Here we are in late August. Change is in the air. It’s still hot and sunny, but the bees know something’s coming. They’ve shifted into winter prep. The queen is focused on building up a population of bees to help her through the winter ahead, while the workers are feverishly gathering anything they can to fill every available space. While winter doesn’t seem that close just yet consider it from the bee’s perspective. 12 bees spend their short lifetime collecting nectar, all to produce just 1 teaspoon of honey. To survive a winter in Indiana, the bees need a lot more than that, in the range of 100 pounds or so! The bees have built up well this year, but haven’t packed away quite as much as they’ll need to get by, so I’ll be watching this closely in the coming weeks. All the hives are into their winter setup of 3 boxes. They’ll be organizing things for the cold days ahead. Continue reading “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
School Time
Summer is sadly almost over for the school kids. My girls will be going to school in a couple weeks which means I’ll have a quiet house for a couple hours and will get back to my products.
I look at my blocks of beeswax some days and miss the smells and cool candles. I can’t wait to get back to it.
Check back in a few weeks to see what new things I’ll have. I can’t wait. I will miss my girls and summer though. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather.
Kiley
And we’re off…!
It’s been a while since my last post. Thanks to good weather I’ve had little time to spare so I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like. At my last post news was not good. We lost a lot of hives this year. While we were still in winter mode awaiting spring, it suddenly jumped right to summer with May delivering day after day of high 90’s and little rain. Blooms were good, but the dry weather did little in the way of nectar for the bees. The pollen was great though, and the hives built up quickly. I did my queen rearing a month late due to weather, but still got 8 new queens to add to my surviving 4. I split several hives to receive them. I also spent time with all the failed hives cleaning up frames and boxes, painting them and doing repairs as needed. We also added some new equipment this year. Continue reading “And we’re off…!”
What’s new this month
Hi all! Can you believe this weather?

A rough start to 2018
We’ve had a few warm days lately which gave a chance to check on the bees at home and the farm. When things warm up, the bees come out for a stretch and a much needed bathroom break. This also allows them to move around in the hive to find food if needed. At a glance, I knew I had trouble with a few hives, so I decided to open each one up to see what was going on. When I started opening the hives, I found Continue reading “A rough start to 2018”
Body Butter

Hi all! Today I want to talk about my newest product, body butter.
It’s a fun and busy year
Hi everyone! I hope all are well. It’s turning into a very busy year for us. I’ve been super busy filling orders, getting ready for a silent auction for a charity event, and making new products. Currently, I’m attempting a body butter and a lotion bar. I’m really excited and hope they turn out.
The good and bad of winter
We’ve had a few extended cold spells here recently. The snow has stuck this year longer than most years. This isn’t a problem for the bees if everything goes well. In winter, they consume honey to get the energy needed to generate heat. When it gets very cold like we’ve had, down in the single digit temperatures, the bees form a tight ball with the queen protected in the center. The colder it gets, the tighter Continue reading “The good and bad of winter”
Testers needed

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. I have been working on a lot of different things. I’m so excited to share them all with you but they’re not quite ready yet.
I wanted to ask you all today if you would be interested in helping us with our business. I need folks who have strong opinions and are happy to share them, good or bad.
What I need are Continue reading “Testers needed”
The great fails of beeswax
Hi everyone! We’re stuck inside thanks to this big snow storm. I hope everyone is staying safe and warm. I was going through some pictures of my journey in beeswax and found so many fails. I thought maybe we should all have a laugh at my expense and view them together. Enjoy!