Something old... Something new...

-posted by Jayne

Wedding bells must be ringing somewhere off in the distance, as I've sold quite a few of these little 2 oz honey jars as wedding favors lately.  I got to thinking about some of our products here and how the phrase, "Something old, something new..." definitely applies to us.  Not sure about the borrowed and blue part... but I'll take you through the old and new:

Something old... we've had these little two ounce honey jars for a while now...

But the honey will never spoil, so why not keep a few wedding favors back for enjoying on your 40th wedding anniversary?

Something new:  Lots of new soap scents!

This scent was a completely new creation and we love it!  The rose clay is a type of kaolin clay that is great for purifying the skin.  Find it for sale here in our Etsy store.

Why not have a beer in the shower?

 We sell honey to Seventh Son Brewing Company, so I thought to myself... if they are making beer with our honey, why not make some soap using their beer?  The beer increases the lather of the soap, while also giving it that earthy robust brewed scent.  You can find it for sale here in our Etsy shop.

Five Clay soap - a thick blend of five different clays swirled together to make a thick creamy lather, great for the face or an all over body soap.

Other new scents not pictured here are Activated Charcoal (with Eucalyptus and Rosemary essential oil), Lilac Blossom, Bergamot Grapefruit, and Coconut Lime.

Something old: Castile Soap.  I finally managed to get it photographed to list in our Etsy shop, although I have been making it and selling it for over a year now.  The base is 100% olive oil, which makes it great for sensitive skin and babies.  I use it in our youngest daughter's hair as a shampoo and it works great since it leaves no residue and has a very simple lather, with small bubbles and a fresh, natural scent.

Something new:  A honeystick variety package.  This has been a hit at the farmer's market.  We count out 8 each of the Fall, Lavender, and Summer honeysticks and package them up so you can try each flavor.  I've been selling out of these at the Worthington market every week.  

Something new:  Letter-block candles.  I created my own molds using a silicone mold making compound.  I bought the silicone materials last July.  I finally got around to making the molds this January.  I still haven't gotten these listed in my Etsy shop.  But I did get them photographed!  

Why not spell out your true feelings in candlelight?

Or top a cake with your son's name?

Something new:  Salves!  We now have Baby Balm, Herbal Healing Salve, and Farmer's Friend salve.  They each have a unique purpose, whether it is healing a cut or scrape, soothing dry skin, or calming the itch from an insect bite.  I will be listing them in our Etsy shop soon, but for now you can find them at our farmer's market locations.

Something old...  I was sorting through some old papers and came across this letter from Mrs. Helen Ingram of Washington Courthouse.  Together with her late husband Beecher Ingram she ran "Ingram's House of Honey."  When Isaac and I first got into beekeeping we purchased some old beekeeping equipment from her and her son.  We would sit and chat with her about Beecher and their business, and she always commented how they were unable to sell the Fall honey that they harvested.  She said the taste was too strong for their customers, and she wouldn't even bake with it because the flavor was just too intense.  What she was referring to was the same taste that many of our customers have come to know and enjoy - Fall goldenrod honey.  As you can see in the letter below, they did enjoy eating it fresh on pancakes, waffles, and toast.  

   Helen was 84 when she wrote us this letter and I regret to say we haven't kept in touch with her in recent years.  But it is a good feeling to know that we are still using much of the equipment we purchased from her in our early years of beekeeping.  I believe she would be proud to see something old being used to produce "something new" again, by our little beekeeping family here at Honeyrun Farm.

Many Fish Bites If You Got Good Bait

-Posted by Isaac

We've been recreating.

Here's a little fishing tune to enjoy while you recreate with us. (Sorry if there's an ad, but what Jayne was able to do on that last post is just so time consuming!) (It was Jayne who worked the "play button" magic, not I.)

So if you're a Taj fan as I am, you know that this silly song is not only about fishing... it's a life philosophy. Listen close!

Working toward that good bait in Holmes County:

 One night a little more then a month ago, these 40 hives were given a ride to Amish Country.

It's about a three hour trip up to Jayne's beautiful homeland.

