Fired up on Father's Day

-Posted by Isaac

They're home!

All the pollination hives are now where they belong. It took a bit longer this year to get them to their out yards. Weather difficulties. As usual.

Last week Mason had some friends over. The idea was stay out in the camper, but three inches of rain that night put a stop to it. Still, the next day they helped us to celebrate Ohio's awesomeness. 

It seems to be shaping up about like last year-- rain and more rain. Flooding and chaos in the heartland. Like a drum major in front of the parade, high winds preceed each storm . About once a week we circle the yard and pick up downed branches. One of these days we'll have a hell of a bonfire.

About a half mile away a big branch broke off the hickory tree and fell in the corn. Bridger and I went to cut it up, but the chainsaw was out of gas. No matter, we'll just drag our prey down the road.

All the weather worries have sort of prevented us from doing what we should be doing- extracting honey. It's time to pull the spring boxes. Unfortunately there's not a lot of it, so I guess it's no rush. As I said in an earlier post, we sold too many nucs and I sort of split myself out of a spring honey crop. Too bad, because it could have been pretty decent. Every now and then I come across a hive that was left strong enough to take advantage of our spring flow. 

Wish there were more!

I have learned some things over the years. Like, no matter what, keep your comb honey yards strong. Don't split those hives hard! Our spring honey flow is both intense and reliable. It may be short lived, but if you have some comb boxes on decently strong hives, you're sure to fill them. 

And we did.

So we got that going for us. Comb honey, check.

And the June mite treatment is well under way. Check.

I'm back into that good old formic acid. Missed those vapors! You can see that the bees also love this stuff. (Sarcasm) After applying the strip and putting the hive back together, the returning foragers seem to be stopped dead in their tracks:

Whoa! What did you guys do in there!

This time I won't preach about mite treatments. Most of you beekeepers know how important this is. Here's a post from last year where I was a bit more preachy: TREAT YOUR BEES!

But let's not set preachiness aside totally. I can't help it. I know full well I should just stick with bees, but it's Father's Day and this week we bumped up against an issue that set me on fire. It's political. So it's dangerous for someone like me. Normally, as you may have guessed, I lean a little left. Not hard left, just a little. (Just enough to piss off my father.) And I don't argue left. It's not worth getting red in the face. I just shrug. Mostly I sympathize. Everyone is a product of their background. Their parents. Their community. Their education. Their media sources. Their own stubbornness. Bigots will be bigots. Racists will be racist. Homophobes, homophobic. Haters will hate and deniers will deny. I shrug. It's beyond me to try to change a set mind with facts. Or logic. Or reason. Or rationality. Or empathy. But...

It was empathy that put this week's hot button issue on the forefront of my mind. In fact, I was so out of sorts about it, I had to run it by Jayne. Should we actually do something?

It's this deal of taking kids from their parents as a deterrent for illegal border crossings. Some 2000 kids now. What the hell? This is one issue that is so clearly cut and dry. So clearly right and wrong. How could anyone be on the wrong side of this? And let it continue? Yet you see memes and arguments on both sides. Is this actually a law of the United States? What kind of heartless bastard(s) put that through? Surely not fathers and mothers! Surely not God fearing Christians! Could any "God of Love" forgive such a thing? 

I know Colbert isn't everyone's cup of tea, but he nailed it on this one. This was yesterday:

Can you imagine the hell these people are going through? Put yourself  there- you are leaving the hell you came from. You didn't want to, it's all you've known, but you're desperate and hopeless. There's no future here. So you have your kids with you because you're doing this for them. The future. It's such a risk, and it may not succeed. And even if it does, the best that you yourself can hope for is a life in the shadows. In the margins of a marginal society. Picking strawberries? Hanging drywall? Living in sheds and basements. But your kids... your kids will find their way. They'll learn the language. They'll learn the customs. They'll assimilate. A bright hope for the next generation. Sure it's a risk. But the future is always a risk. And always worth it.

You're caught at the border. It's always been a border of hope and despair. And you got caught. You lose. Despair. You are handcuffed and herded. When just the day before, you were a hopeful father. You had your family, forging a path to a better life, running from crime and poverty and hopelessness. Running from criminals. Now you're the criminal. A criminal? Now at the mercy of the courts. But at least you're still a father. At least you've still got your kids.

And then the worst possible thing happens. Worse than torture, worse than death. This new country decides to enforce a law.

This is so clearly a case of right and wrong.

I'm happy to hear that there seems to be a rising tide of protest. A very justified protest. I will gladly lend my support to these people. 

Happy Father's Day. I hope you fathers get to enjoy your kids as much as I enjoy mine.

