Until this year I was convinced that we had a lovely little hobby of hosting bees on our property with some not inexpensive equipment and some not terribly convenient care. I consoled myself with the enjoyment of their life cycle, observing them and learning about their world while they pollinated our big garden, fruit trees and berry brambles and buzzed contentedly around our yard and surrounds. While I’m not the one actually caring for the bees most of the time (out sailing remember?) they still seemed like more work than 2 small jars per household per year (our yield last year) would require.
Straining the honey after the frames have been spun in the centrifuge.
Oh me of little faith! This year we harvested 5 gallons of honey and lest you think that seems like not so much, that’s 320, 8-ounce ball jars of honey. Dats a LOT of tea and baklava! The local adage is: enjoy the flush years while you can to get the years when you don’t get much. So true for much of life – enjoy the good stuff to the fullest.
Thank you, bees, for our lovely, amber syrup to drizzle in tea all year long.
Annie, Jon, Chloe, Ella, Joe, Rebecca and Gabriella
7 Comments
Jane Haahr
October 27, 2012 at 10:54 pmHi Annie – I thoroughly enjoyed your piece about your very productive bees. Mmmm…good! We’re hosting a Suffield CT woman this weekend at our home – she’s been very interested in hearing about the Riggin! Hope the “Frankenstorm” doesn’t make it to Rockland. Take care. -Jane
Annie Mahle
October 29, 2012 at 1:22 pmYes, the bees have been very good to us this year. Frankenstorm is heading this way, but we are all ready – at the dock, lines doubled up, bilge pumps checked, gas for the bigger pumps, etc. Checked and double checked! Thanks for thinking about us. Hope we get to meet your friend at some point.
Norm Lampton
October 29, 2012 at 7:47 pmA friend of mine here an MD has some uses for combinations of honey and cinanom(sp)that she gives to her patients. She is using it a lot with her patients that have arthritis(sp) and for her patients that are pregnant. I will see if I can get a copy and forward it to you.
The MO National Guard units here in Columbia and in Jefferson City are especially trained for post tornado operations. They are on their way to Boston where they will be staged for work in your area. Besides rescue and medics they carry guns to supress looting. They shot some looters after Joplin tornado.
Annie Mahle
October 30, 2012 at 9:35 amThis is really interesting about the honey. I’d love to read about what she’s doing.
As for the MO National Guard, thanks for sharing your men and women to help keep us all safe.
Kel
November 11, 2012 at 7:06 pmI have a wonderful baklava recipe if you need one – that is a bit lighter than most. We look forward to meeting you on a trip in 2013!
Annie Mahle
November 12, 2012 at 11:19 amUm, yes please! Feel free to send it any time! We look forward to meeting you next summer. 🙂