ABOUT

About Me

        We can learn a remarkable amount from honey bees as they are one of the most important species on the planet. When you think of one honey bee, you might think they are too small to make a difference; however, one bee can pollinate 5,000 flowers a day. That's the most important thing I learned over my five years of keeping honey bees, as maybe I could make a difference in helping the planet.

         Hello, all you honey and bee lovers! My name is Nathan Halsey and I 'm the CEO and beekeeper behind Halsey's Hives. My hives currently are located in the Chapel Hill/Durham, North Carolina area. As a first-generation beekeeper, I started my journey learning from YouTube videos and amazing mentors across the state. The big challenge starting out was that I lived in an urban area, which beekeeping wasn't allowed in. But that would not deter me. I wrote letters and left them in mailboxes around my town, asking if anyone would allow me to host hives on their land. Thankfully, during high school, a generous local farmer stepped up and became my first hive host.

  Over the years, my passion has only grown. I started with one hive in 2019, expanded to six each in 2020 and 2021, and grew to ten hives in 2022. Currently, I have five hives, which I’ve found to be the perfect number for maintaining efficiency and ensuring their health. This balance allows me to dedicate the time and care needed for each hive while maximizing productivity and sustainability. Each year, I learned more about these incredible creatures-from the hierarchy within a hive to their amazing teamwork and problem-solving skills. An interesting fact is honey bees will also do a sort of "waggle dance" to communicate with other bees the exact location of flower sources.

  Coming into college at UNC-Chapel Hill, I was determined to bring my passion in beekeeping with me. Transitioning my hives to this area has been a really exciting journey, and I'm proud to continue to grow Halsey's Hives while contributing to local ecosystems. Chapel Hill has been the perfect home for my bees, and I am so excited to share my passion for beekeeping with the surrounding community.

        However I have also learned about some negative aspects of keeping bees. Climate change and the weather have changed my habits of keeping bees; unfortunately, every year, it is harder for me to keep them alive. I have paid so much attention to the weather because if it didn’t rain or if it was exceptionally hot for extended periods, the bees would suffer. Let me tell you something though, when they were irritable from drought or heat, it wasn’t just one bee that was angry; it was the whole hive. That would come with a lot of stings when I inspected them. On the other hand, watching them suffer often made my heart sink and made me even more passionate about saving the environment. These honey bees work together to make the impossible, possible and now it's our time to do the same for our planet.

      Thank you for your interest in Halsey's Hives and hope you get to try some local raw honey. These honey bees work together to make the impossible, possible and now it's our time to do the same for our planet.

My Honey

      Halsey's Hives honey is local to the Chapel Hill/Durham area in which the bees gather nectar 3 to 5 miles from their hive. Some flowers that you might taste is clover, apple/peach blossom, milkweed, tulip poplar, oak, dandelion, wild blackberry, black locust, and others. If you see a flowering weed in your yard especially dandelion, don't spray the weed with an herbicide as it could harm my bees. Did you know that when bees make honey it could be mixed with pollen, propolis (bee glue they make from tree sap) and lots of antioxidants.

My Beekeeping Certification

        In the summer of 2020, I took the coursework and practical exam to become a NC Certified Beekeeper.  I really enjoyed learning all the new techniques and information from the classes and meeting other beekeepers in the area as well.