Peter del Pino lives at Golden Acre and attends Fayetteville Manlius High School - Sophomore

Instagram: golden_acres_honey

In January 2021, I embarked on a new journey to become an apiarist. I was inspired to explore the world of beekeeping when my uncle introduced me to his favorite hobby; taking care of bees and harvesting honey. I spent many days listening to my uncle talk about his bees and the importance of raising them for both conservational and medicinal reasons.

I quickly enjoyed learning about the fascinating world of honeybees and had the desire to become knowledgeable about the techniques to manage a hive and grow multiple bee colonies.  After taking the winter months to expand my knowledge and research honeybees, I set out in the spring to cultivate a bee-friendly garden. This would allow my bees to have the opportunity to utilize simple open flowers in their surroundings to bring back pollen to their nearby hive and initiate the process of making local honey. On my property, I planted apple trees, blueberry bushes and flowering plants. My online search a few months later led me to connect with a very experienced beekeeper in the CNY area, Bob Faulkner, owner of Syracuse Honey. In June of 2022, I purchased my first two initial bee hives. Multiple conversations on the phone with Bob led me to the opportunity of having him as a mentor. Mr. Faulkner spent several hours in my Fayetteville home’s backyard teaching me about the life cycle of honey bees and various methods of keeping and maintaining a healthy hive. Throughout the summer of 2021, I spent many days job-shadowing with Bob and his assistant, Jennifer Bittner. We traveled all over central New York maintaining hives, learning how to treat for mites and how to split and expand colonies. 

My curiosity about the amazing world of bees soon led me to join a local beekeeping club. One very active club which provides the opportunity to gain beekeeper resources, support and advice from other passionate beekeepers in the area is the Syracuse Area Beekeepers Club. This group meets quarterly at the Fayetteville Free Library to discuss tips and tricks to benefit your hive through all seasons (especially the harsh winters we experience in CNY). The Syracuse Area Club also shares other beekeeping resources such as loaning material, equipment and books. 

Looking back, my proudest moment was a culmination of several months of preparation. 

On September 21, 2022, I opened my hive boxes and noticed the hives were ready to have the honey extracted. That morning was the beginning of a full day process which included extracting the honey, what I referred to as “liquid gold” and bottling it up in various sizes to sell in my Golden Acres community. I was so excited about how successful I was and how strong the hive was for my first season. This past fall I started my own small business, Golden Acres Honey and sold 3.5 gallons of honey! 

What started as a hobby has evolved into so much more. I see beekeeping as a peaceful activity that provides me some quality time to disconnect from any stress related problem of the day and to escape and spend time in nature. Beekeeping has also made me more aware of the importance of being part of a global initiative to save bees and our planet. 

My advice to anyone interested in exploring the area of honeybees and beekeeping is to get in touch with our local beekeeping club or a master beekeeper. Spend some time talking with them, suiting up and visiting their hives. HAPPY BEEKEEPING!