Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Bee Basics 101
I love beekeeping. What a fascinating hobby! If you have any interest at all in beekeeping, I urge you to contact your local beekeeping club (call your extension office if you are not sure how to find it) and see if they have a mentor program. Tell them you want to shadow someone for a while so you can see what you really think about beekeeping. Starting beekeeping can be quite intimidating if you have absolutely no idea of what is involved. Since I was "that person" (the one who just jumped in, no questions asked), I have learned by the school of hard knocks. I really don't want YOU to do that. You may attempt it, fail, and thus give up on something that, done differently, you would still enjoy years later. So I started a mentoring program of sorts at our local library. Just a very casual Q & A, sit-and-chat meeting. I hope to address those burning questions that many beginners have. And since there are beginners world-wide, I recently started an online Facebook page for beginning beekeepers - BeeBasics101. It's a new Facebook page, so it's dying for your input. ;) Pop in and see what you think!
Maybe you can force an issue...
 |
| Anxiously awaiting forced crocus blooms. |
My husband is always telling me,
"You can't force the issue."
I think I'll prove him wrong. I'm going to hybridize a new flower bulb and name it "The Issue."
Monday, January 13, 2014
Staving Off Starvation
We had had a week of some pretty nasty weather. Icy, windy, sleety, rainy. Near zero temperatures, an all-around nasty week.
When I wrote this, it was 39 out at 8:00 a.m. Not bad weather for you and me, but honey bees tend to stay bundled up and inside at that temp. The high was forecast to be 57. And sunny! That meant the bees would surely be out. Though I knew it was a little early for them, I had peeked out to see if there were any brave ones by the feeding bowl. Not yet. I would be leaving shortly to go to work, but I was waiting, with baited breath so to speak, to see if a girl might arrive before I left. Four years into beekeeping and I still am almost as excited by my bees as the very first day I became a beekeeper.
In these parts, in the winter, when it's going to be warm enough for bees to fly, bees can expend a lot of energy looking for nectar that simply isn't there. So I put out barely-moistened sugar for them to eat. Just like those who put out food for humming birds, I set out sugar for the bees. Many bees starve in the winter, for various reasons. This is my way of helping to stave off that starvation.
I did get lucky before I headed to work that morning. Two girls donned a bee coat at 41 degrees to sup some almost-nectar. It is now my day off, another warm day, and they are coming like crazy. A very welcome sight.
When I wrote this, it was 39 out at 8:00 a.m. Not bad weather for you and me, but honey bees tend to stay bundled up and inside at that temp. The high was forecast to be 57. And sunny! That meant the bees would surely be out. Though I knew it was a little early for them, I had peeked out to see if there were any brave ones by the feeding bowl. Not yet. I would be leaving shortly to go to work, but I was waiting, with baited breath so to speak, to see if a girl might arrive before I left. Four years into beekeeping and I still am almost as excited by my bees as the very first day I became a beekeeper.
In these parts, in the winter, when it's going to be warm enough for bees to fly, bees can expend a lot of energy looking for nectar that simply isn't there. So I put out barely-moistened sugar for them to eat. Just like those who put out food for humming birds, I set out sugar for the bees. Many bees starve in the winter, for various reasons. This is my way of helping to stave off that starvation.
I did get lucky before I headed to work that morning. Two girls donned a bee coat at 41 degrees to sup some almost-nectar. It is now my day off, another warm day, and they are coming like crazy. A very welcome sight.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Pure isn't pure. Thank you FDA.
I'm a bit of a purity nut. I never used margarine because butter is pure and natural. (Yes, I can be a contradiction here too, however, so don't call me on it when you see it!) I like my brulee plain, and my martinis old-school – rarely dirty and never gussied up.
I decided to make vanilla extract last month. Fairly easy to do. Here is a great place to get your beans, and there are recipes there also. Very simple. About 5 beans to 8 ounces of vodka. Then just time.
My extract had been marinating about five weeks, so I popped the top and tasted it. Hmmm. Tastes like alcohol. No surprise there, I guess. For years, people have been known to drink extract for its alcohol content. So I opened a vanilla extract I had in my cupboard. It tasted more vanilla-y; sweeter. I wondered why. Mine had been soaking plenty long enough. Two weeks is often suggested, but I wanted to go the extra mile and waited a very long five weeks. I contacted Beanilla and this is the (very helpful) response I received.
