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Lip Moisturizer

Lip Moisturizer
Filled tubes of lip moisturizer

 

Hi there! I know it’s been a while since I’ve been on here but now that the bee season has slowed down I have more time to finally work on those candles and more.

We’ve been melting down and cleaning wax to make Continue reading “Lip Moisturizer”

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I love making candles

candle display

These are just some of the beautiful candles I make. Just looking at this picture I can smell the honey. Not long after this picture was taken a friendly bee came by and began walking on them.  I love making 100% pure beeswax candles.

pillars
bee on pillar candles

Towards the beginning of my candle making adventure I attempted to start scenting my candles thinking that’s what would get them to sell best. Continue reading “I love making candles”

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First propolis harvest with a purpose

7-12-2017 A pile of propolis collected, crumbled, and ready for use.

As more people learn we work with bees, the more I’m asked about propolis.  Bee keepers often call this ‘bee glue’ as they use it to seal, coat, cover, stick, gum up, and generally make a mess of everything with it.  Propolis is a latin word meaning ‘Defense of the City’ as the bees use it to effectively seal the hive from intrusion by other bugs, infections, weather, or otherwise.  They can even use it to mummify a mouse that has entered the hive and died to prevent its body from decomposing and introducing disease..  Propolis varies from hive to hive in both color and composition.  In lab tests, propolis has been found to generally contain more than 50 unique compounds, which the bees dutifully collect from Continue reading “First propolis harvest with a purpose”

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Candle making

I’ve decided to make candles with the wax from our bees and it turns out I love it. I’ve gotten pretty good at the pillars. The honey scent is so nice. I tried experimenting with different scents and smells. Those are a bit tricky. Now I have a new mold for an owl and I love it. I’m working on perfecting it. More pics coming soon.

Pillar candles
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First honey harvest of 2017

8oz and 16oz bottles of annual honey.

We’ve managed to harvest some honey from the hives at home.  Most of the hives are running lean as we’ve focused again on expansion this year at the farm.  One hive was left alone, and managed to prevent swarming, which can reduce honey intake.  The honey we pulled this year has a fantastic Continue reading “First honey harvest of 2017”

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Wonky comb

This is what happens when you put frames in without wiring, foundation, or anything else and forget to replace them in time.  This empty frame should have went into broodnest, or at least between capped frames.  Since the neighboring frame was being filled when the empty went in place, the bees simply drew out the comb double-wide in the original frame.  After I cut the excess off this frame, it was good as new.  I’ll return this to the hive to recap it.