HODGEPODGE POST

Some of the flowers I planted. This is butterfly weed. I thought it was so pretty growing around the lake, I decided to plant some in the yard.

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BEE YARD MANIA

It is hard to fully appreciate the scale of which my bees have multiplied in just a couple months in this picture. I video taped but the sound effects didn't transfer well. There was a nice humming sound coming from the mass of bees flying about outside the hive. I stood only 4 feet away when I took this picture but as usual because the sun was finally shined and the air was warm the bees were too busy to notice me standing there. 

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THREE STINGS AND NO CAMERA

Of course, the day I decide not to bring out the camera to the bee yard I get stung three times in my hand. Well, I did have gloves on and THANKFULLY the stingers didn't penetrate the goatskin or else I'd be in misery right now.

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THE CHAIN GANG

I just thought this was the cutest thing. The bees connecting to each other to cross frames. And here my primitive brain just figured they walked all the way to the bottom and crawled back up the other side. 

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NATURAL SOAP COLORANT: HIBISCUS

Hibiscus is my favorite natural soap colorant. Not because it creates a vibrant color in my soaps but because hibiscus has so many beneficial uses. I learned about hibiscus as a tea when I was a student living in Mexico during the early 1990's. In the town I lived in the Jamaica Tea (hibiscus) was plentiful, at every

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SOAP SWAP REPORT!

There was a great soap swap on the facebook group we "heart" soap recently, the theme was "all natural" and this is what I received.

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3rd HIVE BODY IN PLACE

June 24 I upgraded to 3 hive bodies. I know I did it prematurely. We had about 7 full frames of honey and brood and I was suppose to wait til there were 8 full frames but I was sensing that they were feeling stuffed in there. Call me crazy but it was a mothers instinct. LOL! I removed the cork from the 2nd hive

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FRIENDS, TRAVEL, CRAFT...

We recently took a small trip to the North Shore of Minnesota. Always a beautiful location to spend time in with the family.

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PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN'T A QUEEN CELL

Although every beekeeper probably deals with this from time to time and knows exactly what it means and how to handle it, for me it means only one thing... MY BEES ARE GOING TO SWARM!

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IS A BEEKEEPER EVER PREPARED?

Today was not one of my "shining moments" as a beekeeper. Part of it is, I'm on edge. Why? Not too sure but the nice weather and my moods are not coinciding. Maybe it's because it has been 11 days since I checked on the girls I feel like I've lost the touch. Whatever it may be, I sense my girls are losing faith. Lots of buzzing when normally they are grinning ear to ear (if they had them) and quiet as can be.

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BAD DREAMS MAKE FOR BAD FEELINGS

I had a dream last night that I went to check on my bees and all but a few had swarmed. Although I don't think that a swarm would leave me with just 5 bees, it was a disturbing dream. I felt defeated and woke up feeling the same.

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THE BEES ARE IN A TIZZY

Not sure what woke them up but they are very awake this afternoon. I almost forgot that I had bees until today. They've been so quiet, not really showing signs of "business as usual". Coming and goings as normal but no big cluster of bees rushing out to greet the sunshine as I've seen in the past. I didn't worry

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BEFRIENDING BUMBLE BEES

My two daughters (mainly my oldest) are going to try and attempt keeping bumble bees this year.  

Bumble bees are endangered the same way honeybees are. Their numbers are dwindling and the cause is unknown although the suspected cause is pesticide use. Without bumblebees there will be inadequate pollination of certain plants. 

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2nd HIVE BODY ADDED

My hive has grown

 I'm not 100% sure I should have added the 2nd hive body but since the bees went from covering 5 full frames to now covering 8 full frames (some weren't fully drawn) in one week, I thought it best to add another one. I can't believe they made that much progress in less than 7 days. 

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