The flavor comes out of the extract during the baking process. At this time, the heat evaporates the alcohol from the extract, leaving behind a rich vanilla flavor.
Store bought alcohol often contains artificial additives or sweeteners, which will definitely mask the flavor of alcohol if you are sipping from the bottle.
Additives?! To vanilla extract? It never occurred to me. So I pulled it out and sure enough, it had glucose syrup added. Sugar! But the label said “Pure Vanilla.” I pulled out my other bottle of vanilla. It said “100% Pure.” Another taste test ensued. The “100% Pure” bottle tasted just like mine, alcohol-y.
I might not ever have thought twice about the difference between pure and 100% pure, had I not wondered how companies like Fisher can sell “pure” honey when I knew good and well it was NOT pure. I did a little research about honey and found that for an item to be considered “pure” by the FDA, it need only contain 51% of the named ingredient. Fifty-One Percent. If it is labeled 100% pure, we are to know that nothing has been added.
Now, doesn’t this just chap your hide? Pure isn’t pure.
LESSON: Look for 100% pure when it matters.
The rest is just smoke and mirrors.
I decided to make vanilla extract last month. Fairly easy to do. Here is a great place to get your beans, and there are recipes there also. Very simple. About 5 beans to 8 ounces of vodka. Then just time.
My extract had been marinating about five weeks, so I popped the top and tasted it. Hmmm. Tastes like alcohol. No surprise there, I guess. For years, people have been known to drink extract for its alcohol content. So I opened a vanilla extract I had in my cupboard. It tasted more vanilla-y; sweeter. I wondered why. Mine had been soaking plenty long enough. Two weeks is often suggested, but I wanted to go the extra mile and waited a very long five weeks. I contacted Beanilla and this is the (very helpful) response I received.
The flavor comes out of the extract during the baking process. At this time, the heat evaporates the alcohol from the extract, leaving behind a rich vanilla flavor.
Store bought alcohol often contains artificial additives or sweeteners, which will definitely mask the flavor of alcohol if you are sipping from the bottle.
Additives?! To vanilla extract? It never occurred to me. So I pulled it out and sure enough, it had glucose syrup added. Sugar! But the label said “Pure Vanilla.” I pulled out my other bottle of vanilla. It said “100% Pure.” Another taste test ensued. The “100% Pure” bottle tasted just like mine, alcohol-y.
I might not ever have thought twice about the difference between pure and 100% pure, had I not wondered how companies like Fisher can sell “pure” honey when I knew good and well it was NOT pure. I did a little research about honey and found that for an item to be considered “pure” by the FDA, it need only contain 51% of the named ingredient. Fifty-One Percent. If it is labeled 100% pure, we are to know that nothing has been added.
Now, doesn’t this just chap your hide? Pure isn’t pure.
LESSON: Look for 100% pure when it matters.
The rest is just smoke and mirrors.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Polar bees?
It was mighty cold out, 12 degrees when I woke up this morning; the windchill hovering at zero. I feared for my bee girls and was anxious to check on them. I keep a stethoscope on hand for just such occasions. I dug it out of my beekeeping equipment, donned it and a multitude of other winter wear, and headed to check my five hives. With much trepidation, I place the stethoscope in the upper middle of a hive box, guessing at where I figured the cluster might be. I heard a hum – or so I thought. I moved the stethoscope to another location, same hum. I just couldn’t be sure, a good scope picks up a lot of background noise. I planted my feet and stood very quietly so I wouldn’t crunch any of the surrounding leaves. I gave the hive a stiff rap. Wrrrr! Bees! My little heart went pitty pat. They survived the night. I checked all five hives and can say with certainty that 4 are humming along. At least today. They aren’t out of the woods for another 3 months, but this was certainly a test they passed. As to my fifth hive, I just can’t be certain. I may have placed the scope on the wrong spots. Maybe it’s a smaller cluster. I won’t know till it warms enough for them to fly. That looks like Thursday. And then I will know for sure. In the meantime, my heart is lighter knowing possibly all survived some bitter cold winds and temperatures. And for this keep, that’s some mighty good news.