Junior Police Academy

 This week the kids joined Junior Police Academy here in our city and had lots of fun and interesting experiences. They learned all about driving while intoxicated while attempting to maneuver a golf cart around cones while wearing "intoxication" goggles. They learned what SWAT and K-9 units are busy doing and got to love on a furry friend. They solved cases, made arrests, and practiced CPR. They participated in a high speed chase using a simulator. It was a great educational time with some very cool officers. Everyday they were excited to share what they did.

Why They Call it WORKING the Bees

If the harvest is the high of beekeeping, then right after that is the low. It's Texas people. It's hot and humid! Like a hundred degrees with a feels like of 108! And we are suited up and three hives to manage through. I know hobbyist with many more hives are laughing at us but it doesn't make you sweat any less. 

Then there's the mite fight. We have to test and treat using a variety of methods to keep the mite count down so the bees can have a shot at making it though winter. 

Then running out to check the DIY solar heater and changing out the gunk that is left over after the wax has melted without burning yourself. 

And then there is the occasional causality. Poor Neal got stung on the nose while wearing his new bee suit. The veil pressed up against his face and some worker bee took aim. 

And just when North Texas gives you a bit a hope with false fall, it comes down hard with second summer.  It can be rough. We don't "get free honey" and as kind as someone is to purchase our honey, they are getting a deal.

Just look at my sweet man! No he is not that close to the camera. That is a swollen nose and lip. His nose was so swollen he sounded hypo-nasal. Thank goodness for Benedryl, ibuprofen, and ice. That was Saturday morning. 

On Sunday, I got a pinched nerve in my back getting ready for church of all things and Neal with is puffy face went to church with the kids. While there I got a text from the Wilson family that Brother Morris, a fellow church goer and beekeeper, had been in a head on collision Saturday night while moving his bees to his new residence. He was in the hospital with broken vertebrae, ribs, and more. The bees had been left on the side of the road as he was driven to the hospital. The Wilsons were coaxing this gentleman's car to a shop the morning after and asked if we could help recover the bees so they would not get stolen--it being a rural area with many beekeepers and an established colony and hardware being worth hundreds of dollars.

I was bummed I could not physically help but texted Neal. After sacrament meeting, as he was setting up to care for the toddlers, he saw the text, arranged for toddler coverage (thanks you, Bone family), arranged for the kids to be taken home by a friend (thank you, Huntzinger family), enlisted another friend (thank you, Carter) , and texted that he was on his way home. I got the necessary tools, suits, and drinks in the van so we could leave almost as soon as arriving. He jumped in the van and was off. On the way there he talked through the possible scenarios and what they would need to do. At this point Carter shared he was allergic to bees but he wanted to do it and he did.

The bees had not been taken. Though their entrance had been blocked for transport, the hive boxes had shifted in the accident or when being place roadside and they were able to get in and out and have air. Not good for loss of forager bees, but it did keep the colony from overheating and baking the bees in the Texas heat. they got it in the van, covered it with a light sheet, continued to wear their suits, and situated it at the new residence.

I am sorry that our friend is in such poor circumstances at the time. I am grateful that he has a congregation family to minister to his needs, and I am glad my husband with his serving heart was able to do so in a unique way, despite a tender nose.

Weave Me Alone!

 My sweet family were kind enough to weave me alone so I could finish my baskets this month. I made a potato basket and an egg basket. The egg basket was the reason I got into basket weaving. I had seen a community that promotes homestead trades and offered basket weaving classes up until the pandemic. When we got the chickens, I wanted to make an egg basket so I started snooping around and now I'm in a guild which sounds pretty fancy but so far is a whole lot of fun. Besides since most are way more gray than me, I feel young hanging out with them.  They do crack me up though. 

Honey Harvest Time!

 We had set our extraction date almost as early as they offered because typically July 4th is a sure indicator that the honey flow is over in North Texas. When we started pulling frames, the bees had already started eating into the honey stores. We took off supers from our two strongest hives as the third hive was a struggling rescue colony. Neal took frames out and did the shake test if there were any open comb and Sophie and I brushed and shook bees off, then I would walk it over to a bin with a lid while he pulled the next. We estimated that we had between 60-90 pounds, though we don't have much experience in estimating this. 

Then the fun part! We headed over to the John and Skip Talbert's facility to extract the honey. It is always fun and we enjoy catching up with our old instructors. We ended up with just over 60 pounds. This is much better than our first two extractions.

Our honey was sweet but not overly so, and had clover and possibly a mint, such as horse mint, because it had a bit of a zing at the end. I tasted mint but Skip Talbert was the one to suggest it may be horse mint though it usually blooms at it's peak in July and August. 

We were excited to expand our customer base this year because of the larger harvest. We used Facebook to get the word out about our hobby and available honey and had to print labels that affixed to the jar this year to continue to abide by the laws. We sold the 1, 2, and 4 pound bottles. We were out of honey in a couple weeks. Because of the economy being rough right now, we were glad we had bought bottles a couple months early because not only were they hard to come by, but the price shot up nearly double for some bottles. We were very pleased with the bee's work and proud and excited to share our honey with our customers.