What the dickens?

-Posted by Isaac

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom,

it was the age of foolishness...

...a little recap on our tale of two vacations.

Three days in the NC mountains and three days on the SC beach. Both fun, interesting and memorable. Both exasperating. Eden decided that this was the trip where under no circumstance was she going to let herself be photographed with the family. 

This is the best we've got:

In recent years, the Carolinas have been our go-to spot for a quick and easy vacation. The beaches, the mountains, the forests and the history-- all within a day's drive.

But it's never quite as easy as you think. Aside from the usual difficulties of keeping the kids from killing themselves or each other, aside from the predictable moments of me wanting to strangle one of them... this time there were other more specific obstacles. Like getting both burnt and eaten alive on the beach. The temps hovered around ninety, and the no see ums (also called sand gnats) were out in force. We camped, and they seemed to come straight through the mesh of our tents. Each morning we woke to find ourselves covered red with bites. Then spent the day itching. It was fun!

When we weren't ducking the hot sun and darting the biting bugs, we were dodging the heavy rain. It rained every day.

This made hiking somewhat difficult. But I have to say, our kids really turned a corner on this trip. For the miles we covered, there was very little complaining. A real change from past hikes. It gives me hope. 

The three days in NC area were spent surrounded by art. While the mountains and mist provided a perpetual artistic backdrop, the town gave it up close and personal. Asheville seemed every bit a hub of interest and culture. Music, murals, food and events everywhere you turned. Even the people are works of art. From Wayne, our highly decorated Airbnb host to the nice lady serving coffee at the farmers market.

If the Asheville market has anything over Worthington, it would be the body art. (Except for Jess at the Honeyrun Farm tent. Nothing could top our Jess!)

Art was everywhere. We took a lunch break at the famous Woolworth's Lunch Counter,

and while our hotdogs were being made, we had some time to meander through the gallery section of the building. The kids quickly found their style.

And I found some stuff to my liking. 

Silly or profound? Depends on your frame of mind...

I got flipping though a box of painting copies, and found this.

I laughed and called Eden over. "Look Babygirl! It's me and you when I get mad. See, I'm the big ugly monster and you're the little kitty."

She looked for a second and shook her head. Grabbing the next one in the box, she said, No Daddy. "It's this one. See. I'm the girl and you're the bird."

The title of this-- STEALING BEAUTY FROM STRANGE ANGELS.

I stared at the picture a few seconds.

"You know what, Babygirl? You're right."

Asheville Bee Charmer

-posted by Jayne

Isaac needed the week off from blogging after his week off from beekeeping, so here I am, guest blogging on the blog I started (I handed it over to Isaac when I decided he was better at it.) Last week on our family vacation to Asheville, NC, we had the opportunity to visit an awesome store completely devoted to all things bees and honey:  Asheville Bee Charmer.  

Along with hordes of other tourists, we crammed ourselves into this small but mighty shop to discover all the delectable treats and bee themed merchandise they had to offer.

The best part of this store was actually the honey displays.  There was so much to look at, I honestly missed half of their honey varieties (this was mostly due to trying to keep my 4 kids from getting in others' way- it was crowded!)

The honey... it's... glowing!

Honey tasting bar complete with a staff member to assist you with all your sampling needs.

I took a lot of pictures so I could convince Isaac to build me displays such as these:

Check out the color variations in all the varieties of honey!  They offered both local honey as well as honey sourced outside of the US.

We also used our Saturday off to do the exact same thing we do EVERY Saturday.  Visit a farmer's market.  This is Asheville's City Market- I decided it would be a good one to visit after checking out several options on YELP.  Asheville seems to have a bustling local food economy with plenty of opportunities to source local food.

We spent the morning wandering the town, being serenaded by locals, learning how to use the "WALK" buttons at crosswalks.  Country bumpkins in the city.  Do you know of other great honey themed stores we need to visit? (Besides Savannah Bee, which we covered two years ago.)  We always need an excuse for another vacation!

Our own little honeybee being charmed in Asheville.

Pandora's Box

-Posted by Isaac

I had no less than three people compliment last week's blog. Completely unexpected. And let me tell you, it makes a person feel pretty good to be the catcher of such surprising compliments. Really brightens your day, you know? And it occurs to me that I should try to occasionally be the pitcher.

Young Jaydyn Rapp knows how this is done:

Jayne and I laughed through a pile of these during one of our Netflix evenings. We find the same truths every year-- Fifth graders know something about mental health that many adults tend to forget. It's simple: say nice things. Even if they're barely true, even if you have to make them up. Say nice things.

