Spinach nightmare . . I got to the market today and what did I see. A reporter in the parking lot just waiting to ask people about the spinach e-coli issue. I was a little worried about how it would be taken by the farmers in the market as well as the people who visit us. It was over before I even noticed. I looked around and they were gone. We obviously didn't have a big enough reaction to warrant their trip there.
Market went good today. I sold out of all the honey I brought to market by 11:30. My location was moved and I was worried that it would hurt me, but it seems to have worked the other way around. Today I realized that the market would be coming to and end soon, and to tell you the truth I really felt pretty sad about it. I'll miss the people I've gotten to know, and I have no idea, how I'll ever be able to sleep in on a Saturday morning. (Ok, maybe that's just a little too far of a stretch) But I really do mean I'll miss the other vendors as well as all of the people who come to the market to support it.
Bee update. It's raining and they are crabby. And I mean crabby. I headed out the the yard when I got home and I didn't see one smiling face. I can imagine they don't like the rain any more than I do. I did take some new photo's of the market and hopefully I can get them posted tomorrow.
I also have a ton of whipped honey to make. I'm going to try a batch of just regular to see how it turns out, but I think I've got to make around 12 batches which is over 208 jars. . . Then of course the labeling. Is it winter yet??????????????????????
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
A little update
Well it’s been a little while and I thought I better do a update.
The bees are getting ready for winter. I took the honey off a week or so ago and I’m checking to make sure that they each have about 100 lbs. of honey to get through the winter. I have a couple of hives that I’m keeping a close eye on. One of the hives got robbed out pretty bad and I ended up having to supplement feed them. When I tell most folks that they look at me like I’m crazy. Keeping bees is a responsibility that I don’t take likely. It was my mistake that caused them to get robbed out, so I have to fix it. Besides the hive that got robbed out I have two hives with weak colonies, I replaced the queens too late in the season I think, so they aren’t doing to great either.
What are my options? Well I could combine the two weak hives and hopefully they will all get along just fine. I’m supposed to have one queen and since I’ll have two I have the choice of killing one or letting the two of them fight it out. If you knew me you would already figure out that there is no way I could ever go squish a queen. It’s just not my nature, so instead I’ll put the two hives together with newspaper between them so they will gradually get to know each other and then when the queens meet up I’ll let them decide which one is going to rule the roost. Most beekeepers tell me that the strong queen will survive when you put two hives together. My luck it will just be the mean stubborn one instead of the great producing one that survives .
Remember the Market in Perrysburg Ohio that I was looking forward to. . well because I’m not a regular season vendor I was placed on the wrong side of the street. (Boy isn’t that the truth) Ok, there is no wrong or right side of any street, but there is a side that people shop on and a side that they don’t. Especially if there are only three vendors on one side and 40 vendors on the other side. Yes, we had Happy the Clown on our side, but even Happy wasn’t Happy when no one would cross the street to see us. So it was basically a dud of a night for me. I spent over two hours of driving time, an hour of setting up and tearing down time and five hours selling nothing time. While I don’t think I failed, I think this definitely will go down in the book as a learning experience. (My books is way full of those learning experiences) My favorite part as usual was the chance to visit with folks who either wish they had bees or actually have bees. It’s great to be able to ask questions from people who are much more experienced than me (And that’s just about everyone) but it’s also really great to tell people that beekeeping is a really great thing to do. So the people part of things was awesome the money part of things wasn’t great.
Thank goodness the Erie Street Market and Westside Market are both doing great for me.
An update on the shopping cart attached to my site. The shipping doesn’t work so if you contemplated ordering anything, email me first and I can send you the correct postage amount.
Oh I forgot to mention, I went to an auction where some bee equipment was being auctioned off and met a few very experienced (older than me) beekeepers and had a good time chatting back and forth with them. My husband can’t believe how I can just go up to people and talk about bees. Sometimes I think I embarrass him, but there is too much to learn not to ask questions from people when I meet them.
Till the next time. . .
