Montana II

-Posted by Isaac

How are we looking?

Pretty good, I must say. The old timers were right, this is an exceptional spring.

We'll know just how good in a month or so. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted. I tend not to miss bragging opportunities.

But for now, back to this Montana business. As I stated in the last post, we took ourselves a little business trip. (Leaving four rambunctious kids with Grandma.) Once again, back out to the soul filling, great and still Wild West.

Jayne and Becky had a ten year reunion with their old coworkers at Elephant Head Lodge just east of Yellowstone. Me, I was just along for the ride.

And "E-Head" happens to be where we stayed. And wined. And dined.

For at least a couple nights.

It was quaint.

Hello? 1970? Is that you?

We found ourselves amongst hikers, bikers, flyers, skiers, hunters, rangers and fly fishing guides. People who make a business of the great outdoors.

And any respectable, streamlined business starts the day with coffee and a serious corporate roundtable. 

A well oiled machine, we were.

We decided to split up the work. Who would be hiking, who would be floating, who would be fishing, who would be stumbling into grizzlies...

My group would be hunting antler sheds (off trail, steep country), so we were voted most likely for a bear attack. We took packs and dogs.

We also had three cans of bear mace and a revolver.

A storm hit us high on a ridge, miles from the truck. About five hours later, wet and tired, we crossed the last stream and found the road, carrying exactly zero antler sheds. Too bad, but still worth it. Because...

We spotted a BEAR!

We spotted a DEER!

And later, a BEER!

In HERE:

Is that CLEAR?

(C'mon, Isaac, will you quit with the Dr. Seuss BULLSHIRT?)

Nope. Still plenty of bullshirt to come.

Finding ourselves just outside Yellowstone, we couldn't resist a day in the park. Against our better judgement, we made our way to Old (10 min late) Faithful.

Woo Hoo!

Why against our better judgement? Because of this bullshirt:

Woo Hoo!

Everyone wants to see the park. Everyone! (The entire Japanese nation!) So you spend way too much time trapped in the car, sitting in traffic, standing in line, peeking around shoulders, paying $10 for a deli sandwich... it's a circus.

Yellowstone is not the place to be if you want peace of mind. Fortunately just north of the park is that rarefied combo of sun, sky, mountains and grandeur we call "Montana." Magnificent Big Sky, where your soul can feast on beautiful solitude and your eyes consume mile after breathtaking mile for hours on end.

One day an old monk was asked by a pilgrim, "Where is the Buddha?"

The old monk replied, "Where isn't the Buddha?"

Montana- Where things seem to fit.

Ooh, a little zen bullshirt.

We walked into a coffee shop / art gallery. And there on the wall was the perfect piece for our living room.

For a scant $14,200 we could be reminded of beautiful Montana everyday!

The Yellowstone fiasco really put us in the mood for a calming soak. About an hour north of the park we found hot springs and a bed outside the idyllic little town of Pray, MT.

Next morning in the lobby, I noticed this:

It was time to go hunting bees. I hiked about a mile in the wrong direction, but later spotted what appeared to be a few hives outside some kind of corral.

Turns out, the bees were actually inside the corral. Very well guarded hives, protected from bears and varmints and people like me. (Honey sold at those prices needs protection!)

It appeared that they had a rough winter. About half came from packages.

What a wonderful quick vacation. Many new sights, many new hikes. The bee hike was the last of the trip. It got me missing our girls back home.

Fortunately we left the business in very competent hands.

Where you been? You're fired!

Montana Bees

-Posted by Isaac

Amen to that, Mr. Steinbeck. Well said.

We have just returned from another "business trip." Big Sky Country. The Last Best Place. And I for one am feeling very fulfilled.

For you dear reader, I have brought back gifts from the road.

Lots of images. Many many great pics. So many in fact, I'm going to fill two blog posts.

Like it or not. And quite possibly Jayne has a story for you also.

So this is the first. Because we've been on the subject of springtime bees and springtime forage, I'm going to stick with that for this post.

It didn't take long to find a Montana bee yard. They're everywhere. 

It also didn't take long to find a trail. Montana has some gorgeous country, and taking it in on foot is the method we choose most. Nice and slow.

Well, for me anyway. Most of my hiking involved trying to keep up with these two.

Jayne and Sister Becky set the pace while I troddled behind, snapping photos of rocks and flowers and trees. Soaking the view...

And that was just fine by me. Out here, we were no longer top dogs in the food chain. Should we come upon Mamma Bear, I figured those marching ladies would make a succulent distraction while I high-tailed it out of there.

And speaking of eating, lets get back to the subject at hand. Springtime forage.

There are a lot of bees in Montana for a reason. The state has an awesome supply of bee food. On a single hike, I collected the following images. One hike! No, I don't know the names of most of these. (But the bees don't either.) Sorry if you were looking for an education. 

Here you go. Montana springtime splendor:

Of course not all of these are nectar producers. But, like Ohio blooms, the honeybee has found a way to make good on most. Even the unwanted:

Knapweed is actually the king of Montana honey producing plants. It's noxious and invasive, hated by ranchers and farmers (much like our own bush honeysuckle), but does it ever make for a fantastic honey crop! Beautiful, light, translucent honey. And so tasty! 

