Harvest Honey, Honey

I plan on harvesting some honey in the next couple of weeks.  Not much, perhaps just a frame or two.  I want to compare this season's honey to last season's, of which I still have several pounds.  I don't have an extractor (yet), so I plan on uncapping the frame and letting the honey drip out.  I know this might take a while, but it's more of an experiment than a full-on harvest.

Did I tell you that I'm making mead with some of last year's honey?  I have a three gallon carboy bubbling quietly in the basement.  Mead takes several months to ferment, so I am patiently waiting on this project, watching the magic happen.  It's golden and cloudy with tiny bubbles rising to the surface.  (Oh, and since I love me a good fermentation project I am also making some stout.  I'll be bottling that this weekend!)

Cloth diapering

It may seem extreme to many people, but cloth diapering is alive and well!  Even in these modern times of ours filled with convenience items and speed.  Yes, cloth diapering can slow one down a bit, but for me, I like a little forced slowing once and a while.  I, like so many mamas out there, spend so much time tending to my little baby, and the extra seconds snapping on a diaper cover just roll into that. Oh, the days filled with soothing and napping and feeding and strolling...and laundry!  What did I do before my little one?

But I digress.  I am using both cloth diapers and disposable diapers.  I've found that the cloth diapers are great for those long days at home when I can spend all the time in the world changing Baby.  I use Cloth-Eez prefolds and MotherEase diapers mostly.  I love the prefolds- so classic and absorbent!  The MotherEase diapers are on loan from a friend and have lots of snaps for the growing babe.  Hubs loves these because they have a utilitarian feel.  And he doesn't mess with the Snapeez on the prefolds.  I have some BumGenius all-in-one diapers, too (liner and cover in one) and these are great for quick cloth diapering.  When I go out and want to show off my cloth diapering skills, I bring these along.  See?!  It's easy!

The disposables have been great for trips and over night.  Baby had a diaper rash for a while, and I think it had to do with the cloth getting wet at night and sitting on his skin.  The disposables were nice for keeping him drier while the rash healed.

More on cleaning the diapers later, but I've found the best way to get out poop stains!  I'll leave you with one word-SUN.

Maine vacation

There's nothing more restorative and refreshing than a week in Maine.  This year we stayed on Great Pond, one of the Belgrade Lakes.  It was a real family affair, with 18 of us total.  These were lazy days, folks.  Fishing during the cool mornings, swimming during the hot afternoons, and eating themed dinners cooked by a different family each night.  The food, oh the food.  We sure do know how to cook.  Lobster, London broil, tacos, gourmet pizzas, ahhh...  It was the first vacation for my new little 3 month old baby, too.  Oh, yes.  More on him in another post! 

Spay and Neuter Propaganda

This little picture is hanging up at my work, and I just can't keep from giggling every time I see it. 

Bee Update

I checked on the bees only a few short weeks ago, but the snow and some windy weather has since wiped out my colony.  I discovered this last week, and have been on damage control ever since.  I realized there were three things that I must do to continue being a beekeeper, and to grow and learn from the situation. 

1. Call someone more experienced for advice.  I rang up a local expert, and made a plan for her to come over and do an impromptu colony autopsy.  She was very obliging, and came over the day after I called.  Her determination was that the bees died from the cold.  They were close to their honey stores, but not close enough.  The cold immobilized them and they couldn't get to their food.  So, really, they died from cold and starvation.  Poor buggers.  Some were dead with their heads in the cells.

2. Order up a new colony.  I called up my local supplier and placed an order for a new package of Italians and a queen.  Those bees should be here within a few weeks, so my hive won't be empty for long!

3. Clean out the hive and harvest the honey.  On a nice day, I opened up the hive and scraped out all the errant wax and some of the propolis.  The propolis is like glue, and very hard to clean.  I did the best I could with that.  I borrowed the honey extracting equipment from the Hampden County Beekeepers Association (they lend this equipment to members), and my husband and I took the better half of a day to extract the honey.  We uncapped the combs, put them in the spinner, spun the honey, and strained it into jars.  Here are some pics of the process.

Uncapping the comb with the hot knife

Ready to be spun, handcrank!

Straining the wax and debris from the honey

Final product!

Community Garden Plot Lottery

This was the view from my back porch just a few short days ago.  The March 1st snow storm brought about 10 inches of wet, heavy snow.  It was beautiful!  The type of snow that makes the pine boughs hang.  Almost a week later, the snow is still sticking to some of the trees.  I don't expect that will last long since temperatures are predicted to climb into the 60s by Thursday.  Oh, March!

Being 8 months pregnant, I didn't shovel this stuff.  It was strange to pass up the chore.  I have always been an avid shoveller (and leaf raker), the first one out of the house.  I like the crisp air and getting warm while throwing the snow.  But I didn't want to strain anything, so I stayed inside and made hot chocolate for my hard-working husband.  I was glad when I looked out the window and saw the neighbor helping him with the plowed in part of the driveway.  We have the best neighbors.

I am lucky enough to live in a small city that has a community garden.  Last night, the organizers of the garden held the lottery drawing to distribute empty plots to people who want to grow things.  All of us who are new to the garden filled out an application and paid a $20 fee (technically a mandatory donation).  Then our names were drawn at random from a box and we selected the plot we would like for the 2012 season.  There were 15 available plots and 5 new people, so no one was left out.  I chose a nice spot on the uphill side of the garden, close to the hose and away from the poison ivy.  I have visions of bringing the baby there and gardening in the rich soil.  Tomatoes, peppers, spinach, peas...  My yard is just too shady for these things.

Storm Coming

It was a gorgeous, sunny day today.  Highs were in the low 40s, but it felt warm.  That might change tomorrow, as a storm is predicted to move in.  Here in Western Massachusetts, we might get up to 12" of snow.  We'll see.  It's been such a mild winter that I can't really imagine a snow storm coming in. 

Since it was so mild today, I checked on the hive of honeybees in the backyard.  I had noticed some dead bees around the entrance, and I wanted to see how many corpses were really there and if there were any living bees left.  I broke off a stick and used it to swoop the dead bodies out of the hive.  Yep, there were a lot of dead bees.  I donned my hood and got out my hive tool to take a look in the supers.  The top super looked very quiet but when I lifted it, I could see a small cluster of bees near the center of the middle super.  Ah ha!  There are live bees.  I put everything together as quickly as I could, and felt assured that we might make it through the season.  I want my colony to survive!  Not only because they are little beings that I am managing, but because I don't want to shell out $90 for a package of bees.  Buying new bees every season is not sustainable.

Here are some pictures of the hive last summer.

If all goes well this season, I might get another hive next spring.  I really enjoy working with the bees, and I find it amazing that these little critters have such a complex social order.  The honey is divine.  The wax is useful.  If I hone my skills a bit, I can definitely see expanding my bee empire!