, gardening, canning, and even the hard work that it took to make it a success! I would do it again if I could, but I can't. At least for now. Who knows what the future will be!! It means the world to me new people are interested in what was the best time of my life in many ways. It was worth every minute of hard work!

Sometimes I miss this........
04/09/2019

Sometimes I miss this........

08/16/2017

Home!!

04/17/2017

Lost another hive this week. So discouraging but we,do still have a few strong hives left. Hope to get a small harvest in July.

12/06/2016

It appears the robbing situation of our hives was interrupted by the cold and the hive, for now, has survived. All of our hives are very heavy with honey for the winter and David has added a layer of sugar across the top for good measure.

The chickens are doing just fine, giving us about an egg a day which is disheartening but perfectly normal for the short winter days. I have considered lighting the coop to stimulate them but they need this down time to rest. It has all but killed my egg business but clients do understand and I so appreciate that.

We still need to wrap the pen in plastic to keep the wind off the girls during the coldest months. The coop is stacked with straw and it stays toasty in there for them. I love the smell of fresh straw.

Ben was neutered a week ago and he has been confined to leash walking until that incision heals. He has not healed all the way but coming along. He needed to get used to going on the leash for our upcoming trip to FL. Still waiting on the Cerenia for his car sickness as well as the liner for the back of the Jeep and then it will be time to pack..

The asparagus and strawberry beds are blanketed with pine straw and Honey will tend to the blackberry vines late winter. Winter is our down time here and it give us all a chance to renew our energy and do our planning for the upcoming spring. We are enlarging our garden space and praying our bees produce lots of honey for us. after last year's low.

We hope all of you stay safe and warm in your travels this holiday season. All the hustle and bustle is so exciting! I need to get the wreath out for the chicken coop as well as our front door and get this tree decorated!!! I am late getting started this year! I have visions of cookies and chocolate peanut clusters in mind for this week. Oh, and Christmas cards too!!

11/26/2016

Thanksgiving was filled with food and the girls enjoyed mashed sweet potatoes. There was enough food for an army and everything turned out perfect. Sadly we had another robbing situation with another hive. We still do not know if the attacked hive will survive or perish like the last one. It turned very cold that night so each retreated and the next day stayed cold which provided a break. We were gone all day today so we did not observe the activity. We just pray we do not lose another hive. You do the very best you can but mother nature sometimes has other plans. Keeping our sweet bees in our prayers. Tomorrow is decorating the tree day while Honey has a friend over for the VT football game. Leftovers from dinner will be the feast and hopefully all of it will be polished off. Hope everyone had a safe Black Friday!!!

11/12/2016

Finally beginning to feel halfway back to normal. Antibiotics kicking in and I spent some time with Ben in the yard and also with the chickens. The house is a disaster, tumbleweeds rolling across the floor. One thing I have learned, it will be there tomorrow when I wake up and so will the vacuum. This little place I call home is a lot of work with all the animals........like having 5 toddlers and 14 juvenile delinquent chickens who get into more trouble than I did as a teenager. It certainly keeps me on my toes, especially during gardening season which thankfully, has come to a close. Now the holidays are fast approaching so the window cleaning needs to be finished before the candles go in, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. We have the Thanksgiving holidays coming and I need to count my blessings, not only today, but each and every day. Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

11/07/2016

It has been one thing and then another since the 3rd week of October. Here's a recap of our life here since my last post...

After Sandie passed away, David was sick and home from work for 3 days, then the cat was sick and at the vet to the tune of nearly 200.00 which was NOT needed right now.. I had to go in for a CT screening for my lungs and trying to discern the terminology on the My Chart thingey....well, I see the doctor next Monday for him to explain it all. Googling word by word, it appears my lungs have no masses but one node the radiologist called "likely a granuloma". Kidney stones, coronary artery disease and on and on. I just hope I get over this cold to live out my last days feeling better.....LOLOL Then my back went out and is still out and now, to make things ever more challenging, I have a nasty cold!! Ben slipped his collar when the chickens were free ranging and we were chasing him all over creation as he was having great fun chasing the girls. I nearly fainted because I cannot breathe when I'm well.....much less when I am sick. They managed to survive his shenanagans, without physical injury anyway. I did manage to get the coop half cleaned and plenty of straw to keep them warm. Honey helped me clean some of the windows after the power washer was finished and the house looks bright white again. I finished painting the swing and both porch rockers and the lantern and the 48" barn star that hangs on the side porch. About a week ago Honey noticed suspicious activity on one of the hives and he did everything he could to prevent the robbing by rogue bees of this hive. He was unsuccessful and they killed the bees and robbed all the honey stores they had for the winter. It is such a loss to lose a hive. We do everything within our power to see they survive, but failed with this hive. It is so sad to see. This past year was horrific for all the beekeepers, mostly weather related and to lose a hive you have been feeding to help them along just makes you sick inside. Like all our animals on the farm, you do the best you can and that's all you can do.
Today was Potato soup day and I just finished a bowl, thinking I could get enough energy to clean a couple more windows.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,a nap is sounding better every minute. Take care everyone and don't forget to vote tomorrow!!