I'm keeping Jaydyn's letter as my "good guy" card. Next time the world's got me down, I'll brandish it like a sword. Back you critics! Back you naysayers! Look what I've got!

So I'm feeling pretty confident. Feeling pretty good. 

Now what are we getting into today? What big bright news from the bee farm?

For one, this week marked the last of our babies leaving their nursery.

And man, has it been one busy month. This year I've learned some (hard) lessons about wholesaling. Namely, that you can't back out of it. Even if nothing is going right- with the weather, with the bees. 

You still have to get these girls where they're going.

I'm a people pleaser. And it stresses me out. Next year I think I'll be more cautious with my numbers and my timing.

One thing that did go right this year was the queens.  

150 gorgeous fat beauties came right on time each week. And our queen acceptance was around 95%. Great strong pheromones on those girls. 

90% went out with the nucs, so I haven't had the chance to really evaluate them. But the few that went into our own hives are looking awesome. Check out this brood pattern!

Before pulling that frame, I glanced at the date on the lid. I had put her in exactly thee weeks previous. 

When the weather cooperates, beekeeping is easy.

We jumped directly into summer this year. I'm not the only one to notice this. Just a month ago we were shivering and hoping the dandelions would hang around. Now we're sweating. And the blooms are rapid fire. This week Jayne's peonies popped.

Back when it was cold, before the bee work became nonstop, we found a little time for some arrowhead hunting. No arrowheads, but Eden found a nice fossil.

It's hot now, and the bee work has slowed a bit. With the corn growing fast, we once again find time for arrowheads.

But once again, no arrowheads to be found. Only rocks.

Which is just fine. Rocks are thrilling in their own right. I know I sound like a madman, but I repeat this to my kids every time we go out-- when you know rocks, you know the secrets of the earth. (And the secrets of life, come to think of it.) Hopefully someday they'll understand.

No arrowheads, but we did find something kinda cool. 

We debated without consensus. Is this a monarch? I'm thinking not. The antennas are the wrong color.

The caterpillar didn't really sound like a pirate.

That was me.

Sorry about the narration.

The center of the universe

-Posted by Isaac

You know, this ain't so bad.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it appears that God still loves the Bible Belt. At least right now. Whereas I spend about 50 weeks a year pining for the Rocky Mountains, we have now come to this, the blissful two weeks here in central Ohio where I can breath deep and just enjoy the place. It's wonderful to be living. And for 1/20th of the year, it's wonderful to be living right here! Smack dab in the center of the universe.

The honeysuckle has bloomed! The black locust has bloomed! The heat is here to stay! The honey flow is on!

The nucs are sold! (Almost.) The bees are home from the apples!

A few days ago Maizy helped me go get the last load.

And it doesn't hurt to treat your free help to some awesome gas station junk food.

No sooner did we set those bees down, we looked around and had to start supering. My favorite honey maker was reaching bloom.

I'm in love with this tree. Is it possible to love a tree? If it is, the black locust would have my heart. It's both a honey maker and a thing of beauty. I've fallen so head over heels that I've planted some 700 saplings over the last decade.

We're starting to see a lot of bloom off the oldest.

And it only gets better. When they reach 30, 40, 50 years old, they don't even bother with leaves. Their spring foliage is nothing but white tumbling flowers. 

Tell me that's not a thing of beauty?? Especially if you're a bee. 

I love them up close and I love them from afar.

If you happen to be on I71 heading down to Cincinnati, take a look around. The forested countryside is glowing with pockets of black locust. It's a two week wonderland.

And you can almost set you watch to it-- swarm season has commenced. With the one-two nectar punch of locust and honeysuckle, the bees are plugging their brood nest and running out of space. This means swarming in short order.

I caught a couple this week... from my own hives. 

One of them decided to be cocky and hang around the farmstand a while.

Then it decided to hang on the farmstand.

Easy pickins.

Luckily that happened the day before all the kids came over. This was the week for the annual kindergarten and fifth grade Honeyrun Farm field trips.

A thrilling time for all. (Except me. Some of the time.) Jayne, as you may have expected, does all the coordinating, set-up and leg work. 

And the animals provide many time killing distractions. We start with the dog. Then the cats. Then the goats, the chickens, the ducks...

and finally make it to the marquee event: the bees.

The bees and the trees. I tend to let my excitement show when diving into this wonderful universe, but I realize in the end I'll never compete with Lucky Dog. Or even the ducks.

The school is only a half mile away, so it's a walking field trip. At the end of the day I can only hope my excitement over locust trees fell on a few receptive ears. Maybe somebody will look up any see those big white flowers waving goodbye. 

Maybe they'll look back one day and recall a time when the world was perfect.