By Claire Jones
It happens every summer - honey extraction. After babying the bees, feeding, monitoring, re-queening, splitting, and just plain worrying about them, now is the moment of truth. How much honey did they deposit in the combs for me to rob from them? I won't leave you in suspense - I extracted 120-130 pounds from two …
Continue reading "Spinning Honey – Honey Extraction Start to Finish"
Ummmm…..that’s sooo good! I hear that phrase over and over when someone tastes my home-grown honey for the first time. Their face lights up and a look of total delight transforms them when they dip their fingers into the sticky sunshine. Most people are used to the purchased plastic bear of generic clover honey (sometimes …
Continue reading "Wannabees Thinking About Honey Bees"
It happens every Fall - honey extraction! After babying the bees, feeding, monitoring, re-queening, splitting, and just plain worrying about them, now is the moment of truth. How much honey did they deposit in the combs for me to rob from them? I won't leave you in suspense - I extracted 160-180 pounds from two …
Continue reading "Spinning Honey"
Beekeeping has moved from the pastime of fusty middle-aged men to young urban couples and singles. It is trendy now to become a beekeeper! Who could have predicted that? When I worked at the bee booth at the Fairgrounds recently, I was amazed at the young (under 25!) people, both male and female who were into beekeeping! I …
Continue reading "Beekeeping Start-Up, Jump Into the World of Keeping Bees"
Good raw unpasteurized honey tastes very different from the plastic clover honey bear that you purchase at the supermarket. I compare it to processed cheese vs. a home made varietal cheese. Honey bears are simply an accumulation of many types of honey that have been mixed together, heated and made into a homogeneous mixture which …
Continue reading "Taste of Honey"
The best way to jump-start a conversation at a party is to tell people you are a beekeeper. Inevitably, people will barrage me with questions about my hobby and how they always thought of becoming a beekeeper themselves. Most people don't have a clue of what is involved and for people who are intrigued but don't know …
Continue reading "Beekeeping 101"
Many people don't know how to store of care for their honey after it leaves the hive. Find out how to enjoy honey and all it's health benefits long after a bee has touched it.
Honey has reached "classic" status after it was named Flavor of the Year for 2015. Find out how to extract this new "classic" flavor from the hive.
Honey Princess 2012 On a hot and muggy afternoon recently, I worked at the MD State Fair in Timonium at the honey booth selling honey products. As a MD beekeeper, you are encouraged to work the fair for a shift to help our group, the Central MD Beekeepers Association, sell members honey. While there, I got to meet …
Continue reading "Honey Bee Royalty at the Maryland State Fair"
It happens every August - honey extraction! After babying the bees, feeding, monitoring, re-queening, splitting, and just plain worrying about them, now is the moment of truth. How much honey did they deposit in the combs for me to rob from them? I won't leave you in suspense - I extracted 55 pounds from my one …
Continue reading "Robbing the Bees- A Honey of a Day"
A Honey of a Good Book I don't know how I missed the publication of this book in April of 2011 but picked it up at a local plant nursery to look at and was enthralled. As a practicing beekeepr, I get a lot of information off the web and have several beekeeping books on my shelf …
Continue reading "The Handbook for Beekeepers – The Beekeeper’s Bible"
Honey Flow With the coming of spring a couple of weeks early this spring, I am getting a little nervous about my bees. The honey flow which is the frantic bee activity of bees collecting nectar from spring flowers will be here very soon. I have a strong hive that made it through the winter and I am on …
Continue reading "Swarming of the Bees – It is That Time of Year Again!"
