Tasting much sweeter than wine

A few weeks ago, we had a really nice long weekend with Tres's pop, sister, and her husband. We got some quality time together, enjoyed lots of good food and beer, and they gave us a ton of help around the house/yard and with the kiddos. 

Important lessons from Uncle Steve

Headed to the Yakima with Auntie Jessie (and Booker)

One of the projects they took on while they were here was harvesting one of our beehives. The bees didn't survive the winter - I'm not sure if it was disease, pests, an excess of moisture, or some combination - so we harvested all of the honey from their hive. It wasn't full, about half of the combs only had a few inches of honey at the top, and we got about 2.5 gallons of honey from it. I intend to clean/melt the beeswax too, but haven't gotten to a second attempt, after my first failed. I'll post more about it after I try again. The other hive seems to be doing quite well and we may attempt to split it later this spring.

Our supervisor and official taste tester hard at work

 Our stash,  in the (poorly lit) pantry

To remove the honey, they cut the combs off of the bars (I didn't get photos of this part, but here's what the hives and bars look like), crunched them up, and put them in a paint strainer inside a fifty gallon food grade bucket with a spigot on the bottom,  lined with another paint strainer. The honey slowly strained through the cloth and they poured it into pint jars. It was pretty slow going, taking about 12 hours (15 hours?) over the course of two days. As it slowed, it didn't need such constant surveillance, just occasional checks and jar replacement. This was a totally manageable technique for processing what was, for us, a large amount of honey. Assuming (hoping!) we don't lose a hive again, we won't need to do things on such a large scale in the future, but we would employ a similar technique (crushing, straining, jarring) with different equipment. I'm really happy with how it worked out and so grateful to our family for making it possible during an otherwise busy (crazy?) time for us. It was a wonderful family weekend. Oh, and we've been eating honey every day since. It's delicious.

The fam-damily (sans photographer Grandpa)

If he stays away, old rocking chair is gonna get me

After a couple weeks of (uncharacteristicly) cool, rainy weather, we're having thunderstorms and highs around 100 today, continuing through the rest of the week's forecast. I suspect that we'll be spending a lot of time in the wading pool and eating popsicles. Let's see, what's been going since I last wrote? I made my first attempt at soap, using the recipe/technique I posted earlier and it seems to have gone quite well. I'll write more about it after the soap has cured and we get to try it out. No more jam yet (although it will be time for blueberries soon!), but lots of great stuff from the garden, including beets, carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, and the last of the peas. Tres and I accidentally broke one of the honeycombs while checking on the hive last weekend and, while we weren't very happy about it in the moment, getting to taste the honey has been a delicious treat. About 3/4 of a comb (which the bees will be able to rebuild and refill) yielded over a pint of honey!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

The nest is empty now, but here are
the two little guys we had in there

Something delicious: We made this for my mom in the San Juans and it was quite tasty. It was surprisingly easy (despite not having the appropriate pan - a springform worked in a pinch, but I suspect that a pie pan would be better), yet it looks quite impressive.

Something neat: When I was 5 or 6, the neighbors made their own slip and slide and we went down over and over (often landing on the sidewalk - the logistics left a bit to be desired). Silas is a little young for this, I suspect (although maybe he'd just like laying/walking around on it), but it looks pretty fun.

Something to read: I finished this last week and it's definitely worth a read. The science behind processed food is depressing, but ultimately not that surprising (spoiler: they want to maximize the amount that you'll eat, so that you'll buy more). Even more interesting to me was the advertising and psychology behind how they get us to buy stuff. I'm sure most of us feel that we're pretty savvy and aware when we're shopping, but I think we'd be surprised by how easily we're manipulated by words like "natural" and "healthy," or where an item is located in the store. He brings every point back to the health implications of a diet based on processed foods, which is certainly the case for the majority of Americans, and it's pretty bleak. Even with books like this, it's hard to imagine people standing a chance against food juggernauts, with the finest scientific and psychological prowess that money can buy. Although he doesn't quite come out and say it, unless the food companies are willing to take some responsibility for the growing health concerns associated with their products, it seems unlikely that things will get much better.