The late great Wayne Morris, my old commercial bee boss in Montana would often shake his head at the state eradication efforts. We'd be driving along in a bee truck and come across state workers spraying the roadside ditches. He'd wink at me, "Better get the planes fired up. We've got to seed some more knapweed."

Yum Yum

-Posted by Isaac

Can you find her? She's big, black and beautiful. One of the California carniolans ordered in April.

Mama has been busy lately. And the results are starting to show.

(They don't all look like this just yet. But I like to keep a few specific photos for the bragging.)

Yes, things are going good. The other night at the bee meeting, some of the old timers were saying that they've never seen such a fantastic spring flow. But I suspect that after 101 years of keeping bees, you tend to forget a year or two. (Like last year.)

2015 was pretty dang good also. But they're right, for a bee on the lookout for food, it's easy pickings right now. The world is an all-you-can-stuff-in-your-honey-stomach-buffet. I mentioned our great dandelion flow back in April. As we were making splits, the hives seemed to gain weight by the minute. Well, they're still putting on the pounds. Here are a few images of what's popping.

The autumn olive came out firing with both barrels. For once, the weather cooperated.

And of course, still blooming is our good old reliable honeysuckle.

Our girls are gaining in stature. We need more supers!

The grass, as you yard mowers can attest, is keeping right up with everything else. Growing at a roar.

There are many others-- not big nectar producers, but loads of pollen to suit the palate. Last Sunday we had a picnic by my brother's stream. Right above us was a black willow abuzz. Just humming! It made for good entertainment.

And just yesterday I noticed the hum coming from our big burr oak out in the goat pen.

Even our state tree shares some love with the bees this time of year.

Where are we going to put all this honey!? (Don't count your chickens, right?)

Well, just in case we do have a lot, I embarked on a project this week. We now have a big holding tank. On Tuesday I gave a bee talk in Amish country. It's a long way up there, and as usual I found a way to spend money.

This 500 gallon stainless steal tank will replace the 500 gal. plastic one from last year. One season of shoveling granulated aster honey was quite enough!

This tank was a lot heavier. And a bit more awkward. 

How to you get a 1000 pound tank tucked up high in the corner?

Easy. Use THE FORCE.

And it helps to have a good operator.

THE FORCE is strong with this one.

'Thusiasm with Nils Root

-Posted by Jayne

We were proud and honored to be featured on 'Thusiasm, a video blog series about people who love their jobs!  Check out the short video created by Nils Root:

Last weekend I job-shadowed Isaac Barnes who's a former middle school science teacher turned full-time beekeeper. When you listen to Isaac talk about his work as a beekeeper you'll notice.. well first you'll notice he sounds like Matthew McConaughey's long lost brother.

April intensity

-Posted by Isaac

What a blur! This month has been quite the ride. Day and night, bees, queens, apples and buckwheat. I'm going brief you... Give you a frightening little glimpse into the intense, high stakes, fast lane pressure cooker of springtime commercial beekeeping. (Wink)

And for your convenience, I'll break it down into three categories. Hold on tight!

Beekeeping:

We started with 50 Georgia beauties on April 1st, and have been burning through the queens each successive week in rapid fire. Making splits, making nucs. 

This year we had the best dandelion nectar flow I've ever seen.

Which made it convenient for splits put on new foundation...

...but not as convenient for the poor beekeepers trying to keep ahead of the swarming: Trying to get that foundation out to the hives in a timely manner.

Of course, of course... some got ahead of us.

And continue to do so.

Follow me! I know the way!

Pollination:

At the same time all the splitting and bee work was happening, the apples were coming on strong.

I wanted to be ready when the pollination calls came, so we had a few hives in the yard.

The calls came, and we jumped into our annual nocturnal duties.

Pollination work is night work. Windows down, loud music, regular caffeine, bottles of hard amphetamines. It's fun!

I never miss hearing my favorite pollination song two or three times.

You hear him howlin' round the kitchen door...

...Better not let him in!

When the bloom starts, you really hope for good weather. There's a limited time to get the bees to the orchards.

And we tried not to dilly dally. 

Just like Jimmy Johns, "FREAKIN' FAST DELIVERY."

I really wanted to capture a charming photo of the orchards in full bloom. The beautiful fluffy white blossoms from a bee's eye view. But this is about as close as we came:

Sorry...

There's more! There's more! There's more than beekeeping to this crazy month. And there's more than pollination. There's more!

Farming:

We like to make buckwheat honey. In order to do that, you need buckwheat. Other years we have hauled the bees to the buckwheat. This year my farming brother decided that the price of corn is so low, he could part with a few acres. We're renting a field for buckwheat honey production, and I figured that if we got the seed in by April 20th, we may get three blooms out of the deal. We'll see...

Luckily I had an expert farmer along to help.

It took a full day right in the middle of our intense splitting of hives...

...but hopefully the big gamble on an early buckwheat crop will be worth it.

The seeds are sown. Only time will tell.          Any more cliches? I'm game.    

Life is good. Like a box of chocolates.