Connell’s Freedom Farms

06/05/2026

No two honeybee cutouts are ever the same… and it seems like every removal brings a new challenge. 🐝

What surprises most people is that honeybee removals are rarely as simple as the quick videos you see online. Those one-minute reels don’t show the planning, investigation, patience, and hours of work that happen behind the scenes.

Our process typically looks like this:

🐝 Step One: Identification
When we receive a call, we usually ask for pictures or videos of the insects and their entry point. While we handle most stinging insects, the process for honeybees is very different than it is for yellow jackets, hornets, or wasps.

🐝 Step Two: Assessment
We schedule an assessment appointment. Pictures are helpful, but Eric uses his years of building experience to determine the least invasive way to access the colony. The goal is always to locate the bees, remove the colony, and minimize disruption to your home or structure.

🐝 Step Three: Scheduling
Once we understand what we’re dealing with, we schedule either a relocation date for honeybees or a treatment date for yellow jackets, hornets, or wasps.

🐝 Step Four: Removal Day
This is where the real work begins.

We arrive and stage our equipment before carefully locating the colony. We use infrared technology to look for heat signatures and small inspection cameras to help identify where the bees are hiding.

Sometimes they cooperate.

Sometimes they don’t. 😅

Honeybees are incredibly industrious, and they don’t always build where you expect.

Once located, we use a bee-safe vacuum to gently remove as many bees as possible. This helps protect the colony, reduces scattering, and gives us the best chance of safely relocating the queen.

With the bees temporarily secured, we begin removing the comb. Depending on the colony, that can include honey stores, brood comb, pollen, and fresh wax.

One of our favorite parts of the process is when we find clean honey that can be safely harvested. There is nothing quite like handing a homeowner honey that came directly from the colony living inside their own home.

After the comb is removed, we assess the situation and develop a plan for closure.

In many cases, we temporarily weatherproof the opening and allow 24-48 hours for returning foragers and stragglers to regroup. Other times, we can immediately seal the space, fill voids with insulation, and close up any entry points.

We then return one final time to collect any remaining bees that have gathered together looking for their queen and colony. Those bees are reunited with their hive and relocated to our apiary.

Our goal is simple:

To leave your home looking as though neither we nor the bees were ever there.

Most removals involve three visits and can easily require 8-15+ hours of work from start to finish.

It’s a methodical process, but it’s one that allows us to safely relocate honeybees while helping homeowners reclaim their space.

And honestly? That’s what makes this work so rewarding. ❤️🐝

06/05/2026

We are absolutely loving this beautiful weather that has finally arrived! ☀️🐝

Of course, warmer weather also means bee season is officially here. Around our house, that means if we’re not out doing construction estimate appointments, there’s a good chance we’re working with bees… either our own or someone else’s.

This was our first swarm call of the season, and honestly, these are some of our favorite calls to get.

A swarm is simply a colony on the move, searching for a new place to call home. In this case, they had already started building a little bit of comb in the tree while deciding on their next destination. With a little shake-shake, they made their way into their temporary home and are now safely headed to the apiary.

Swarm season is one of the best opportunities to help our honeybee population. While many swarms will eventually move on, that usually means moving into the location they’ve selected as their new home. Unfortunately, that often ends up being inside someone’s house, barn, shed, or other structure, which can turn a simple swarm into a much more complicated removal later on.

So if you see a ball of bees hanging from a tree branch this season, don’t panic! They’re typically very gentle while swarming and are just looking for a place to settle.

Give your local beekeeper a call instead. 🐝

We proudly serve Horseheads, Elmira, Corning, Watkins Glen, and many of the surrounding communities.

05/26/2026

Not every honeybee rescue ends with a booming colony.

This one turned out to be a colony that had successfully overwintered with their queen, but appears to have lost her unexpectedly several weeks ago. Based on the lack of pheromone change and zero brood present, the workers had not yet fully transitioned. Normally in Spring we’d expect to see heavy brood production, but instead this colony had 40+ lbs of stored honey (capped and uncapped) and no developing bees at all.

The good news?
No honey was left behind.
The structure void was fully sealed.
The homeowner gets to carry on with a bee-free home.
And the remaining workers were safely relocated and combined into one of our existing colonies in the apiary. 🐝

05/17/2026

A little bee yard work this morning. 🐝

Replaced a couple failing queens, added a couple new NUCs from Draper’s, and knocked out some quick hive inspections before heading off to a honeybee rescue call… all before noon.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning around here.

