Hive Contest Winners

Thanks to everyone who voted in our contest!

Here are our lovely and talented winners! The photo and descriptions below are from Cary Haycox, the art teacher.

"The winners are left to right:

Anna Kalarski (pink card: 2nd place, #3, flower power)

Caitlyn McClain (yellow card: 3rd place, #5, hexagon)

Tori Fields (blue card: 1st place - #8, stripes)

 

The guys in back from left to right:

Cary Haycox (Visual Art Teacher)

Mr. Tommy Gunn (HA Headmaster)

and you know the big guy

 

Please let Mark know the honey was a huge success and everyone that tried it, really enjoyed it.  I let some students spoon some from my bottle and wound up going home with a third of it gone."

 

One idea Cary had for next year is giving students the option of painting one board, or working with a group to pain an entire super, as apparently some felt intimidated by so much space to fill. For our pilot project, I think the students did a beautiful job -- I couldn't be more pleased. Thanks, Cary, and HA students!

The number of supers on the front porch is dwindling, but our family's favorites will likely be the last to go out to the bee yards. I'm considering swiping one to put out by our driveway and turn it into a flower box, but I don't know if my husband would appreciate that!

Robbing the Bees, by Holley Bishop

Last night I finished a marvelous book that satisfied my longing to know more about bees and beekeeping history without reading a dry, musty old volume written in the 1800s. Bishop's book is very well-written, thoroughly researched, and fun. Thanks to Audrey for the recommendation!

You can read my review on my other blog, Keri Recommends.

Image from The Nibble.

A Swarm Makes a Home in Steens

A week ago tonight Mark and I drove to the home of some friends in Steens who had graciously allowed us to hang a swarm trap in their tree last year. When we arrived, Sol was mowing. Don had no idea we were coming or that there were bees in the trap, which made me feel much better about the state of communication in my marriage. ;-)

Retrieving the trap went smoothly, even when the lid started to fall off and Mark caught it with his ungloved hand. A couple of nights ago, Mark inspected the box and determined the bees were not making use of the frames above them but continuing to build in the trap, so he conducted a relocation project. He said they're very docile bees (they must take after Troy) and nice to work with after the Delta bees.

Photo highlights:

We put the entire trap inside 2 deep boxes for transport.

This swarm went to the back yard for now.

If you're a beekeeper and you're thinking about getting this type of trap, it's important to understand that they're not easy to use, in terms of getting bees and comb out once they've settled in. Mark will likely be making his own traps from now on.

Do pesticides impact pollen and bees?

On Friday, May the 4th, these two light saber- vacuum-wielding grad students came to Prairie Blossom Bee Farm to harvest some bees from our hives -- about 100 bees total. They set up a piece of screen to increase their chances of capturing bees before they slipped into the hive with their baskets full of pollen.

Nice bee vacuum!

I wonder how they found us?

Thanks, Harry & Angus! ;-)

 My understanding is that they are going to test the pollen our bees gather now, and then test again later in the summer, to check the pesticide load in the pollen.

I'm excited that MSU is conducting research on this important topic. Hopefully their findings will help bee colonies all over America thrive.

Honey snobs and fine dining establishments.

We recently celebrated the birthday of DeLois, Mark's mom, by traveling to Meridian and eating at the famous Weidmann's Restaurant, established in 1870. DeLois is a big fan of Prairie Blossom Bee Farm honey, so we bottled some of our new harvest and brought it with us.

Happy Birthday, DeLois! See the honey bottle, already being emptied?!

Without shame we asked for extra bread, and used our own honey on it. (Don't worry, we'll see her again in 2 weeks and will refill her bottle!)

I realized that we were like those people I used to see in California, those winemaker types who would bring their own wine to restaurants because their wine was better than anyone else's.

Look out, world, we've become honey snobs.

For those of you who wonder, on occasion, what we look like without bee suits on, here we are!

To my left is half of the charming Fred, who is half of the charming Fred and Olga, longtime friends of DeLois.

A Day in the Delta with Guy Ray

This is a happy man.

While safely ensconced in my air conditioned office at MSU, Mark and Robert drove to our Delta bee yard to inspect the bees and see if they could harvest honey.

To Mark's surprise, the bees in one hive had eaten an entire deep super of honey and the queen had filled it with eggs. Our guess is that after the tupelo trees are finished blooming and before the soybean and cotton blossoms begin, the bees don't have much to eat.

A solid brood pattern is welcome news! Well, except when you wanted to harvest the honey.

Also to Mark's surprise (but not to mine, in all honesty), he'd forgotten his boots.

He'd also forgotten the Delta bees are, well, mean.

Robert was amused I think, as evidenced from these photos.

Attempted fix #1: boot bands

Attempted fix #2: redneck boot bands (duct tape)

Mark's ankles were swollen from stings -- the bees were no more gentle than they had been the last time that I was there, and all but one of the hives had a successful queen. So Mark newspapered one of our recent swarms on top of it, since that queen had proven herself to be healthy.

When combining hives, spray sugar water on the newspaper to attract the bees and make it easier for them to chew through the paper.

 Guy got to wear one of the new ventilated jackets Mark bought recently, and I'm sure he was thankful he was better covered than the last visit!

Robert is a talented photographer, and got some awesome close shots of bees. It makes not being there easier on me. ;-)

Maybe he'll submit this to a magazine for publication -- I think it's fantastic!

Pre-Order Your Honey Now!

We've harvested our first round of honey, and will harvest from Steens next week. The honey is settling in the tank, and we'll bottle this weekend, most likely.

If you have not already contacted me about reserving a bottle of honey, please leave a comment here, post on our Facebook page, or email me.

Indicate the size jar you want -- 1-lb for $7.50 or 3-lb for $15.

Thank you for your continued support!