Cross your fingers and hope for the best

-Posted by Isaac

What an awesome endeavor, this thing we call beekeeping!

On all levels.

As a hobby. As a business.  Keeping bees, in my unbiased opinion, really is the most awesome thing going.

For me, it just keeps getting better and better. Like an aging wine. Or a deepening marriage. Better with time. I'm so happy to spend my days thinking about and working with bees. Does Jayne feel a touch of jealousy when I'm all starry eyed, gushing about my 30 million girlfriends? Perhaps. But I know she understands. Men have needs.

We're about a decade and a half into this awesomeness, and I can't help but think about the roller coaster ride. Good years and bad. There were years when almost all the hives pulled through the winter despite my ignorance, and other years when I thought we were on track, and we lost the majority of them. The things we learn...

Beekeeping holds its share of hard knocks. And as we go into this winter, I recently experienced another- perhaps the hardest and most common knock in the trade- varroa mites. I told you last week we'd rehash the mite topic and I'll bet the suspense has been killing you... what did he screw up now??

Well let me tell you-- I basically lost an entire yard, 16 hives, due to a stupid clerical error. 

My yard records are two pages on a clipboard sitting next to me in the truck.

They contain information on 45 bee yards- what's been done, what needs done. And it changes with the season. I'll go through five of these over the course of the year. 

I'll spare you the details, but basically I recorded the Ramey yard summer mite treatment on the Downs yard line. Those 16 Downs hives didn't get treated in August. And the thing is, the bees made plenty of fall honey and looked perfectly healthy in October. All seemed fine and dandy until the inevitable crash which came in November. That's how I discovered my blunder- cleaning up dead-outs, then looking back at my records to see what the hell happened.

 So now that yard is down to four sickly hives struggling to make it through the next four months. It's sad. All due to a simple mistake. I know, I know, I should have been monitoring...

And I guess I'm telling you all this just to reiterate how real mite troubles can be. Even when you don't see it. Even in the spring and summer when it's barely noticeable.

As long as you've got brood, you've got mites. Like it or not. You can go about your merry beekeeping way, but you just can't let your guard down. They're insidious and stealthy, a growing problem that you hardly recognize before it's too late.

Mites are real!

The link takes you to a blog post showing our summer mite treatment. Formic acid is what we use when the hives are full of brood. Summer is when it's important. In both honey production and winter survival, a good mite kill in July or August will pay dividends for months to come. Winter prep begins when you're wearing a t-shirt!

Making it to the winter with healthy bees is hard enough. Making it through the winter takes some forethought and skill. Some beekeepers really work at it.

Others like to talk about how much they know.

Whether you're a talker or a doer or both, the truth of your beekeeping prowess will shine through during the four long months of cold. In my humbling experience, it's best not to go bragging in early December.

Believe it or not, we're still worrying over mites. December is a perfect time to hit them where it hurts. The bees are basically broodless right now, so the mites have nowhere to hide. A little oxalic acid does the trick.

This is an organic treatment that really cleans things up in case you're still carrying a mite load. They say oxalic vapor will knock down close to 100% of your phoretic mites.

The key word being phoretic. This means the mites that are not hidden underneath the capped brood.

And here we find at least one redeeming quality to our sucky Ohio winters- in December and January nearly all the mites are phoretic! With the right treatment at the right time you can really start with a clean slate as far as your mite problems are concerned.

It's quick and easy. And once you have right tools, it's cheap too. I just go through hinging the mouse guards out with my hive tool...

...and blow the vapor right up into the winter cluster. It takes maybe ten seconds per hive. A mite remedy that ends up costing pennies per treatment. Harmless to the bees.

It's even kind of fun. I'm in and out of a yard in ten minutes, and maybe I've even done some good. 

If not for the bees, for me- plenty of exercise. After the three inch rain we had a few weeks ago, I was still able to get out and do the first oxalic treatment.

I just had to truck everything through the mud in a wheelbarrow. Let's hope it was worth it.

Some days are diamonds

-Posted by Isaac

Somebody had a birthday day this week.

