makin’ the goats Work

2023: the year of working smarter, not harder 😉 — use the goats to landscape the bee yard!

We recently started turning our goats out into the bee yard to manage the overgrowth. It gives the goats a fresh new space to graze, keeps the area “mowed” with minimal disturbance to the bees, and takes something off our weekly maintenance list. A win-win…win!

Honey bees are a great, honest reflection of the energy around them. Using loud equipment around the hives to landscape (understandably) puts the bees on edge. Bees on edge —> bees more likely to sting. Bees on edge frequently —> bees that become unpredictable, aggressive and/or difficult to work with. We appreciate our calm, happy hives, so we’re pleased to see everyone content with the new rotation!

You can tell a lot about how rough a keeper is with their bees based on the baseline behavior of their hives. Happy, healthy bees (+ most animals) are not aggressive unless given ample reason to be.

Y’all know we could talk about honey bees all day, so don’t be shy! Follow us @McIntoshFieldandFlower on instagram to follow along for farm chores and flowers galore.

Clips from around the farm showing the goats, bees, and the goats eating the tall grass in the bee yard.