Gooserock Farm

Description

The farm is run by Master Beekeeper Landi Simone, who maintains apiaries (bee yards) here and at various locations in the Montville-Boonton area of Morris County. Husband Paul, owner of Vienna Piano Company of Hackettstown, NJ, sometimes helps move bees, and lends woodworking/finishing expertise. Daughter Kira, now in college, but a past NJ Honey Princess, provides honey tasting services between studying to be sure our products remain top quality! And son Adrian - always willing to lend a hand with anything that needs doing, if he's home - helps keep his family and the rest of the country secure by serving in the US Marine Corps. On August 24, 2011, our son Adrian was seriously wounded by a Taliban-planted IED while on tour in Afghanistan. As a result, he lost both legs above the knee. Our family has had a rough year but some of the burdens have been eased by the Semper Fi Fund, an organization dedicated to helping Marines and their families. Please consider making a donation to Semper Fi. You can read more about them and about Adrian's progress on the "Semper Fi" link to the left. Over the years, the farm has enjoyed help from non-family members who have become like family to us.

Honey bees have been all the buzz lately. The huge losses sustained by beekeepers all over the country and the still-unsolved mystery of the disappearing bees have brought these hard-working insects and their keepers to everyone’s attention. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), devastating as it is, has actually done some good. It has made people aware of the fact that their food supply depends on an insect, and that that insect is embattled. Nowadays, when I tell people I keep bees, the first question I’m asked is no longer, “Aren’t you afraid of being stung?” It’s “Are your bees okay?” And that’s a huge improvement! Apis mellifera, the western honey bee, has actually been in serious trouble for over twenty years. The accidental importation into this country of two species of parasitic mites, the tracheal mite and the varroa mite, has changed the face of beekeeping not only in the United States, but also in many parts of the world. The varroa mite, aptly named Varroa destructor, is by far the deadliest of these parasites. Imagine a tick the size of a dinner plate on your back and you have an idea of what the bee suffers.

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