Traced Elements

Tag: bees

Thank-you Bees!

From 20 hives, our own Nurture in Nature bees have been busy buzzzyy…

Our own honey is now available in our Farm-acy Stand and with the wax caps from the honey combs, came an exciting learning day of rendering the wax and the extra honey, that had been extracted by our beekeeper Joel.

Feeling like a hungry bear, I scooped up handfuls of the wax, dead bees and honey from the large tub into the slow cooker and like a bear, licking my paws was so good and irresistible! (I did wash them of course before continuing).

Good thing Mr Bear didn’t smell it from afar because the bees certainly did and tried to come join me to claim it back!

Once melted, I filtered it through cheese cloth so the wax dripped through into water, cooling immediately to form pure wax while the slum gum (unwanted material) was caught and the rest of the honey settled at the bottom of the water. Amazingly once the water was drained off as much as possible, 7 more jars of cooking honey were filled. Yay!

For our Friday workshop, we decided to use the wax to create wax food wraps and for those not familiar with them, we dip or paint some lovely cotton material, the melted wax which when hardens can be shaped around a pot, used to wrap lunch sandwiches in, and any other use that can be thought of. (Thank you Carin in your guidance in making these and provision of the cloth).

Though many pieces were made by many hands, making it easy work to process lots of wraps, we realised we did not mention that in coming to our workshop, our philosophy is that we are here as a community, learning and sharing together, so though one person may make many pieces, that does not entitle them to claim those pieces as their ‘own’. Rather they are learning by helping, giving something back but do get to keep an item they make.

This leaves all the other wraps to be sold in the Farm-acy Stand which brings funds back to the community garden, (and to those happy hardworking bees)….so lets please say a thank you to all our local bees out there for providing us with some wonderful products to enjoy!

Follow Nurture in Nature’s adventures at https://www.nurtureinnature.ca, or visit them at one of their forthcoming September events. For more details check out https://www.nurtureinnature.ca/upcoming-events

August 31, 2020
A Bee Journey Vol 2

If you recall from my first post (A Bee Journey Vol 1), I mentioned that getting into beekeeping is not cheap. So how did a frugal girl reduce her start-up costs? She asked her carpenter boyfriend to help her make bee boxes instead of buying them! So, on a Saturday in April, we stopped at Home Depot for wood and spent 5 very productive hours in the workshop, cutting enough wood to make 4 bee hives. While he cut, I gave cutting directions and sanded the newly cut pieces. The total savings were $300, which was about the amount that I had to spend on frames (this is where the bees store their honey, eggs, pollen, etc.) I needed to buy 120 frames for only for 4 hives. Imagine how many you’d need for a 50-hive apiary (that’s around 1500 frames!).

Then came the fun part, picking paint colours! My favorite colour is teal, so three shades of teal it was. Bees see blue, green and ultraviolet, which means they see colours differently than we do (humans see red, blue and green). So any colour in their spectrum works, but not red. Bees don’t like red! You don’t want too dark a paint as it will increase the internal hive temperature, which will make the bees have to work harder to keep the hive at 34C. This will cause them stress and we don’t want that. Many factors affect honeybee survival and it’s the beekeeper’s job to manage factors that can cause them stress.

So, now I had unassembled hive boxes and paint. We spent a good portion of a day gluing, nailing and screwing the boxes and frames together. Then another afternoon of painting. And I think they turned out pretty good. Now I just have to be patient and wait for the bees!

The kids started sanding on their own!

Frames, frames and more frames!

The finished goods!

June 1, 2018
Bees? Why not!

Several years ago my Aunt had honey bees. My sister Lia, @pembeehives, was cuckoo about those bees. I thought they were pretty cool until I started walking up to the hive and had a massive panic attack. I was certain they could feel my fear and that the whole hive would ascend on me and sting me to death. Death by bees, no thanks!! Since then I have had ZERO interest in raising bees. My sister, on the other hand, has only grown more fond, more bee crazy.