Lately, Jayne has made such a big deal out of it. There's cake and ice cream and balloons and candles and lots of presents (all kid's toys, but I'm not complaining). A bunch of people come over and they all sing Happy Birthday. 

 I'm 42 for Christ's sake! What's the big deal? This year she even bought us tickets to a John Prine concert. What an awesome gift / date! But the thing is, and I tell her this every year, she'll never do better than the gift I got the day I turned 36.

Bridger and I are not the only ones hauling in the gifts. This week I took most of the rent honey around. Every landowner who lets us put bees on their property gets a nice present this time of year. $90 of whatever they choose- honey, soap, candles, money... 

It fills the truck.

I make quite a few rounds. We're up to 45 bee yards. Some days I go by the post office and I can double up on my Santa role. Cyber Monday was pretty awesome for Honeyrun Farm.

While Jayne, Katie, Sara and Kristen work long hours fulfilling Christmas orders, my days have become more relaxed. This week I put winter spacers on the hives. Delivering the rent honey gave me the chance to hit just about all the yards. 

Above you can see a spacer. It's about a three inch riser that sits between the top brood box and the lid. It's important for two reasons: ventilation and feeding. The hole lets the moisture escape during those cold winter months, and the space itself enables me to put pounds of winter feed on top if the bees are in need... usually in February or March.

It's a pretty quick job. Especially if you have good help.

And the material comes cheap. In fact, I don't think I've had to build a single one. These are all just cut from old busted bee boxes.

We've got over 600 hives going into winter, and I needed another hundred spacers this week to get everybody done. One evening Jayne had something important to run off to, leaving me to watch the kids. That's all the time I needed, and I watched them from the far side of a table saw. An hour and a half later we had zero homework completed, zero piano practiced, zero baggy books read... but 120 spacers done!

And what a week to get out and check the girls! With temps approaching 60 degrees, the bees were out and about. Some days are diamonds.

When it's warm it's easy to see the cluster size. I really felt happy after leaving most of the yards.

Eden shows us what a winter hive should look like on a cold day:

The bees should be clustered below several inches of honey, and if you put your ear close, you'll hear a soothing low rumble of life. A reassuring and joyful sound.

I'll leave you with a cliff hanger- one yard I went to was different. It was cold that day and on nearly every hive, when I listened close, there was dead silence. Next week we'll talk mites.

Happy Thanksgiving- Come and get it!

-Posted by Isaac

Hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving / Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

 Oh, you're about out of honey? Well, lucky you, let's take a trip!

We're going heavy on the pictures this time. Pictures of stores. And I realize I could just make a list, but what fun is that? On that last post I got talking about my weekly honey deliveries and how much I 'love' it. I thought I would bring you along. No, this isn't even all of them. I'm skipping the restaurants, coffee shops, smoothy shops, bakeries, breweries and catering businesses, all using honey as an ingredient.

This is a trip to show you where you can find your very own bottle of Honeyrun Farm honey. Or pollen. Or soap... if you need to wash your mouth out.

Usually the delivery day starts at the North Market.

Inside you'll find Produce and Provisions selling a wide variety of Honeyrun honey along with a good selection of our lip balm. Just down the aisle, Better Earth also sells honey, soap and a variety of candles.

Next we head north to Grandview.

This Market District on 3rd Ave sells it all-- spring, summer, fall, infused, cinnamon, naturally granulated, pollen...

And just in case you forgot what you were there for, they also do a little advertising.

It's still early. Time for a juice and some Honeyrun bee pollen right around the corner at Zest.

After that, we knock off the first of the Whole Foods. This is the one on Lane Ave.

Then it's just a short stretch up to Kingsdale where we find our second Giant Eagle Market District.

Some weeks I'll have a little jog back east to hit Lucky's Market in Clintonville.

And just a stone's throw north on High St., is Wholly Craft selling a ton of Honeyrun Farm soap.

Got your mouth washed out? Good, because we're not even half done. So quitcherbitchin.

After Clintonville, we jump on 315 and head up to Dublin. Right off of Sawmill we find our second Whole Foods.

