Pumpkins and Bees

-Posted by Isaac

We sure love pumpkins.

And we love our bees too.

Around here, both become a business. 

We need lots of pumpkins and lots of bees. And they need each other. 

In the late summer, our job is to bring them together.

We pollinate for four different pumpkin farms. Circle S, near West Jeff is the most demanding. Because they run more of an agritourism business, the time that the bees spend in the pumpkin patch is constricted. (They've found that hayrides with free bee stings is not a top seller.)

So when we get the call, the clock is ticking. 

But we've done this long enough, we know we're going to get the call. Our clock starts ticking in June. I start about 50 nucs in early June after pulling the spring honey. By August, with a little love, they have built up to pollination strength.

Working bees in the daylight is just a tad different than bee work at night.

And pollination work is almost all done at night.

Moving bees fast and efficiently requires some equipment. 

Or if you prefer strapping hives and hand lifting, it requires a chiropractor. We have done both. I tend to go with the forklift whenever possible.

Back in the daylight, a couple weeks later, it's time to work bees again.

Morning Glorious!

All the pumpkin bees get fed. There are plenty of flowers out there in all that pumpkin acreage, but the monoculture diet with a side dish of chemicals just doesn't suit. We have learned this the hard way. A little supplemental protein and syrup can work wonders. The love continues...

Because we sure love our bees.

And we sure love our pumpkins.

Classic New Albany

-Posted by Isaac

While we're on the subject of festivals...

Last weekend while Jayne camped with friends in Kentucky, I was left to my own devices on what to do with four kids. Almost by accident, we ended up here:

The New Albany Classic.

It was mostly a Maizy idea. I mentioned a festival with horses.

Horses to pet, horses to ride, horses to feed and kiss and cuddle...

And would you believe, someone as cultured and highly refined as I, had never actually watched equestrian?

Well, check that off the list. We filled our cup last Sunday. 

As you would imagine, a New Albany festival held on the grounds of one Les Wexner, is not your ordinary little shin dig.

Your Mountain Dew, snuff-lipped spit-cupper crowd is nowhere to be seen. New Albany holds a different flavor... 

Not that you couldn't find your bloomin' onion. There were at least 20 food trucks there, and I assume that one or two would sell you some grease.... but it wasn't the norm. The longest lines were for Asian cuisine, burritos and Graeters ice cream. 

A little different on the recreation side also.

Ice skating on an 80 degree day? In New Albany, why not?

We spent some time in Hollywood...

Bridger finds an old friend.

...and ran from bouncy house to bouncy house.

There were six! (All with a different theme.)

Our kids love face boards. And at this festival, there were more than a couple.

But four kids and only three holes means a screaming fight.

Fortunately we had all afternoon to get things right.

Of course there were rides. Many rides. Mostly for the big kids... but big kid rides don't make for cute pictures.

And guess what? The rides were free! Well, sort of...

Unlike most festivals which nickel and dime you with every Tea Cup and Tilt-a-whirl, at New Albany once you pay to get in, you're in! Everything's included. You can ride and bounce and skate and zip-line all day long.

How much to get in? Well, I haven't the slightest. You'll have to find out when you go next year.

We were comped... it's been an offered perk of keeping bees up there for the past three years. (Given a VIB pass. Very Important Beekeepers) 

We have 20 mightily productive hives on the Les Wexner property. The deal is, I take care of the bees like any normal bee yard, but separate that honey from those hives during extraction so that they can buy back their own honey. That is, bottled and sold at our own wholesale prices of course. It works out pretty well. They buy 400-500 lbs each year and sell it at the New Albany Classic. 

The New Albany Classic among other Wexner functions.

Of the 30 some landowners who have a bee yard on their property, there is only one with whom I have never spoken. Hmmm. When we began this little arrangement, I had delusions of delivering rent honey to the Wexner estate, getting invited to hang out with Les and his buddies, talking bees, talking politics...

But it has yet to happen. I have never met the man. Maybe I will someday, but I'm not holding my breath.

All I know is, at least once a year, he throws one heck of a play date!

Ohio's Pawpaw Festival

-Posted by Jayne

Do you know about Pawpaws?  If not, and you live in Ohio... you really should visit Ohio's very own Pawpaw festival at Lake Snowden in September.   The pawpaw is a wonderful, little-known fruit that grows throughout central and southeastern Ohio.  Many folks think it tastes like a mixture between a banana and a mango.  I did a blog post two years ago when pawpaws were abundant and we had visited the festival to hear Joel Salatin speak.  That post includes a recipe for Pawpaw Ice Cream, as well as several pictures of the pawpaws we foraged- so if you need a reference for what they look like, check it out here: http://www.honeyrunfarm.com/honeyrunfarm/2014/09/pawpaw-fun-with-pawpaw-ice-cream-recipe.html

When you enter the festival, you are greeted with the sign pictured below:  We didn't end up opting for the "rowdy camping," but maybe next year...

There are many demonstrations and vendor booths, including this one making sorghum syrup.

We purchased pawpaw pancakes and pawpaw ice cream, as well as a burrito filled with rice, chicken, veggies, and pawpaw sauce.  The kids, in typical fashion, also ate pizza (no pawpaws included).  We also met the giant pawpaw man.

And this guy.. dressed up like a giant tree.

There were horse drawn wagon rides.... and random fairies walking around.

