HONEY HARVEST.
We had a great harvest last week - a little over 40 pounds of honey and only one sting. At the rate the bees are working, there will be plenty for us and some to share with our CSA members! Further watched from the porch and seems like he'll be a great beekeeper someday.- Hannah.
A (BITTER) SWEET SURPRISE.
Yesterday, I was having some anxiety. I was sitting in our tiny little room of the barn worrying about my bees, sure that they must be starving, running low on their winter stores and desperate for spring weather. We had noticed them behaving somewhat erratically the day before, and I was positive that this must equal doom.And so even though it was snowing outside, I decided I had to do something. I quickly made up a modified biodynamic bee tea (I used honey, spring water, chamomile, and sage) and we headed off to give them some food. Upon checking the first hive, I was pleasantly surprised to lift the lid and see the circular bulge of bees huddled around the top board - a sign of health! I gave them their tea and then moved to the next hive. It was a weak hive from the very beginning, always less productive and lively then the other. And sure enough, I opened the hive and saw that it was done for. It contained only a sprinkling of half-frozen bees, barely able to move, and near the entrance of the hive - a mouse nest. The hive must not have been strong enough to keep out these invaders and the mice had taken up a cozy winter residence. And as sad as I was to lose the hive, I quickly realized that the entire top super was OVERFLOWING with honey. We removed the box and rushed back down the hill, spending the rest of the blizzardy day harvesting nearly 20 pounds of miraculous honey. The strange balance of life on a farm, the good and the bad, life and death. Out of the sadness, a little sweetness.- Hannah.
DIY DONUTS (sort of)
As I have written about before, I have a serious sweet tooth. When we are on the farm, out in the middle of nowhere, it is not really a problem. We only have honey - so most of my sweet baking experiments remain relatively healthy. But in the city - not only can I go to the store for a cup of sugar whenever I want, but there are so many adorable little shops and cafes with muffins and cupcakes and gelato and donuts - it is terribly tempting....and all within walking distance. So, when I get a craving for something sweet, instead of heading to the bakery - I have been forcing myself to either do without or make it myself. Cooking your own food - be it your dinner or your dessert - means that you are directly in contact with your ingredients. Just as cooking your own meat forces you to realize that it actually used to be an animal, watching yourself pour three cups of sugar and a stick of butter into a mixing bowl might make you rethink your chocolate chip cookies.But you guys....I really love donuts. One of my favorite memories of my life in Nashville during college was going to Fox's Donut Den, a little shop down the street with bad coffee and wonderful cake donuts. Many a late-night study session were fueled by those donuts. So, to keep me away from Fox's, I decided to make my own. Now, I am using the term 'donut' here very loosely - these are essentially honey cinnamon muffins. But trust me when I say, they are delicious and donut-like in flavor. PLUS - they are cheap (that's a very important quality around this household). No fancy ingredients that we didn't already have.Here's the recipe in case you find yourself in a similar state of craving. They are very simple, and would make a special treat for Christmas morning!For the DOUGH:
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup oil (I would recommend lard. Obviously. But I used olive oil, because we had a vegetarian in the house and it worked very well.)
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup milk
For the COATING:
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Combine your flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in one bowl - and mix your oil, egg, honey and milk in another. Slowly add your dry ingredients into the wet and stir just enough to mix. Bake in a greased muffin pan for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.While the muffins are baking, set up an assembly line: the melted butter in one bowl, and the sugar and cinnamon (mixed together) in another.When the muffins are done, shake them out of the muffin pan while they are still warm. First, dip each muffin into the butter, and then roll it around in the cinnamon sugar mixture, tapping off the excess.And there you go! Pretty little honey cinnamon donut holes - no deep-frying or corn syrup required!- Hannah.
Recipe adapted from here.
A BUSY BEE WEEKEND.
This past Sunday, Jesse and I suddenly realized that if we were going to move our beehives to Bugtussle - we had to do it NOW. As in....on Monday. The weather seemed right, and I wanted to make sure they had some forage available in their new home before the winter set in. We scrambled to prepare, buying some ratchet ties and duct tape and other such securing devices, and we went to work. I spent all day Sunday working in the hives, removing the top super, harvesting the honey, and closing off the top entrance of the hivewith some fine wire mesh.I wasn't planning on harvesting any honey this year. I wanted to make sure these ladies had plenty of food stored away for their first winter. But. They hadn't been all that productive in the latest supers that I added. One extra, kind of empty box on the hives = just more space for them to have to heat throughout the winter. PLUS - one extra level on the hives just made them that much more difficult to move. So, a honey harvest we had! It was a small amount, all in all, probably a half gallon all together. BUT IT IS SO MAGICAL! Cutting into the comb and watching the delicious golden honey pour out into the jar below, I fell in love with bees all over again.
After the harvest, on Sunday night, I closed up the hives (by plugging the entrance with a t-shirt - very fancy) and Jesse helped me load them into the truck. We secured them as best we could, and we headed out on the 3 hour journey to Bugtussle at 5 AM the next morning.To make a long story short, it didn't go great. The bees escaped during the drive. It was pouring down rain at the moment we decided to unload the hives. I got stung in the butt. STILL - it could have been so much worse. After we placed the hives in their new home, the sun came out and we watched them take some orientation flights, getting their bearings and seeing Bugtussle for the first time. It makes me excited for our move very soon - when we can know, after a very stressful year, that we are DONE - we are in our FOREVER HOME and that our new life is just beginning.- Hannah.