Still in Dublin, but across 270 we knock off our third Market District.

Then it's back to 315 N, where we find The Hills Market in Worthington.

And now across to 71N, at the Gemini exit we find Earth Fare.

If you're looking for summer honey, they've got it! Large and small:

But if you're more into buying local and international try Saraga back down on Morris Rd.

We are working our way to Easton, but sometimes we first need to knock off a delivery to Bexley. On Cassidy we find the Bexley Natural Market.

There, you'll find not only honey, but lip balm and a variety of candles.

Then, a little further south on Main St. we drop off at our fourth and final Market District.

And finally, it's out to Easton where we hit the big new Whole Foods.

And a couple miles away, still in the Easton Town Center, we drop off a huge assortment of our Ohio products at Celebrate Local.

Not done yet. Swinging on home past that southeast corner of town, the Smith Farm Market on Winchester Pike sells a wide array of Honeyrun Farm. All the varieties, including tulip poplar!

Every now and then, before leaving town, we have another pollen delivery to Alchemy on Parsons. 

This juice bar is squeezed between The Fitness Loft and The Crest Gastropub, buying gallons and gallons of honey for preparing whatever's on the menu.

About once a month, the Garden Herb Shop in downtown Canal Winchester will call and need some honey. Same too for Bluescreek Farm Meats up in Plain City. On these days, the delivery run takes a little longer. But usually I can wrap it up in four to six hours. That still leaves plenty of time to get back to the bees if we're in the thick of the season.

Jayne usually takes care of the Circleville stuff- Rhoads Farm Market along with the Health Food Cupboard and the Pickaway County Visitor's Bureau. But sometimes during the winter months, I like to knock off some Circleville deliveries while taking a kid or two and running errands.  Our biggest drop-off within 10 miles is Rural King on Rte 23 S. 

There, we depart with a load of honey and come home with a load of chicken feed. Along with plenty of free popcorn. (Eden makes her escape!)

But come to think of it, we have one big drop-off much closer. And it's easy. In fact, almost daily. Pet friendly and close enough to walk:

If you take a notion, come on down to the farm and grab a honey from our honor system farmstand. You'll find all the honey varieties and most of the soaps. But you won't find any customer service (except for Lucky dog). We're busy in the bees. 

But the good thing is, you can get your honey fix any time. We're open 24/7, weekends and holidays. Even Thanksgiving... much to the chagrin of our 'employees.'

Or, better yet, don't even leave your home... Get it online!

If you've read this far- you'll be one of the first lucky customers to find out that we're having a Black Friday Sale online!    Free shipping with all orders over $30.00.  Use coupon code FREESHIP.  Applies to our online store here at www.honeyrunfarm.com as well as www.honeyrunfarm.etsy.com, all day on Nov 24, 2017.  This deal only applies to items currently listed as available in our online stores.   Happy shopping!

Baby steps

-Posted by Isaac

A couple weeks ago I told you I'd try to dig up that old Wittenberg magazine article. Well, I couldn't find it. I know we had a few extra copies, but I guess they're buried somewhere or got thrown away. However, we've got the cover shot framed and on display in the honey house:

It looks like they did that article about eight years ago. Mason is a toddler and Maizy can't be more than a few months old. We were farming side by side with Becky, and I was teaching school 'on the side.' I bet I've walked by that picture a thousand times and never really thought about it. But in this post, we do some reminiscing.

Here's the video that accompanied the article:

Back in September I was asked to speak at a Wittenberg function where they had a panel of maybe ten alumni entrepreneurs sitting in an auditorium and sharing their thoughts about business and creativity and... whatever. Two of the guys who made that video, Bob and Ross (Ha!) were sitting right up there with me.

I was delighted to see that I had missed the memo about panelists wearing formal dress. The men were wearing suits, the ladies were all dressed to kill. I wore jean shorts and tennis shoes. Oops. (And the sad part is, I left home thinking maybe I was looking a little too nice to represent my chosen profession. I mean, I had a collared shirt and I was wearing socks!) 