How’s your Sunday fun day going? ☀️🍯

05/14/2026

Just a little reminder ❤️🐝❤️

Removal of swarms (like pictured) is free of charge.

🐝 Honeybee Swarm Season is Here 🐝

If you see what looks like a cloud of bees fill the sky and then gather on a tree branch, fence post, or even your home… take a breath. It is called a swarm, and it is a completely natural part of their lifecycle.

Here is the important part:
👉 Swarms are typically not aggressive.
They are simply traveling. Their colony has already decided on a new home, and they are stopping temporarily to rest while scout bees finalize the move.

They may look intense, and yes they can fill the sky, but they are focused on protecting their queen, not bothering you.

What should you do?
• Do not spray or disturb them
• Keep a safe distance
• Give us a call or send a text

This is actually the best time to safely relocate them before they move into a structure, which is when removal becomes more invasive and costly.

We will come out, assess the situation, and relocate them to a safe spot where they can continue doing what they do best 🌼 (swarms, like pictured, are free of charge to relocate)

📍 Connell’s Freedom Farms
📱 607-846-0221 (text friendly)
📍 Horseheads based, serving the surrounding area

Saving bees, protecting homes, and doing it the right way 🐝

05/10/2026

Restock day in the apothecary 🌿

Fresh batches of:

• Turmeric + Bromelain
• Turmeric
• Mullein
• Ghost Pipe Tincture

are officially bottled and almost ready to go.

Just waiting on sealing and labels before they head out the door.

If you’ve been waiting for a restock, now’s the time to reach out before they disappear again ✨

05/04/2026

🐝 Honeybee Swarm Season is Here 🐝

If you see what looks like a cloud of bees fill the sky and then gather on a tree branch, fence post, or even your home… take a breath. It is called a swarm, and it is a completely natural part of their lifecycle.

Here is the important part:
👉 Swarms are typically not aggressive.
They are simply traveling. Their colony has already decided on a new home, and they are stopping temporarily to rest while scout bees finalize the move.

They may look intense, and yes they can fill the sky, but they are focused on protecting their queen, not bothering you.

What should you do?
• Do not spray or disturb them
• Keep a safe distance
• Give us a call or send a text

This is actually the best time to safely relocate them before they move into a structure, which is when removal becomes more invasive and costly.

We will come out, assess the situation, and relocate them to a safe spot where they can continue doing what they do best 🌼 (swarms, like pictured, are free of charge to relocate)

📍 Connell’s Freedom Farms
📱 607-846-0221 (text friendly)
📍 Horseheads based, serving the surrounding area

Saving bees, protecting homes, and doing it the right way 🐝

04/28/2026

We love a good cup of coffee in this house… but I’ll be honest, for a long time that meant grabbing whatever sounded decent off the shelf at TJ Maxx or even Ollie’s.

Not because we didn’t care… but because it’s hard to justify spending more when you’re not always sure what you’re getting. And with everything you hear about what can end up in coffee… it makes you think twice.

But we are absolute suckers for quality, handcrafted products.

Because we live it.

Whether it’s remodeling a home, raising chickens for clean eggs, harvesting local honey, or making small batch tinctures and extracts… we know what goes into doing things the right way. The time, the care, the long days that don’t always show up in the final price.

Small business isn’t easy. And the ones doing it right deserve to be supported.

So when I met the guy behind Smokin Butcher Coffee and tried a cup Massi's Gardens and Landscaping Spring Fling…

That was it.

Hooked.

Highland Lucy was the clear winner in our house (I almost didn’t try it… mistake avoided), with the Vanilla right behind it. We went through that first bag in about a week, and suddenly that TJ Maxx coffee just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

And then this showed up at the door…

A simple box… but if you know, you know.

“Opening this package will cause extreme happiness” might be the most accurate label I’ve seen in a while.

Between work, kids, animals, and everything else, our days run long… and having something this good to start the morning or push through the afternoon just hits different.

The branding is spot on, the packaging is clean, and the product inside actually backs it all up. No shortcuts. No fluff. Just really good coffee made by someone who cares.

If you’re going to spend the money anyway… spend it with someone who’s putting intention into what they’re creating.

Highland Lucy and Vanilla are staying stocked in this house.

Support small. Drink better coffee☕️

If you’re local, you can grab it at Linny’s Cinnys… and it’s worth the stop. If your schedule looks anything like ours and getting there feels impossible, you can order it online (they even offer sampler packs if you want to try a few first).