The bees are getting ready for winter. I took the honey off a week or so ago and I’m checking to make sure that they each have about 100 lbs. of honey to get through the winter. I have a couple of hives that I’m keeping a close eye on. One of the hives got robbed out pretty bad and I ended up having to supplement feed them. When I tell most folks that they look at me like I’m crazy. Keeping bees is a responsibility that I don’t take likely. It was my mistake that caused them to get robbed out, so I have to fix it. Besides the hive that got robbed out I have two hives with weak colonies, I replaced the queens too late in the season I think, so they aren’t doing to great either.
What are my options? Well I could combine the two weak hives and hopefully they will all get along just fine. I’m supposed to have one queen and since I’ll have two I have the choice of killing one or letting the two of them fight it out. If you knew me you would already figure out that there is no way I could ever go squish a queen. It’s just not my nature, so instead I’ll put the two hives together with newspaper between them so they will gradually get to know each other and then when the queens meet up I’ll let them decide which one is going to rule the roost. Most beekeepers tell me that the strong queen will survive when you put two hives together. My luck it will just be the mean stubborn one instead of the great producing one that survives .
Remember the Market in Perrysburg Ohio that I was looking forward to. . well because I’m not a regular season vendor I was placed on the wrong side of the street. (Boy isn’t that the truth) Ok, there is no wrong or right side of any street, but there is a side that people shop on and a side that they don’t. Especially if there are only three vendors on one side and 40 vendors on the other side. Yes, we had Happy the Clown on our side, but even Happy wasn’t Happy when no one would cross the street to see us. So it was basically a dud of a night for me. I spent over two hours of driving time, an hour of setting up and tearing down time and five hours selling nothing time. While I don’t think I failed, I think this definitely will go down in the book as a learning experience. (My books is way full of those learning experiences) My favorite part as usual was the chance to visit with folks who either wish they had bees or actually have bees. It’s great to be able to ask questions from people who are much more experienced than me (And that’s just about everyone) but it’s also really great to tell people that beekeeping is a really great thing to do. So the people part of things was awesome the money part of things wasn’t great.
Thank goodness the Erie Street Market and Westside Market are both doing great for me.
An update on the shopping cart attached to my site. The shipping doesn’t work so if you contemplated ordering anything, email me first and I can send you the correct postage amount.
Oh I forgot to mention, I went to an auction where some bee equipment was being auctioned off and met a few very experienced (older than me) beekeepers and had a good time chatting back and forth with them. My husband can’t believe how I can just go up to people and talk about bees. Sometimes I think I embarrass him, but there is too much to learn not to ask questions from people when I meet them.
Till the next time. . .
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
New Market tomorrow
Well tomorrow I’m headed off to another new market. I keep hearing that the folks in Perrysburg, Ohio might like my products. Hopefully they will because I would really like to add another market to my schedule for next year.
For those of you who don’t go to market regularly it’s a really great experience. Not only for the shoppers but also the market folks. I work with bees and I work hard, I’m not saying that I don’t but I have to tell you knowing what I know now about traditional in the ground fruit and vegetable farmers will make me appreciate what they bring to my table a whole lot more.
Not only are they out way early in the morning at the crack of dawn, but they are also out in the environment no matter what the weather is like, Think about that folks. . .the next time it’s cold or rainy or muddy outside there are people working the ground to make sure that your veggies and fruits are in the market. They harvest their products, they clean up their products, and they bring them to the market way early in the morning just for us.
When you go to a store like Kroger’s or Meyers are you able to ask the person in the produce department just how fresh their product is? Do you think they really know? Or, try asking someone just exactly what type of variety the tomatoes are? How about recipes and the best way to prepare it. .
Well you get all that and a whole lot more at the market.
If I sound like I’m on a soapbox, well maybe I am. I’m surrounded by a whole lot of very hard working made in the USA Farmers and I realized today looking around that I never appreciated just what they do for us. Why is it that when you come to market and get an obviously superior product than what you get in the store that you expect to pay much less. Let’s think about this for just one moment.