Last fall, my kids and I moved back into my childhood home. A little house on 2 acres. A small green patch of freedom to plant, grow, raise, and love. I brought my chickens, added a few more to the flock, and then a few more and maybe a few more after that! I also got 2 more horses so that my boy Banjo wouldn’t be lonely.

Horses and chickens, dogs, cats, rats and kids. I was set, and I am busy!! Then I had a thought. My sister loves bees, maybe she would like to get some bees and they could have a little spot here and she could be the crazy bee lady and I will be the crazy chicken lady and everything would be fantastic!

Bees? Why not!!

I forgot about the fact that I was terrified of a colony of bees coming after me while I weeded my garden or fed my horses, stinging me while I was just minding my own business. Lia, @pembeehives, was all in! She was already dreaming of hives, long before I offered. She and Alex built hives, they brought them up and she painted them with my kids.

The 2 nucs (boxes of bees) were ordered and the site for the hives planned, changed, replanned, changed and planned again. Still, here I am scared of bees. Terrified.

On Saturday, Lia and I went up to Delores’ for a bee keeping workshop. A few hours of listening to Delores talk about bees, watching her take the hives apart, standing closer to a swirl of bees than I ever thought I would, and I discovered that I am no longer afraid of bees! They are fascinating!

When I first put our names down for this bee-keepers’ workshop, I was going into it as a non-interested party. I was going for my sister, so that when she wasn’t around I would have a bit of knowledge and if anything needed to be done while she was in Vancouver I could help the hive out.

In the end, I have had the chance to face my fears and now I can go into this as a partner, not just a watcher. I can go into this beekeeping adventure with less fear and more enthusiasm, though I think I will let Lia hold the reins, and stick, for the most part, to being a crazy chicken lady.

Meg
Once a farm girl, always a farm girl.

Follow my farm adventures on Instagram @once_a_farm_girl

May 28, 2018
A Bee Journey Vol. 1

I’m very good at multi-tasking.

I’m writing this while at a three day craft market in Vancouver selling my handcrafted shrubs (Thirsty Whale Elixirs – small batch cocktail mixers made with organic apple cider vinegar, fruit, and cane sugar) and sending emails for my full time job. You might say, “I’m busy as a bee!” – so why not add another hobby on top of sewing, crafting, making sourdough and helping with our family’s brewery (Pemberton Valley BeerWorks)?!

I have always wanted to have bees. Growing up, my Grandfather had bees (Don Miller of Miller Meadow Farms – now Across the Creek Organics). I have memories of his hives out by the rhubarb and grape vines – little white boxes of magic. Memories of full gallon jars of liquid gold in Grandma’s pantry. Memories of covering her homemade biscuits in sugary love. He eventually had to stop beekeeping as he developed a bee sting allergy (And this being Pemberton in the ‘80s with no EpiPens available and only a small clinic a 15 minute drive away, I totally understand why he stopped.).

My first time “getting my hands dirty” or sticky in a hive was about 8 years ago on the farm when my Aunt got her first hive. I had no idea what I was doing, but no one got stung and we harvested 11 liters of amazing honey. Unfortunately, the hive didn’t survive the winter and now I have inherited some of her equipment.

Beekeeping is not a cheap hobby, but if you are lucky and not too greedy you can make some money selling honey to family and friends. Why not be greedy? Well, bees collect flower nectar and convert it into honey, (honey is their carbohydrate and pollen their protein), so they need to store enough of both to last through the winter.

In preparation for receiving my first two bee nucs (or nucleus, a small bee colony made from larger ones) at the end of May, I have taken a three day beekeeping course, read four books, talked to local bee keepers, watched countless educational videos online, and I still don’t know anything!

The real learning will come once I get my hands sticky again. And then even after a few years, I still probably won’t know enough.

All I can say is that I’m fascinated by Apis Melifera (the Western/European Honey Bee) and I can’t wait to learn more and share my journey with anyone who wants to read about it!

You can follow my journey on Instagram @Pembee_Hives.

April 27, 2018