I love the Design Seeds web site and I loved this bee image they posted a few days ago. I love the color pallet - so nice to see natural colors instead of the bright yellow and black usually associated with bees. It makes me super excited to get back to beekeeping in a couple of weeks! I have ordered 2 new packages of bees and pick them up later this month. So far it looks like I have lost 2 hives - one I was really surprised by but the other one I really didn't think would make it through the winter.

Photo Credit Design Seeds

Honey Harvest Festival

The time had come to steal the honey from the bees.

The night before the harvesting Kaycie and I made pasta noodles for the red sauce we were going to make with the heirloom tomatoes from the garden.

We also planned to make chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto and thyme (thyme from the garden) recipe here. This would have been great except it took a lot longer to get the honey and we baked the chicken way too long.

We also made a fantastic bruschetta using cherry and yellow grape tomatoes from the garden and ricotta cheese....so good recipe here.

Jake and I worked on separating the bees from their honey. I was so lucky to have Jake there to help me. I could not have done it without him. We had good luck that day and were not stung once.....the next day I was not so lucky when I was stung right next to my eye...good times.

This is the bee suit Jake created......bee keeper or bank robber?

Bee Update

Oh the little bees are growing up and they need more room so last week I built and painted new boxes to add to the top of the hives......yes yes I built them with my own two hands.

As they are growing up they are becoming more aggressive. Usually they are fun to watch as they fly in and out of the hive but every afternoon around 4 o'clock there are thousands of them flying in and out of the hive and circling around the hive. I have to admit that it scares me a little bit. I am not sure why they do this but it freaks me out and I think.....now why did I want bees?

The Great Bee Challenge 2009

So I am attempting beekeeping again this year. 

Last Saturday I drove to a reputable beekeeping source to purchase my package of bees. I took them and placed them in their new home placed in the middle of a fruit tree orchard.  A couple of hours later they were flying around all of the fruit trees jumping from blossom to blossom....I think these bees might just work out...much better work ethic than the ebay bees. 

As I was traveling last week I noticed that the windows and visual displays at Anthropologie are all about bees and honey.  Here are a few photos I have from the places I visited in the last week.

Boston Area

Big wild hive made from chicken wire and rolled paper.

The Gateway in SLC

Cardboard and translucent paper made to look like honeycomb.

NYC
Hanging honey bear bottles.

Beekeeping School

I start Beekeeping School on Friday and I am so excited to wear this cute bee necklace I bought at Nordstrom a few weeks ago in preparation of beekeeping season.  Lets all cross our fingers that beekeeping 2009 will be more productive than beekeeping 2008.  Necklace from Dogeared Jewels and Gifts.  

Wildflowers for the Bees

I am so sad this takes place before I get to New York. On June 21st at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn they will be holding a Wildflower Seed giveaway. One of my very favorite companies right now, Haagen-Dazs is supplying 2,000 packets of wildflower seeds to encourage people to plant flowers and help save the bees. There will also be a live hive on display under glass.

Beehive Update

Last Sunday Jake and I dressed up in our beekeeping attire and started up the smoker so we could check on what was taking place in the hive.

After hiving the bees you need to leave them undisturbed for 7 to 10 days or they will kill the queen....who knew the bee world is filled with such drama?
I was super nervous about the state we would find the bees. We sort of left them on their own in terrible weather to go to Disneyland and I thought they would all be dead when we came back.
But they seem to have survived the crazy weather and the queen got out of the cage and the bees all seem to be "busy as bees".

Now I just hope they start producing new baby bees before they original bees reach their 6 week life span and start to die. Oh the stressful life of a beekeeper.