Our bees were our first “livestock” to arrive on the ranch in 2017. We had kept bees previously in Leander, and knew it was something we wanted to pursue again. We started our hives from nucs. A nuc consists of several frames of brood and honey, a queen, and a small hive of worker bees. 2017 was a rough year for beekeepers across the state, so we weren’t surprised that our bees weren’t able to produce enough honey for us to harvest that first year. They did do well enough to get through the winter, and we plan to harvest our first honey this summer.