 North of Columbus, 3 a.m., I enjoyed a virtual fireworks display of lightning. About as intense as I've ever seen. Thankfully the storm was over the Canton area, 20 miles north of where I needed to drop bees.

By morning I had all the hives situated.
Two big locations, one small with only five hives. All were within easy flying distance of buckwheat.

We're going to see what happens. These are the "Buckwheat Babies."
Started from package bees in early June, we're hoping they'll make a super or two of dark rich honey.

Buckwheat!

This was planted in June. (Thanks Merle Sommers and Ken Gerber!) We should end up seeing at least two blooms, maybe three if we're lucky. 

Although Jayne told me to, I forgot to take pictures this week. The buckwheat is now tall and bloomed out as white as snow. The bees are working it hard... at least carrying loads of pollen in.

And between buckwheat blooms, the bees have plenty to keep them busy:

Ah, Holmes County. A veritable Garden of Eden.

And now back to the fish.

Before we left for Amish Country, our bee club, Scioto Valley Beekeepers, had their annual hog roast and picnic out at the Clark's farm.
As always, fun time, lots of people, lots of beekeeping fibs and tall tales.

But our kids were more interested in fish than hog. Bob and Karen Clark graciously provided fishing poles, and, as it turned out, good bait:

 Mason and Bridger caught a few and took it all in stride.

Maizy on the other hand,

                                     ...did a touchdown dance.

Singin' many fish bites if you got good bait

Here's a little tip that I would like to relate 

Many fish bites if you got good bait 

 I'm a goin' fishin',

 yes I'm goin' fishin'

And my baby goin' fishin' too!

Queen

-Posted by Isaac

This is about a little bug that makes our Honeyrun world go round.

Enjoy some easy listening Queen while you hunt for these fat bottomed girls.

(And turn it up!  Just hit the triangle play button.)

Fat Bottomed Girls

You make the rockin world go round!

Hey!

I was just a skinny lad

Never knew no good from bad

But I knew life before I left my nursery

Huh

                                                                        

Left alone with big fat Fanny

 

She was such a naughty nanny 

                     

Heap big woman, you made a bad boy out of me 

Bad Boy Beekeeper

Hey Hey!

 

I've been singing with my band

Across the water, 'cross the land

 

I seen every blue eyed floozy on the way

But their beauty and their style
 

Went kind of smooth after a while

Take me to them naughty ladies 

                                                       every time!

                                 

C'mon! 

Oh, won't you take me home tonight...

Fat Bottomed Girls

You make the rockin world go round!

Hey listen here... 

Now I got mortgages on homes

I got stiffness in ma' bones

Ain't no beauty queens in this locality

I Tell You!

Oh, but I still get my pleasure

Still got my greatest treasure

Heap big woman,

you done made a big man of me!

                                  

Now get this

 

Are you gonna take me home tonight...

Please...

Can you find her?

Fat Bottomed Girls

 You make the Rockin World Go Round!

Yeah

Get on your bikes and ride!

Yeah yeah yeah

Spring Honey-- Check

-posted by Isaac

The last of the extracted supers are heading back to the bee yards.

Spring honey's all done for another year.
This should have been finished up about ten days ago, but we get distracted sometimes.

This year was just excellent. High quality, wonderfully delicate, beautiful white honey.
And a lot of it.

Among other things, we took some Spring honey to the Pickaway County Fair.

And we cleaned up:

 

Jayne thought it was silly to put this on here, but I don't mind tooting our own horn.
I also don't mind telling you a few trade secrets... if you're interested in winning honey contests and all the glory that entails.
Here are a few things you need to know:
First, it helps to know the judge.
Second, it helps to pay off the judge.
Third, and most important, it definitely helps to be the only entrant in a category. This one is critical.
C'mon Crawfords, Snokes, Kellers, Jim and Cindy... where are you?

We started pulling spring honey about June 10th. As I said, it was a great crop. We should have nearly enough to get us through the markets for another year. As you know, we don't wholesale this (Sorry Whole Foods customers).

On most occasions, rolling another load into the honey house, the kids had to have samples.