Oh well. 

After the initial embarrassment wore off I was able to take some of it in. It was engrossing and insightful. An inspiring hour and a half. Especially the question and answer session. Most of the speakers were involved in some form of consulting, so they had highly refined communication skills. (I took care of the "whatever" questions.) 

One theme that I kept hearing was how often everyone on the panel had failed. Over and over, they failed at something, changed, tried a different route, failed again... and those years of striving for something, those many failures and setbacks and scars added up to something that sort of resembled a successful business. 

I took it in. I thought about it on the way home and I've been mulling it over since. It's all about baby steps. Day to day, failure to failure. Baby steps. You've got this overarching goal and you don't know exactly how to go about it, but you sort of work your way there over time. I remember my Grandpa Barnes once saying something to the effect of, you need to do something every day. You don't have to do everything. You don't even need to be successful at it. But you have to do something. 

Baby steps. Grandpa Barnes was a wise man. When I watch that video from eight years ago, I think about where we were with the bees, where we were with the business... where our life was going ... the fact that the honey house didn't even exist... nor two of our future kids... 

How things change. For the better! Despite all the failures. 

One of the present day baby steps I take on a weekly basis is the honey delivery trip to Columbus. I'm not in love this half-day task, but it's one of those many jobs that must be done. (People need their honey!) 

Toothbrush = Honey Deliveries                 Toilet Paper = School Teaching

I grumble about it, the time spent away from the bees and the projects, but it's really not so bad. Driving up there at least gives me a chance to reminisce-- I used to be in a classroom at this morning hour. Teaching science. Years before that, this early hour brought more science, but I was the one getting taught-- Wittenberg geology. And in between those two treacherous waters, I navigated about 27 different jobs and quasi-careers. 

Baby steps.

And the thing is, I'm pretty sure that my experience isn't unique. We each have our own course of baby steps to follow. To fail, to rethink, and to step again.

And just where do you think you're heading? 

How do you like them apples?

-Posted by Isaac

Do you like apples?

We like apples.

This time of year we often see our life revolving around apples. A few weeks ago we had the good fortune of camping out at the Yeary apple orchard in eastern Ohio. It was a beautiful and warm starlit night in the heart of about 100 acres of just-picked apple trees.

Doug Yeary showed us around the place, and the following morning we drove home with about five bushels. Yes, we like our apples!

As you know, we do pollination work for several orchards. About 150 hives get trucked to the blooming trees. This is a springtime thing.

So I can't help but feel partly responsible for the ensuing fall fun and shenanigans.

Fun like the annual apple butter party thrown by our friend Kristen Baughman. Kristen happens to have a boyfriend who is a big apple farmer. His name-- Doug Yeary. So getting the apples is no problem. Is that why she keeps him around?  

It takes an entire day to cook the many bushels of apples into a rich, thick butter.

During which time, we find things to do.

Conscientious Mason removes his glasses before shoving his face into whipped cream.

Lots of food, lots of drink. And for those with a competitive nature... you can make a contest out of anything. I'm happy to report that the adult league pie eating competition was won by yours truly. (That was before the beer. Which fortunately was not a contest. Because I would have lost.)

Kristen's party has become a fall requisite. So much fun, so much entertainment! The more mature adults busy themselves with the apple butter. The kids mostly run wild. Or catch up on the gossip.

By nightfall the hard work of cooking, scooping, and jarring this stuff results in about 130 pints of deliciousness.

Those of us who found non-working things to do can still enjoy the fruits of other's labor. Fresh baked bread rolls are perfect for cleaning the last scraps of apple butter out of that big copper kettle. And perfect for wearing off a buzz.

Kristen lets us sleep it off in her big brick charismatic farmhouse. 

Then she cooks us breakfast.

Of course our groggy kids, weary from their night of debauchery, ignore the eggs, bacon and apple buttered toast. There's still leftover cookies!

They have their father's sweet tooth. And they share their mother's interest for things natural and good. 

One fall a long time ago I fell in love with a lover of apples.

And I got her number too.

How do you like them apples?