Of Goats and Bees

My friend there is a wealth of information available to us on the Internet. No matter the subject it would seem, I for one am always looking up this or that and to be able to have information at your fingertips is a wonderful thing. The grand kids are visiting this week and I had time to sit at the computer and do some research on goats and beekeeping.

Bee Keeping
Dad and I decided that honey was liquid gold the last time we purchased it from the store! I always wanted to keep bees but one of our daughters was terribly allergic to them so we didn't attempt it in earlier days, but since this is going to be a farmstead it might be a good idea to have some honey on the shelf as well. We decided to start off with one hive and 6 supers (what they make their honey and keep the little ones in). We have decided to get most of our beekeeping supplies, IE smoker and tools off eBay to avoid high prices. As the honey becomes a money maker we can replace old tools then.

Goats
Wow these guys are easy keepers, certain varieties make wonderful milk. They are great at helping you battle back weeds and small brush and wherever you pin them will be fertile in the future. What a wonderful animal to have on the farm. They are delicious meat animals as well if you start to have a population problem.
I find them as domesticated as a dog. The kiddies love to feed them and pet them and many have very good dispositions, of course it depends how you treat them.
With goat milk I have made, cottage cheese, provolone,American white,milk for drinking, cream cheese and sour cream. Children who cannot drink cows milk often have no trouble at all drinking goats milk.
We will replenish the goats this summer just after the barn is completed and we look forward to all the benefits of raising goats and to the wonderful sweet honey.