The Wonderful Invasive Honeysuckle

-Posted by Isaac

I think this is a good time to blog about the honeysuckle.

There are several invasive honeysuckles 'round these parts, but the one that seems most prevalent is the Amur Honeysuckle. We call it bush honeysuckle.

And prevalent it is.

Native to China and southeast Asia, it found its way to the Ohio country in the 1950's. It was first spotted around Oxford in the southwest and seems to be on a tear to take over every woods, ditch and fence line in the state.

Farmers hate it!

This is a good time of year to see just how obnoxious this plant is-- you can pick it out. The bush honeysuckle is the first to green up in the spring and the very last to lose its leaves in the fall.

By mid November, honeysuckle is just about all the green we have left.

How does it take over? How does it so rapidly clog our forests, streams and roadsides?

Birds of course.

yum yum and bon appetit!

 Sightseers hate it!

And it's not only the forests, streams and roadsides.

If you don't watch out, it will sneak into your yard. Hiding behind trees and such.

Homeowners hate it!

There's no getting away from the stuff. What a nuisance!

Within a single season it can block your favorite trails.

Hikers hate it!

And divert your training on the cross country course.

Runners hate it!

Not to mention swallowing up the occasional mulligan ball far worse than any bunker.

Where's your ball, Bridger?

Golfers hate it!

"Don't know?? Must be lost in the honeysuckle!"

It's irritating. It's aggravating. It's annoying, troubling, and quite inconvenient.
Especially if you're trying to cast a line.

Fishermen hate it!

During its springtime bloom, about the middle of May, you've got a truckload of allergy triggering pollen coming your way.

People who breathe hate it!

As I said, around here it's really hard to avoid this awful stuff.

Even working the bees, it surrounds us!

I just can't fathom such a godawful thing having any value to anyone.

(Wink)

I'm with you, I totally agree. We should probably have a full-on eradication effort.

An onslaught aimed at this invasive obnoxious pest. Death to the honeysuckle!

(Wink Wink)

Because we all...

(Wink)

...Hate it!

Pumpkin Honey Pie Recipe

-posted by Jayne

It's that time of year again- time to try out some recipes for pumpkin pie!  Our favorite is loaded with honey, and we return to it each year because it never disappoints.  

Ingredients:  

3 eggs

2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 9" single crust pie

Directions:  Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl.  Blend in pumpkin, milk, cream, honey, spices, and salt.  Pour the filling into the pie shell.  Cover edges of shell with strips of foil.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 35 minutes.  Remove foil, then continue to bake for 15 more minutes.  An inserted knife will come out clean when done.  Cool and serve.

I highly recommend finishing it with some freshly whipped cream!

And since we're on the topic of pumpkins, I'll share a few photos of some pumpkin highlights from the past few weeks.

Circleville Pumpkin Show - Giant pumpkins rolling into town.

Pictured Below:  our annual pumpkin carving ritual.  This year we actually got this done after Halloween.  Better late than never, right?

We had a visit from Portsmouth Brewing Co. who picked up several buckets of our Summer honey for an upcoming Christmas Ale.  They were kind enough to gift us some of the "Circleville Pumpkin Ale" which I had never tried before.  Made with REAL locally grown pumpkins.  

And now- to tell you about an upcoming event.  We'll be participating in the annual "Holiday Fest" which will take place at the Circleville Golf Course (Country Club) this year.  Check out the event webpage here for more details on location, hours, and other participating artists and crafters.  

Score one for the Good Guys!

-Posted by Isaac

I pulled in the lane yesterday and found 10TV interviewing my beautiful articulate wife.

Here's a little insight into what we've been fighting.



If you want to help us with this little fight, we'd love it.

We'll keep you updated.

Peaches in the Summertime. Apples in the Fall.

-Posted by Isaac

I've got two quick posts, both featuring my better half, both with very little to do with bees.

Except this:

And I thought my bees never swarmed?

I was working a yard a few days ago, looked up and found this ghost town. Cool picture.

So anyway, our friend Kristen Baughman from Curly Girl Farm throws a big apple butter party every year. Jayne never misses it, but me, I've always found an excuse.

Until this year.

Turns out, it was really fun. And a learning experience. Kristen gets about a thousand apples cooking in a big copper pot over the fire. Then she gathers about a hundred friends to help with the festivities.

About dark, the apple butter had become thick enough to scoop and put into mason jars. And I mean a lot of mason jars! It was a well-organized craziness. Jayne knew just what to do.

Me, I just hung out with my drinking buddies.

After filling what seemed like a few hundred jars, we all partook of the leftovers. Kristen had baked a bunch of biscuits for this very purpose. 

I swear, I've never tasted anything so good.

The apple party was two weeks ago. All those filled jars found their way home with many of the partiers. I wonder how many are still around? Not much left at our house.

 Every now and then, we even share with our children.

Fabulous Fall

-Posted by Isaac

The fall honey is almost done! Today we extract the last of the honey from around here. We've still got those darn Holmes County hives, three hours away. Who knows when I'll make it up there.

It's been fantastic. Just awesome. The best fall honey flow I've seen. And other beekeepers are saying the same.
We're just swimming in goldenrod honey at the moment. Thanks to the great weather and awesome bloom.

Goldenrod and aster everywhere you looked. Combined with a three week stretch of dry 80 degree days.
The result:

I take most hives down to one super for the fall flow. This year I wish I'd left two on. Not only did the bees pack that one super full, they nearly plugged their brood boxes full. There will be little feeding this winter.

So we weren't the only busy harvesters.

My brother just finished up yesterday. For the last couple years, he and I have finished up our respective agricultures at the same time.

Bridger decided he prefers grain farming to beekeeping. Hours and hours in the combine. Every day.

Every morning I'd take him out to meet the grain farmers. He just begged for it.

Bye Dad. Have fun with your frumpy old bee truck and aching back...

Even little Eden is trending toward the more mainstream agriculture.

But I'll stick with bees.
Especially when it's this fun! The hives are strong. The honey came pouring in.

So strong in fact, many hives had built comb down into the internal feeder below.

Every yard I found myself astonished. Honey! Wall to wall!
I've just never seen it this good.

I caught myself popping lids and reaching for the camera.

A little eye candy...

Hive porn for beekeepers...

For at least a month we've been busy in the honey house.

The new equipment really came in handy when we needed it.

A few lessons:

Things I already knew, but had to learn again the hard way.

One, aster honey granulates fast. Keep it moving! We've got about fifty gallons of granulated honey sitting at the bottom of the big holding tank.

Two, take the clean-out trailers far away! 

I have made several extended family members mad with our crazy bees.

Even post-cleaning, sitting in the barn, the supers are attracting much attention.

I guess this would qualify as a third lesson learned again. Put the pollination bees elsewhere! We've got about 50 hives now sitting within a few hundred yards of the honey house and barn. This makes for some craziness on warm days.

But I don't have to deal with it. Only Jayne. Sorry Honey.
I'm gone. These wonderful warm days are great for treating, feeding if needed, getting the girls ready for winter.

The work never ends, it just changes.