10/24/2016

Honey and I are very sad for the loss of my cousin Sandie. She and I were childhood buddies, only 4 months apart. She and Honey were so much alike in many ways.....their sense of humor when we were together kept me laughing so hard I could not catch my breath. She was talented in so many ways, gardening, cooking, she was an accomplished rider and loved her horses, dogs, cats, and chickens. She was a dedicated owner of the local hair salon, making people "cute" as she used to say. She was a wonderful wife to her husband Jan, mother to Carmen and had beautiful grandchildren whom she adored. The rest of the cousins, Amy, Kay, Jill, Jamie, Pat and myself will miss her constant smile and laugh. This woman was amazing and she never stopped, living life each day overflowing. As kids, she was the "pioneer", always jumping in the deep end first, coaxing the rest of us to join in the fun! She missed her mom, dad, and brother who all passed before her and now is reunited with them. God speed, you amazing woman. Until we meet again.........

10/21/2016

A bushel of apples coming in tomorrow. I think apple sauce is in my future! The girls are looking so sad, losing feathers all over the place but this is the natural process and extra protein is the order of the day to speed up the process. We had two HAWKS scoping the back yard yesterday, so the girls immediately went into the pen. I let the dogs out so hopefully that will discourage them. They are vigilant and carelessness would result in tragedy. The local Ruritan Club is having their annual apple sale, Krispy Kreme Donuts and other goodies. Please come out and support their good work in our community! Happy Friday, my FB friends!

10/17/2016

What gorgeous fall weather!! Trying to get the house clean so I can focus on a couple of painting projects. The girls are only giving me about 2 eggs per day. The three oldest hens are slowing down as expected, but molting is in full swing and all the feathers strewn everywhere looks like I could go into the feather pillow business!! the new girls are the ones laying and are not molting at the moment, so hopefully they will keep laying. Ben, our newest canine addition is learning the ropes here and is 99% housebroken already. His only accident in a week as been on Gracie's wee wee pad so I can't really fault him for that. He is such a big, strong puppy and he wants desperately to play with her and Molly, but Gracie is just too little. Molly is warming up, but until Ben is neutered, he is too "interested". I know they will be best friends once that is over. Honey worked the asparagus beds this weekend and we STILL HAVE ASPARAGUS COMING IN!! Once the dead fronds were cut, there were stalks ready to pick. My being in FL during the growing season, we didn't harvest like normal. Next year, we will have PLENTY for sale. Enjoy your Monday everyone!

09/29/2016

Elizabeth 's feet are healed but we still have her separated from the flock for a period each day to dispose of her eggs until we are sure all antibiotics are out of her system. She is not laying at the moment and neither are many of our girls. Virginia Gayle is going to be bald I do believe. She looks so uncomfortable but as the days get shorter, feathers litter our yard as most of my girls are molting.

David and I have a stray lab that has chosen to stay while we search for the owner. After having this delightful animal in our care for the last few days, there has been no response from our posts, phone calls etc. Our vet checked for a micro chip and found none. We have fallen in love but know someone still may come forward so we wait.......

Our honeybees are grumpy from all the wet weather and we are feeding most of the hives to help their stores for winter. Sugar syrup will be put on again today, few eggs collected, dog bedding washed, nails cut, Gracie has been brushed and her hair put back up and I desperately need to reorganize some closets here after decorating the house for fall. My desk is a mess with bills, recipes I cannot help but print out, coupons and such. It is a good day to light a fall scented candle and tackle a few of these tasks.

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Amelia Court
House, VA
23002

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