I learned something this year. In the past I have attributed the bulk of the spring honey to the black locust flow:

A little locust bloom, but not much.

But this year the locust bloom was very spotty. Not nearly enough to make a big honey crop.

Where did all this honey come from? It tastes almost exactly the same as spring honey in past years.

Ah, here we go:

The bush honeysuckle bloomed out this spring like I've never seen.

And the bees just went to town.

Of course the russian olive probably has some influence also:

For about a week, this invasive shrub is a favorite of mine. When they're in full bloom, the air just turns to sugar. There's a half mile stretch near Deer Creek Lake that I run by, close my eyes and float through a ball of cotton candy.

Then I open my eyes and dodge cars.

The spring honey is translucent white, beautiful as ever. Come on out to the markets this July 5th. If there's anything left after the fireworks, spend that flag waving money with us! You can try all three seasons:

One from this year, fresh off the hives, two from last.

Of course there's more than just honey...

See you there!

The Easy Way

-Posted by Isaac

So if you want bees and you need them fast, you can always go buy them.
About three weeks ago that's exactly what we did. Back to Georgia, back to Gardners...
First, I thought we just had to take a morning with babysitter Libby and get all the previous year's packages cleaned up:

I knew that we'd get a little money on returns and thought that they'd appreciate these boxes coming back in primo condition.

After a few hours of cleaning I got the bright idea to call my beekeeper friend Dave Heilman and ask what Gardners was giving for returned boxes this year...
"Zero. Nada. Zilch. They quit doing that. Too many damaged boxes, and they can build them cheaper then cleaning them up. Now they just throw them on the burn pile."

Oops. Sorry kids.
They made a nice Ohio bonfire. Super clean.

The reason for the trip (this late in the year) is that I had a Florida nuc deal fall through. 120 nucs (baby beehives) made it up here right on time, April 15th. But I had needed 260! I had requested 260! The rest? They wouldn't be coming until mid-June. I was originally told mid-May. Communication was becoming a real issue with this deal, and three more weeks of uncertainty was just too much. Time to change plans.

So I hit the road on a spry June 1st afternoon having ordered 100 packages from Gardners. I had called five different places in Georgia and Florida, Gardners being the only one able to fill a larger order that quickly.
An hour or two in, it dawned on me that this route was hauntingly familiar. At least this time I wasn't driving through a snowstorm.
I elected to take our small piece-of-crap Ranger. Why? Better gas, better radio... and beyond all reasonable expectations, the truck just refuses to die.
Here is the West Virginia state capital seen through my busted and bird splattered windshield:

The irony was not lost. At some point on the trip it did occur to me that the cargo was worth way more then the motorized courier. Like 10 times as much! Really, I had no business hauling bees in that piece of junk. But it did the job. And it will still go 85 mph. Downhill.

I arrived a little early and had the chance to watch my order being put together.
Here are the queens:

These guys make fast work of it.

There were about 20 employees running around the day I loaded up. Four crews are involved with the shaking of package bees. Each crew has a truck and a swinger:

Everything seemed to run like a well oiled machine.
Which is what you'd expect. They had been at it for about three months. One guy told me that Gardners sold some 60,000 packages this year!

On the flip-side, they also do honey. I nosed around a little while and found the honey house:

A crew of four was in full swing.

Outside, a pile of broken frames gave a few scattered hives a delicious Georgia breakfast:

Sure beats grits!

In the office, Gardners had a line up of honeys from around the country:

They don't have to seek these out. Customers bring them! There are at least 100 bottles up there, honey of all types. I would love to sample some of these.

Well, I know what at least two of them taste like...

1500 miles in 36 hours. Long trip, little sleep.

I did sneak a few hours in before the big day of package installation. 100 packages in a single day makes for a long one, but the first 40 were easy:

These 40 hives are building up in Holmes county (Amish Country) at the moment. We took them up last week to work a couple patches of buckwheat which should be coming into bloom very soon. We'll keep you updated on this experiment as it unfolds.

So there you are... the easy way of making increase, albeit expensive.