And a geo-dome for swinging...

...As well as many other kid-friendly activities such as arts and crafts, bouncy houses, educational displays, electric-tractor rides, and more.  

We met up with my friend Angie from Cinagro Farm.  Here she is sporting one of her hair falls.  Before I met her I didn't know what a hair fall was, but in the past few years she has opened my world to all sorts of artistic inclinations that have made my life more interesting.

Today is technically the last day of summer, so it is time to introduce these beauties...  3 little pumpkins, sitting on a gate... the first one said.... Well, if you have a toddler you know the rest of the story.  They will be available in our Etsy store soon!  Happy fall y'all!

Another Great One

-Posted by Isaac

Yes, "How Sweet It Is!" 

Or was...   How time does fly. We're now a full week beyond the Honeyfest and we still haven't given you an update. I think Jayne has more to say on this, but I just wanted to do a  quick post letting you know how wonderful it went. Once again! Thank you so much for coming out and supporting this awesome little festival. (In its 10th year!)

This year we were swamped. Due to some scheduling conflicts and some unforeseen bee issues, it was only four of us manning the booth the entire time.

Maggie and Paige were lifesavers. 

In fact, the week leading up to the Honeyfest also happened to be the busiest week we've ever had for grocery store orders. Funny how it works out like that. With wonderful Katie working overtime, we survived. But it took all hands on deck. Even the corporate brass had to get out and do some bottling.

The kids just ran wild.

They've truly gone feral in the past couple weeks.

Like a pack of wild dogs.

Summer Honey, Part II

-Posted by Isaac

Summer honey, here we go again. 

If you missed it, we were talking about the great honey flow this season, and showing how the the honey gets from here:

To here:

We left off with the extracting completed and the honey going into 55 gallon drums for storage. 

You prospective commercial beekeepers out there... I would highly encourage getting set up for drums. So much easier than lifting hundreds of 60 pound buckets. Easier for storing of the honey, moving of the honey, lifting of the honey, and when you run out of room, transport of the honey.

You do however need to be strong enough to wheel a 700 lb load around, and smart enough not to kill yourself doing it. Smart and strong... a hard combination to find these days... 

Fortunately we've had a guy with us for about four years now. He fits the bill.

I know a guy...

One awesome thing about this business is that you don't have to rush to move your product. Honey lasts forever--a food that never spoils. (As many of you know and like to tell me on a weekly basis.) (Is my fake astonishment sufficient?)

Honey does last forever. But it granulates. As I stated in that other post, the drums of liquid honey today will be rock hard six months from now. So what do you do? Well, you have to heat it.

But not too much. One of the selling points of our honey is that it's raw. A big selling point, actually. Almost all store bought commercial honey has been pasteurized (Heated beyond 150 and micro-filtered.) We heat the honey just enough to liquify it and pump it up into the bottling tanks.

This is done with what you see above: a blanket heater set at 100 degrees. It takes a few days to liquify. That shiny strip of metal sticking out is an idea I'm proud of. It's just a bucket band heater stretched out and placed under the center of the drum. This prevents a cone of granulated honey from remaining in the middle as the drum is pumped. I was so proud of my invention I posted it to the commercial beekeepers facebook page. And it got a whopping 4 "likes" ...taking the bee world by storm!

In the photo below, you can see the honey pump and the four 60 gallon bottling tanks we use for the grocery store honey. What you don't see is the filter. They're inside the tanks. The honey flows through a 400 micron mesh which takes out the small wax particles, but still lets all the pollen grains through. We want the honey raw. The tanks are set at a temperature just under 100 degrees.

(Nice plug for Mann Lake.)

The honey doesn't stay here long. Usually less than a week.

You can see the spring valves at the bottom of the bottling tanks.

Again, for you prospective commercial beekeepers, another tip: get a real bottling tank with a real valve! Yes, they're expensive... but so worth it. You'll never think about going back to that sticky bucket valve!

The four big tanks are for the wholesale grocery store stuff, but just around the corner we have five smaller tanks for the speciality honey. Yes, each honey variety needs its own tank.

(Nice plug for Maxant)

So once the honey is bottled, the clock starts ticking. Raw honey granulates! Some fast, some slow, but eventually you end up with a solid bottle of honey that cramps your hand when you try to squeeze it over your toast. A conundrum. What to do, what to do??

Well, you've got to keep it warm.

Above is a picture of our first heater box-- an old restaurant freezer converted to honey heater.

That idea worked so well, the next year I built an insulated cabinet for the same purpose:

And I liked that idea so much, we later just built an entire room:

These areas keep the bottled honey in the mid-nineties. They serve as both granulation prevention and honey storage. When we get a big order, we're ready!

Once or sometimes twice a week Jayne or I will make a honey delivery up to Columbus. A honeyrun... Haha. 

Grocery stores like their honey in cases. So we do what they like.

They also like UPC bar codes for the separate honeys and separate sizes. So we do what they like.

And we're very appreciative of those stores pushing our local honey.

We're almost done, but we haven't covered the final and most important step: You.

We love it that you love it! Thank you so much for the support. Thank you so much for seeking out honey that is raw and local. Real honey!

At some point in the near future a bottle of summer honey from Ohio bees moves through the checkout line and ends up in an Ohio kitchen. From there, who knows how it will be used...

We like to put real honey on fake honey.

Needs it!