A Spoonful of Honey

I have had lots of hive beetles in all my hives. It seems the lime and the blue hives have lots more than the rest. Thanks to Mr. Charlie's idea to use the plastic on top I have managed to kill beetles everyday. I can see how people lose hives to these awful pests. If I didn't check and kill them everyday they would surely over run and take my hives.

Sunday morning I got a spoonful of honey and took it into the bee yard. I chased bees around till I got one to taste it. She drank and drank till her little honey stomach was full and bulging. I took lots of photographs and finally got this one. I absolutely love it. You can see her little tongue slurping up the honey.

Things are going well on Sasserfrass Hill. We got a supply of Shea Butter, Jojoba oil, Cocoa Butter and lanolin in and we are making lotion bars this week. We will see how that goes.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Bee Well,

Ms Deb

We extracted 112 pounds of Honey today!

We are buzzing along on Sasserfrass Hill. Today I extracted a super from the Blue, purple and pink hives. Mr. Charlie came by yesterday and helped me put the escape boards on. Rick took the three supers off late yesterday and blew out most of the bees. He put the supers into the trunk of my car so I could take over to Mr. Charlies Honey House to extract.
Mr. Charlie also confirmed I have no queen in the Aqua and Peach hives. The queens we got from Wilbanks Apiaries and installed on June 17, did not take!!!!! Not sure why???? We are going back down to Wilbanks in Claxton on Thursday and pick up four more queens. (Mr Charlie needs two also.) This will be the third queen for the Aqua hive and the second for the Peach. The Clipped and Marked queens cost $20 each. I thinks these hives may be costing me just to keep them. But that's O.K.

I had to wait for Rick to get home from work to help me get the two 5 gallon buckets out of my car. They are too heavy for me to pick up. I am proud to announce I extracted 112 pounds of honey today. I am very excited about another big harvest from the girls on Sasserfrass Hill.

Mama put another case of half pint jars into the dishwasher. I have sold more half pints than any other size this season. I will bottle today's honey on Friday morning. Just in time for the Brickyard Market in North Augusta, Friday afternoon from 4 - 8pm. This will be our fourth Friday at the Brickyard and we have really enjoyed being one of the vendors. If you have not been over to the Brickyard Market on Friday afternoon come by and see us and all the vendors. They sell fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, jams and jellies, jewelry, candles, wooden bowls and much more. Don't forget to pick up a few jars of liquid gold. Start eating your honey now to build up your immunities to help fight your fall allergies. Hope to see you soon.

Bee Well,

Ms Deb

August 3, 2009 Happy Birthday Julian

Today is Monday, August 3, 2009. Today is my youngest brother Julian's birthday. I called him today to wish him many blessings. We have had several nice showers on Sasserfrass Hill this past week. My grass is still green and my flowers are still blooming. The bees seem to be doing well. My peach hive is not bringing in pollen like I think it should. I may go into it this week and see if I can see any problems. I have been persistent at killing many hive beetles in all my hives. I wonder what other beekeepers do that don't kill them everyday. I can see how you could loose a hive to this pest. If I could sell hive beetles... I would be a wealthy woman.

Tonight is the monthly meeting of the Clark Hill Beekeepers. I hope we have a good turnout. I love to hear about other people bees and how they are doing. Thank you God for another beautiful day on Sasserfrass Hill.