A new bee pest!

Richard has a post on his blog about the discovery of a new pest that is causing harm to honey bee colonies. This insect may be one factor in the mysterious confluence of causes for Colony Collapse Disorder.

Reading about it, I'm reminded of the movie "Alien" -- isn't that the one where nasty things explode out of someone's stomach?  Same idea here, as the phorid fly lays eggs in a bee's abdomen. These flies are known to parasitize bumblebees, which have a more solitary, seasonal lifespan. Imagine the damage they could do to colonies of bees that live year-round!

The good news, at least for our bees, is that these flies have been observed in California and South Dakota. We'll hope they stay far away from Mississippi.

Plus, today the temperature is supposed to reach at least 70 degrees, so our bees can fly about and enjoy the warmer weather. Enjoy your weekend!

Image taken from a preschool site, which means it likely came from somewhere else ...

Happy New Year, Friends!

January 1st is a special day -- it's our anniversary. Today Mark and I are celebrating four years of married life! He's so handsome!

Yesterday I made a new batch of bee tea, as warmer weather has seen the bees out flying. In fact, on Friday, they were experiencing traffic problems at the entrances to the hives on Bee Hill to the point they appeared to be bearding! The entrance reducers may keep out mice, but on warm Mississippi winter days, they also keep out the bees. I'm happy to report that all of the hives on Bee Hill appear to be thriving so far this winter.

Porch bees with pitcher of tea and feeder, back view.

Mark lifts the cover off the bees across the road.

One brave bee near the hole in the feeder board.

Today, we put clean feeders on two hives -- the one on the porch that is a single deep super, and the one over at our neighbor's place. The feeder across the road was a science fair project -- badly crystallized sugar had completely blocked the area where the bees access the feed. The feeder was nearly full of unused bee tea, and caked over with sugar crystals and dead ants. Blech! Although I followed the recipe, for some reason this batch of bee tea didn't stay liquid as long as it should have. Hopefully the new batch will be used quickly by the bees so they can benefit from it.

Surprisingly, we saw two different types of wildflowers in bloom. I recognized the purple henbit, but not the yellow flower. One day I'll get a proper book and learn these things as I should. We're delighted there's something out there for the bees to forage on when they come out on warm days.

If you want honey, we have just a few small jars left.  Let me or Mark know and we'll get it to you. Thanks for your continued support and interest. We love sharing our honey and bee stories with you!

Honey is going, going ...

Almost gone. If you need Prairie Blossom Bee Farm honey for yourself or as a gift, we're down to the end of this year's harvest. Call Mark at 662-418-4422 to make arrangements.

Dr. Weil says . . . honey is healthier than sugar.

Nutrition & alternative health guru Dr. Andrew Weil has a brief post about the health benefits of honey. He brings up something I've never heard before: because of its stickiness, honey can be worse for your teeth than refined sugar.

Sweet as Can Bee Corn Maze

Mark is reading the latest issue of American Bee Journal. In it he found a photo of a corn maze at The Farmstead in Idaho. 

That looks like crazy fun!

Thanks, Loresco!

Thanks to Loresco and the Tatum family, Mark and I spent part of the weekend bottling, labeling, and packaging 168 one-pound bottles of honey for delivery to their clients and friends. This corporate holiday gift will be sent all over the U.S. and the world. 14 international shipments mean our honey is going far, far away.

We're excited our honey was such a hit with the Tatums that they wanted to share it with others. We appreciate Chip for his support. A special thanks to his fantastic assistant, Stephanie, who efficiently organized the various batches, printed all the labels, and provided such clear instructions.

Below I've included some photos of our heated bottling tank (it has a double wall to hold water that gets heated to the temperature we choose!) with its drip-less valve. Mark *loves* it. He bottled 150 pounds in no time!  It sits on a special, welded steel table capable of holding two tanks full of honey (300+ pounds a piece) which has a food-grade powder coat finish. Thanks to Paul Yeatman for the welding and True Grit for the powder coat.

Sugared honey is no  match for Bessie the Bottling Tank!

When we're finished with our Loresco order and one other corporate order, I'll have a good idea of how much honey we have left to sell for this year's harvest. Thank you to all of our customers for your continued support.

My favorite beekeeper.

Another take on the "Is it really honey?" controversy

National Public Radio says the blog post about honey being ultra-filtered to remove pollen in order to disguise the country of origin is suspicious. I wrote about it here.

Regardless of the reason to ban Chinese honey (undercutting American beekeepers with low prices or issues of contaminants), buying local honey is still better for you, in my humble opinion.

We're bottling the last of our harvest.  I'll let you know what we have when we get a final count!