When Kristie and Scotty Hinds started raising bees, it was just to have fresh honey. Eight years later, they’re selling it to others as Lilybee Farm and teaching people about beekeeping.
“We started in about 2017 with just a few hives, and we really didn’t have any intention of growing,” Kristie Hinds said. “When COVID hit, we retired from training horses and our beehives just started to multiply and we just kind of fell in love.”
The Hindses began with three hives and now care for 40, she said. Lilybee Farms is self-sustaining and doesn’t purchase bees. They’re also not migratory beekeepers – the bees remain on their property near Oxford.
“We just liked honey,” she said. “I wasn’t really a bug person, we just wanted to have our own bees to have honey for ourselves. I had no idea I would fall in love with the honeybees.”
Hinds said the farm starts harvesting honey in June, and the honey changes in color and flavor over the summer as the bees’ sources of nectar change. Early in the summer, the honey is typically lighter and higher in sugar, resulting in a sweeter honey. Later in the season, the honey is darker, less sweet and has a deeper flavor.
“They provide us with some really nice honey,” she said.
Lilybee Farm’s honey is available at the Bayfield and Durango farmers markets and on the farm’s website, lilybeefarm.com.
In addition to raising her own bees, Kristie Hinds is the president of the 4 Corners Beekeepers Association, which people new to beekeeping get started. She said the organization has a mentorship program, classes and monthly meetings. More information about the group can be found at 4cornersbeekeepers.com.
“We really try to help everybody to have healthy bees,” she said.
ngonzales@durangoherald.com
