like any other blog..

In each blog's lifetime, there is a lull. Some blogs never recover from this lull, and I'm not making any promises.

But since it's been like 4 months, I'll just give you a summary of bee-related events here at the "farm."


-Housepainting-- lookout bees!

House painters aren't really keen on bee hives, or bee clouds getting between them and their job. So we had to plug the hives, move the hives, and tarp the hives, so the painters could paint.

Most of that was pretty easy. I mean, it involved some serious deep squats that I didn't think I could rise up out of while carrying thousands of bees trapped in a pine box, but here I am, I made it.

The most dramatic part wasn't within the plug-move-tarp sequence. It was only after we de-tarped and moved the hives back in place that I had my most fearful beekeeping moment.
I had to unplug the hives of bees, at night [read: in moonless darkness] and wearing nothing but a t shirt and jeans.
I didn't have to get too near the hives to hear them all vibrating loudly, when otherwise they would have been peacefully resting.
I interpreted this to mean "whoever plugged us up in here for 2 days will PAY for their actions!!"
It freaked me out, so I got some ribbon and looped it around the wooden plugs and walked far back and pulled the ribbon(!)
It snapped. I panicked. I sprinted toward the hives, yanked the plugs and fled into the house like a pansy.
I'm pretty sure a cloud of bees did NOT pour out looking to attack me, but nevertheless I was safe.


-Mucho Honey

Before we did the winter maintenance on the hives, we pulled out gallons and gallons of honey.
And Kevin's coworkers love it so much, it's all been sold.
Gallons have been sold. They feel strongly about local honey.
I think that whole exposé on illegally de-pollenated honey helped our market. Awesome sauce.


-Darn you Rosemary

I had a friend of mine tell me he disliked the "winter 2010" honey batch so much that he just tossed out his whole jar. (he's an apologetically blunt Epicurean) He said it was the strong rosemary/eucalyptus taste. All I could say was "sorry, that's what the bees like in Winter."
So I'm guessing we'll have more pine-sol honey the next time we harvest in January.

Darnit.