DON'T LEAVE HOME NOW!

One of my girls left the hive but didn't make it back. I'm assuming it was recent because she isn't covered in snow. My daughter found her in the driveway, quite far from her hive, so I don't think she left her home to die but maybe came out when the sun was shining but got too cold??? Whatever the reason, it is always sad to see them like this but it's natural nonetheless.

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ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD

Actually, it is soap. I love this iridescent glitter from brambleberry and I am looking forward to buying some of the newbies she is selling. Have you seen the little stars? I have posted the before and after photo in hopes you can see the glitter better. It was added on the second pic. 

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BEES DON'T FREEZE, THEY STARVE!

Although I took 16 hrs of "Beekeeping in Northern Climates" course back in March I find that I've forgotten most things about honeybees. Like remembering the fact that they don't freeze but instead starve to death in the winter. Why the black cardboard box to warm them up on sunny days then? Well, because, the warmer they are the less honey they consume. Ooooooh, yeah... Oh yeah?? Ok, now I'm lost.

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WINTER IS HERE

And it is beautiful!

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CUPCAKE BATH FIZZIE HOLDER TUTORIAL

Can you tell I'm feeling paper crafty lately?

I have my phases and this months phase is paper. I was trying to find a small box pattern when I came across a blog with this box holding a a washcloth cupcake (very cute). 

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LIPBALM HOLDER TUTORIAL

I was walking through the MOA this afternoon when I saw this cute itty bitty bag holding a lip balm tin. I thought the bag was uber cute so I bought it, took it home and disassembled the bag so I could make the template. I'm not a big fan of lipbalm in tins but I do make natural perfume oils that I put into flat tins and therefore, I'm turning these into stocking stuffer gifts.

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LATE POST: HONEY EXTRACTION TIME

Wow! Is this post going to be out of order. I should be blogging about my bees getting ready for winter but I finally found the charger to my camera so I'm able to talk about the honey extraction I was invited to observe this fall.

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UNDERSTANDING TERMS ON A LABEL ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH ANYMORE

Organic
All Natural

Those terms on a label seem pretty clear, right? Don't be too sure.

Over the years, struggling to understand ingredient lists, reading what I can on how things are processed, whether or not something starts natural and remains so after processing, how products earn their "organic" labels, so on and so forth, I've learned that just being able to read a label and know what the ingredients are isn't good enough anymore.

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NOPE, THOSE AREN'T POTATOS

I've been wanting to make this apple butter for a while now but I tend to avoid things if I sense I may be risking failure, especially when it comes to food :( Well, I went apple picking with the intention of using some of the apples for this very purpose and it had already been over a week since we went apple picking so I figured it was time to give this yummy sounding recipe a try.

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NATURAL COLORANT FOLLOW UP

Now that I'm back to blogging I will also be back to posting about natural colorants in soapmaking. To start off I wanted to do a follow up on the natural colorants I already covered. I didn't think this was very important but recently I discovered that some soapmakers are actually claiming to have used natural

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GIFT BAGS ARE READY... HOLIDAY ORDERS ALREADY COMING!

The soap pixie is now offering handmade burlap gift bags (made by me of course). The bags contain an aromatherapy soy candle with matching scented soap. I finished up a bulk order of 20 gift bags recently and they all went over very well. The holiday orders are pouring in already and I'm very excited. Lots of bags, soap and candles to make.

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A BOOK SUGGESTION FOR THE EMOTIONAL BEEKEEPER

In my opinion, and this will probably rub some beeks the wrong way, I believe there are two kinds of beekeepers; those that have an emotional connection with their honeybees and those that don't. I'm not using this post to judge, I'm just stating what I believe is the obvious.

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I WISH I HAD THE PATIENCE...

OF A CARNIOLAN.

After Gary Reuter from the University told me it was definitely time to remove the honey super that I eagerly waited to be filled with honey (but it wasn't), I headed out to the hive. The bees have been doing their own thing for quite a while now and so I wasn't sure what type of attitude I was going to find them in

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MY HIVE TIPPED OVER!!!

Today we came home and found our hive had tipped over. At first I thought maybe some kids came through the yard and pushed it over but upon closer inspection found that the "landing strip" as I call it had actually broken apart. I noticed that it was coming apart several weeks ago but then promptly forgot about it. Well, now I've learned a valuable lesson, when said hive is looking shabby I must repair said hive or I'm going to be in deep doo doo.

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