1. You’re getting a very very fresh picked product. (Not something that was picked a week ago before it was ripe so that when they shipped it across country it would arrive to you ripe).
2. The person who grows it is the most knowledgeable person around about how to take care of it. Store it. Prepare it.
3. Tell me the last time you were willing to get out of bed at 4:00 a.m. on a Saturday, load a truck clear full of stuff head off to market, unload it, make it pretty (cause we all know it’s all about how it looks as well as how it tastes) and then stand in the market all day long till the market closes, pack up your stuff and head home.
4. Getting the opportunity to be exposed to so many different varieties of things is great. I myself have fallen deeply in love with a Candy Onion. I never knew that there was something called a Candy Onion. Now every time I’m in the market I make sure that people I know find out about Candy Onions. Why do I do it?
Because it’s a great market experience that I got a chance to experience and I really want someone else to experience it too!
5. And in general, they are a great bunch of people to be surrounded by. They work hard and they play hard, and they take their produce very very seriously.
So the next time you think the farmers market is not such a great way to spend some time, just drop on by because I know it’s something you will really enjoy.
Ok, I’m stepping down off the soapbox, and heading to bed. I’ve got to get up early enough to bottle and label honey.
Have a good day and hopefully I’ll see you in the market.
For those of you who don’t go to market regularly it’s a really great experience. Not only for the shoppers but also the market folks. I work with bees and I work hard, I’m not saying that I don’t but I have to tell you knowing what I know now about traditional in the ground fruit and vegetable farmers will make me appreciate what they bring to my table a whole lot more.
Not only are they out way early in the morning at the crack of dawn, but they are also out in the environment no matter what the weather is like, Think about that folks. . .the next time it’s cold or rainy or muddy outside there are people working the ground to make sure that your veggies and fruits are in the market. They harvest their products, they clean up their products, and they bring them to the market way early in the morning just for us.
When you go to a store like Kroger’s or Meyers are you able to ask the person in the produce department just how fresh their product is? Do you think they really know? Or, try asking someone just exactly what type of variety the tomatoes are? How about recipes and the best way to prepare it. .
Well you get all that and a whole lot more at the market.
If I sound like I’m on a soapbox, well maybe I am. I’m surrounded by a whole lot of very hard working made in the USA Farmers and I realized today looking around that I never appreciated just what they do for us. Why is it that when you come to market and get an obviously superior product than what you get in the store that you expect to pay much less. Let’s think about this for just one moment.
1. You’re getting a very very fresh picked product. (Not something that was picked a week ago before it was ripe so that when they shipped it across country it would arrive to you ripe).
2. The person who grows it is the most knowledgeable person around about how to take care of it. Store it. Prepare it.
3. Tell me the last time you were willing to get out of bed at 4:00 a.m. on a Saturday, load a truck clear full of stuff head off to market, unload it, make it pretty (cause we all know it’s all about how it looks as well as how it tastes) and then stand in the market all day long till the market closes, pack up your stuff and head home.
4. Getting the opportunity to be exposed to so many different varieties of things is great. I myself have fallen deeply in love with a Candy Onion. I never knew that there was something called a Candy Onion. Now every time I’m in the market I make sure that people I know find out about Candy Onions. Why do I do it?
Because it’s a great market experience that I got a chance to experience and I really want someone else to experience it too!
5. And in general, they are a great bunch of people to be surrounded by. They work hard and they play hard, and they take their produce very very seriously.
So the next time you think the farmers market is not such a great way to spend some time, just drop on by because I know it’s something you will really enjoy.
Ok, I’m stepping down off the soapbox, and heading to bed. I’ve got to get up early enough to bottle and label honey.
Have a good day and hopefully I’ll see you in the market.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Yippee Extraction is finished!!!!
I'm totally whipped, Jim and I have been busy extracting honey all week and although I know its great to have honey to extract after the first few days the excitement wears off and the sticky honey everywhere starts to make you want to scream.
