Apiary

What you ask is an Apiary? Tic.. Toc.. Tic..Toc.. give up? It's a honey bee business. Back in the 1930's Willie Clyde Blankenship (Wayne's grandfather) brought his family (Wayne's dad included who was 12 at the time) from Mississippi to Lena, SC and worked in this building extracting honey they had gathered. They processed honey under the name Stove's Apiary. They would travel from Minnesota to Florida taking bees and beehives. The taste of the honey would vary depending on what was blooming, clover, orange trees, and even sourweed.

The building is right on Highway 3 just outside of Estill, SC.

In the 50's they moved the business to Hampton, SC and produced honey under the name of Carolina Honey. When Wayne was little he helped put the lables on the jars.

I had to pick Wayne's mom brain for some of this information. She said she probably still had some of the old "stuff" from the Carolina Honey Co. around some where so maybe I will get some photos of those things.

I love to find out things about our families, and I ask a lot of questions, but how else will we know? I've waited to long to ask some questions.

Well, that's it for today. I hope to have some more Buzzing news to report later.

This is such a good way to preserve our family history.