Golden Honeybees at Golden Stage

There are two honeybee hives on the inn’s grounds, but fear not, they will not bother you during your visit. Sixty thousand bees per hive, these steadfast workers devote their entire lives to the well-being of the community. Honeybees are responsible for one-fourth of the food we eat, and without the honeybee, some foods (like almonds) would simply go extinct.

Since 2006, Mike and Julie have had beehives. Coincidentally, the Vermont state insect is the honeybee. In 2011, their two hives produced 100 pounds of “Golden” honey (for sale in the gift shop). As innkeepers, it was fun to learn that Gilchrist & Soames carries a line of amenities called BeeKind — quality hair and skin products with minimized environmental impact and a portion of all sales is dedicated to research to protect the honeybee from its current crisis.

Honeybee Hive Tours (Available when 65 degrees F or warmer)

Available upon request, depending on weather and scheduling. No cost for tour with at least a two-night stay. Explore the magic of honeybees by looking inside a hive. (Full protective gear is provided.) An average beehive houses 60,000 bees. Learn about the Queen, her workers and drones and how they cooperate. It’s truly amazing. A full hive exploration takes about an hour.

Animals at the Inn

In addition to the honeybees, chickens and sheep live on inn grounds. Shayla is a rather elderly ewe whom we inherited from the former innkeepers. Feeling she was a bit lonely, we adopted two young lambs in July 2012 — Shadow and Athena. Visit our facebook page to see a video of the three sheep.

We currently have seven chickens of varying breeds (Aracuanas, Rhode IslandReds, Barred Rocks, and Golden Lace Wyandottes). As our chickens are part pets (part egg suppliers), they have names: Lily, Badger, Puck, Olivia, Skunk, Annie and Nipper. The hens used to be very free range, but we have unfortunately lost two chickens to the local fox. Now, they reside in a spacious coop and oversized outdoor pen. When we believe the threat of the fox has passed, they will have the luxury of roaming the grounds again.

Being Green is Golden!

We strive to pamper our guests while still honoring our commitment to sustainability, minimal waste, and overall sensitivity to the environmental impact of our practices. Our general habits include:

  • serving local food when feasible (our CSA is half mile from us);
  • participating in a (optional) Towel and Sheets Re-use program;
  • purchasing products and services as locally as we can;
  • using green cleaning products;
  • purchasing high-efficiency appliances;
  • offering BeeKind skin care and hair care amenities that have minimal additives, reduced packaging, and earmarked funds towards honeybee research;
  • donating leftover bars of soaps, minimizing landfill use and providing (disinfected) soap to those in need; and
  • recycling paper, plastics and metal, and providing our guests with the opportunity to do so, too.