I washed the floors in my kitchen 9 times last night and I'm still finding places where honey has dripped. Jim was heading up the stairs and called down to me "Honey, there is honey on the stairs." Grrrr.......One more place to clean.. . .
The honey is stored in covered buckets and our storage tank; today we have to deal with the wax cappings. Actually I forgot to mention, we put all the supers (honey boxes) out for the bees to clean and at this point it's probably not safe to go out to the bee yard. They go crazy when they find the wet honey. . . .But it’s the best way to get the boxes all cleaned up and ready for next year.
Can you imagine how they feel when they get a whiff of honey and when they follow their little noses? I'm sure they feel like they hit the lottery when they find a box all cut open with the leftover honey in it that we were not able to extract. Watching the bees all over the honey boxes reminds me of the shoppers on the outside of Wal-Mart for the day after Thanksgiving sale, just lined up forever and once they are in the stores they spread out and grab everything in sight. . .
So today I'm cleaning up equipment, making candles and cleaning wax getting it ready to go out to the solar extractor. Sound like fun. Oops and I forgot, I've got to bottle some honey so that I can take some to market. . . .
I washed the floors in my kitchen 9 times last night and I'm still finding places where honey has dripped. Jim was heading up the stairs and called down to me "Honey, there is honey on the stairs." Grrrr.......One more place to clean.. . .
The honey is stored in covered buckets and our storage tank; today we have to deal with the wax cappings. Actually I forgot to mention, we put all the supers (honey boxes) out for the bees to clean and at this point it's probably not safe to go out to the bee yard. They go crazy when they find the wet honey. . . .But it’s the best way to get the boxes all cleaned up and ready for next year.
Can you imagine how they feel when they get a whiff of honey and when they follow their little noses? I'm sure they feel like they hit the lottery when they find a box all cut open with the leftover honey in it that we were not able to extract. Watching the bees all over the honey boxes reminds me of the shoppers on the outside of Wal-Mart for the day after Thanksgiving sale, just lined up forever and once they are in the stores they spread out and grab everything in sight. . .
So today I'm cleaning up equipment, making candles and cleaning wax getting it ready to go out to the solar extractor. Sound like fun. Oops and I forgot, I've got to bottle some honey so that I can take some to market. . . .
Saturday, September 02, 2006
September has arrived
Yikes I have no idea where the time has gone. . .It's so hard trying to do it all. . .I've got to get out and pull supers off as soon as it stops raining. The days that I should have pulled them off I have been at market so I am way behind schedule. I never thought that I'd be so overwhelmed with everything but right about now I feel like I'm in a row boat with no oars.
I realize the most important thing at this point are the bees so I plan on spending the next three days out in the yard from morning till night. I hope that it stays dry. I have three hives that I'm really worried about. I finally had to bite the bullet and realized that one was gone. . . . so instead of four that I'm worried about, I'm back to three. What the heck, I'm thinking after I get a good look at them I'll give Uncle Ted a call and see if I've got the best plan laid out for them. I'm hoping that I'll be able to put two honey supers on one of them (the strongest) and get them through the winter. The other two I'm thinking I'll combine. When do you know that it's toooo late?
I have to say, I remember when I first started I foolishly thought that this beekeeping would be a piece of cake. Boy was I ever wrong. Do you ever get to the point that you feel like you know what you are doing? I try, and I ask for help but sometimes when you do something real stupid you think that maybe you shouldn't be doing the bee thing. Then the you look out over the bee yard and see them flying in the air and you think. . . Ok, maybe if I try a little harder. It's hard to explain how it gets under your skin and you find that you think about it constantly, and you seem to be a magnet for anyone who had ever wanted to keep bees and you end up having a great time talking "bee talk." I think about the people I've been fortunate to meet who have been beekeepers for many years and I think to myself, "Please let me be where they are, let me have the knowledge they have, please don't let me kill bees forever." I know you aren't born with all the wisdom in the world, but it makes you feel bad that you don't know it all.