Something to make: I really like her book and am excited to try some of the recipes that she shared here. I'm thinking that the blackberry honey yogurt pops might happen this weekend.

That's a good hat you got there, Opa

And I just ate some kind of mushroom

Well, I can't quite seem to get myself back on schedule here, maybe next week. Until then, hope you all had a 

HAPPY WEEKEND!

We picked these yesterday  - it was our first time finding

morels since we moved out here and totally awesome

Something delicious: Tres and I have had this twice in the last week - it is seriously excellent (as is pretty much everything we've tried from that cookbook, it's a goody). We did make a few adaptations, cooking the popcorn in all of the fat from the bacon (decidedly more than the 1 T. she recommends) seemed to eliminate the risk of burning, we added a little chili powder (cayenne could also be nice) and nutritional yeast, and we left out the extra butter and salt, since we had plenty of salty fat already. Vegetarians, or those not feeling bacon-y, this is a delicious alternative.

Something neat: I'm not sure I could tell "artisanal" honey from what you buy at the store, but I thought that this story was quite interesting and inspiring. Can't find what you want? Make it yourself (don't worry, I don't have any commercial honey production plans)!

Something to read: This book, along with some internet research of course, is the main resource we've been using for our bees. It's not quite as detailed as I'd like (as in, I'd prefer a step by step guide for dumb dumbs), but an excellent guide and introduction to the basics of beekeeping. His advice is to observe and learn from a skilled beekeeper, which is no doubt wise. Ahem.

Something to make: I took a one day bookmaking class in college and really loved it, but haven't done much with it since. This series on bookbinding has re-piqued my interest. Upon rereading the linked entry, it turns out that she went to Sarah Lawrence. What a small world.

Now, where are those mushrooms?

Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees

We had the luxury of a guest photographer when Tres's dad was up here for a visit, so here are a few more shots of us with the bees, including some comb - cool, huh?

Tres blows in a little smoke

 Brushing the bees off

And there's a (fuzzy) closeup

Aren't the combs amazing - I can't believe how much they've built in a week! Bees are neat.

Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet

Ready for their 2 hour car ride home

The bees are here! And I am an awkward, (very) novice beekeeper. After a 4+ hour round trip to pick them up (note for next time - ha - probably best to have done it alone, so that Silas could have stayed home, but I digress. . . .), Tres and I are now the proud keepers of 2 hives of Carniolan honey bees. They were super buzzy when we first picked them up, but quieted right down in the car. Once we got home, Tres and I worked together to transfer them into the hives and it went quite smoothly. I really wasn't sure how I was going to feel about bees buzzing around me in that number (it seems like it might get a person's panic response going), but having the full suit made me feel surprisingly safe, if not quite confident. Mostly, I'm afraid I'm going to crush them and there are so many in one place at any given time, that it's very challenging manipulating the hive without doing so.

Today I went in for the first time by myself, to check on their combs and see how they were doing. It was a little more exciting as just one person - I'm definitely not very facile with the hives yet and was pretty clunky and slow and it's a lot of bees seemingly everywhere you want to be - but it was super neat to see all the work they'd been doing. There were lots of little combs and a couple good sized ones (4" x 6"?) in each hive and, most excitingly, they were all pointed in the right direction, so I didn't have to remove or move any. I've seen a few bees venturing out around the yard too, which means they're starting to seek out and gather pollen, so it looks like things are going well. Hopefully we'll get some consistently warmer and less windy weather for them soon too. Tres planted a bunch of lavender today, I bet they'll enjoy those flowers when they bloom. I wish that I could get more photos, but I suspect that that time is a long way off. It's enough right now to open up and inspect the hives while trying to disturb them as little as possible.

The goofy novice beekeeper

The bees are buzzing in the trees

The bee on the right is a Carniolan*

Well, I did it. I just ordered us two packages of Carniolan honey bees. Which means that, in about two months, we will have two hives going. I'm super excited to be finally starting on this project, after talking about it for a few years now. I'm off to do some reading, to get ready for my bees!

* This photo is from here.