When my husband first showed interest in beekeeping, one of my biggest fears is that we would accidentally end up with a “Killer Bee” colony. I had heard rumors of Killer Bee colonies coming up from states like Florida to the north. Images of bee swarms chasing us in angry pursuit and thousands of deadly […]

Any honey harvest is an exciting time, but our first is something I won’t likely forget! We’d been waiting and tending to our bees for almost 2 years…hoping, wondering and (frankly) worrying. But that first taste of golden nectar made it all worth it.   Since our first harvest quite a few years ago, we’ve […]

Now that you have harvested honey and the bees have been tucked away for winter, now is a great time to review the season while your memory is still fresh. An honest review of your beekeeping year will help to improve next year. So let’s get started! What Worked This is the easiest and most […]

Let me tell you, if you’re not cooking with cast iron you’re missing out! For years I was intrigued by cast iron but the care and “seasoning” process intimidated me. It seemed weird and unsanitary that you didn’t use soap to clean it. It also seemed like a pain in the neck to have to […]

We all know that beeswax makes great candles but did you know that it has many household uses? This is especially true in the movement away from commercially made cosmetics and cleaning products. Beeswax can be a useful ingredient to have around the home.   What is beeswax?   Beeswax is produced in 8 wax-producing […]

Nectar dearth is a phrase that you hear frequently in beekeeping. Simply put, it means that instead of your honeybees finding readily available nectar and pollen-producing flowers, they are chowing down on their stored honey. And bees need honey stores to survive my cold winters here in the mid-Atlantic.  Supplemental feeding is the option that […]

Once again, I find myself gloriously behind the times. In this particular case a few thousand years behind the times: I built and maintain a wall beehive—a colony housed in the wall of my bedroom. I have been calling it my Observation Hive because it has a plexiglas cover on the inside wall, but my […]

You have decided you need to feed your bees. Maybe you just installed a package in a new hive, and they have to build out all of the frames. Maybe you just moved a hive to a new location and you want to give them a boost. Maybe you caught a late season swarm and […]

It’s candle season! Time to fill our homes with the scents of everything pumpkin spice, cinnamon stick, and caramel apple cider. But before you light those wicks it’s important to know what’s in your candle. Candles used to be an essential part of everyday life. Especially as we move into the fall and winter, the […]