Ok, it's like having kids, they don't let people keep kids if they don't know how to take care of them right. (I wonder if there are beekeeper police out there?)
I love the market because I have been real lucky to come across people who are new and are learning and have as many questions in their minds that I do. Here is the scary part. I can actually answer some of them. When I hear the words come out of my mouth I think. . . Holy Moley where did those words come from. Usually though I'm able to answer because I've failed at something they are trying to do. So I suppose that Uncle Ted is right when he says, "It's all about learning."
I also had two really great things happen this past week, first of all my stepson David came home to spend a few weeks before he heads out to his first permanent duty station (Air Force) and it's been really great to see how good he is doing. The military was obviously the right choice for him. He loves what he is doing and feels challenged which is a good thing. The second thing was a suprise visit by my neice Elizabeth and two of her friends Handy and Amanda. The girls are headed back to college in MA. The poor things didn't get in until the wee hours of the morning and only got to stay till a little after 1:00 the next day but it was wonderful seeing them. I was sitting at the table talking to them and listening to all the plans they had and I have to tell you I just smiled inside. Hearing them talk about what they wanted to do and why they chose the fields they chose made me realize that the world is in pretty great hands. We always hear about the bad things in the world and this week I was given the best gift. I got to spend time with four remarkable young adults, all different, yet all very amazing in their own way.
I realize the most important thing at this point are the bees so I plan on spending the next three days out in the yard from morning till night. I hope that it stays dry. I have three hives that I'm really worried about. I finally had to bite the bullet and realized that one was gone. . . . so instead of four that I'm worried about, I'm back to three. What the heck, I'm thinking after I get a good look at them I'll give Uncle Ted a call and see if I've got the best plan laid out for them. I'm hoping that I'll be able to put two honey supers on one of them (the strongest) and get them through the winter. The other two I'm thinking I'll combine. When do you know that it's toooo late?
I have to say, I remember when I first started I foolishly thought that this beekeeping would be a piece of cake. Boy was I ever wrong. Do you ever get to the point that you feel like you know what you are doing? I try, and I ask for help but sometimes when you do something real stupid you think that maybe you shouldn't be doing the bee thing. Then the you look out over the bee yard and see them flying in the air and you think. . . Ok, maybe if I try a little harder. It's hard to explain how it gets under your skin and you find that you think about it constantly, and you seem to be a magnet for anyone who had ever wanted to keep bees and you end up having a great time talking "bee talk." I think about the people I've been fortunate to meet who have been beekeepers for many years and I think to myself, "Please let me be where they are, let me have the knowledge they have, please don't let me kill bees forever." I know you aren't born with all the wisdom in the world, but it makes you feel bad that you don't know it all.
Ok, it's like having kids, they don't let people keep kids if they don't know how to take care of them right. (I wonder if there are beekeeper police out there?)
I love the market because I have been real lucky to come across people who are new and are learning and have as many questions in their minds that I do. Here is the scary part. I can actually answer some of them. When I hear the words come out of my mouth I think. . . Holy Moley where did those words come from. Usually though I'm able to answer because I've failed at something they are trying to do. So I suppose that Uncle Ted is right when he says, "It's all about learning."
I also had two really great things happen this past week, first of all my stepson David came home to spend a few weeks before he heads out to his first permanent duty station (Air Force) and it's been really great to see how good he is doing. The military was obviously the right choice for him. He loves what he is doing and feels challenged which is a good thing. The second thing was a suprise visit by my neice Elizabeth and two of her friends Handy and Amanda. The girls are headed back to college in MA. The poor things didn't get in until the wee hours of the morning and only got to stay till a little after 1:00 the next day but it was wonderful seeing them. I was sitting at the table talking to them and listening to all the plans they had and I have to tell you I just smiled inside. Hearing them talk about what they wanted to do and why they chose the fields they chose made me realize that the world is in pretty great hands. We always hear about the bad things in the world and this week I was given the best gift. I got to spend time with four remarkable young adults, all different, yet all very amazing in their own way.
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