And just like that, they are gone...

And just like that, they are gone! I was noticing yellow jackets coming out of one of my hives a couple of days ago and I knew what that meant, something has happened. I blocked the entrance until I could get in and take a look. I got out of work today and rushed right home, suited up and went up to take a look. As I suspected there was an issue, the girls in Hive 3 had absconded. There was not a honeybee to be seen, not even a dead one! They must have been under such stress from yellow jackets to just leave like that.

All the way down to the slatted bottom board, not even a dead honeybee!

I then noticed that Hive 2 had the same thing going on there. I opened it, not a bee to be seen. This was very discouraging. 

Lots of wax was harvested as well as...

lots and lots of capped honey too! Hive 1 is thriving and doing quite well. It looks like we head into the winter with just one living hive. So the big question lately is, do we have honey and the answer is: YES!!! We will have various sizes available for purchase is a few days.

Getting ready!

It's just 2 weeks until the New England Fiber Festival and I am working during every free moment I have! This time of year is crazy busy with birthdays, parties, events and work! This is my production line for some new kits I am making. I have quite a bit of soap so I made some new kits.

These will be added to our kit line. Make your own felted soap. We will have a variety of scents available. These will make great gifts for that someone who likes to do it their self's! Each kit includes everything you will need along with complete instructions. Each kit is just $8!

Yarns are on the wheels too! My knee is feeling better so I need to get back on the saddle seat and get spinning!

Getting ready for the weather ahead...

A much needed day off gave me time to get caught up around here. Some knee issues have side lined me and put me behind on much needed things around here.

A Drone looked very scared as he hid away from the worker girls. As I inspected today there were still some lucky boys left in the hives, but most have been evicted from their hives.

I fired up the smoker but with a misty day in Connecticut, it was hard to keep it going.

All the Queen reducers were removed...

As well as the Supers. 

The entrance reducers were changed to the smaller opening. A lot of pressure is on the hives because of yellow jackets. This will help the Guard bees do their jobs with a lot less pressure.

These two had a stand off and both lost

This year we are trying something new, a Hive body and a Medium. So all the girls are still bringing in some food. The best I can hope is for them to do their best to get ready for the long winter ahead.

Happy Autumn and gettin' naked!

Autumn is finally upon us and I am so happy! Summer in Connecticut was the second hottest on record and we have had enough! The animals were stressed to their breaking points and trying to keep everyone cool was a challenge. So before the colder weather sets in, it was time to get the angora goats sheared.

"Maddy" was unfazed and was more than happy to accept a tasty treat of hay...

while "Pru" was a bit perturbed at the very idea of being stripped naked! As of this moment she is not talking to anyone!

The Season of the Drones...

This time of year is not the best time to be a Drone! Drones are the males of the Honeybee species. They lack a stinger, don't do any work in the hive and their whole purpose is breeding with a Queen if they are lucky, and most of them are not. They are taken care of and fed by the workers but being a slacker in life usually catches up with you, and for them it does in the form of death!

This time of year, the bees sense the change in weather, the lessening of sunlight and food foraging begins to decrease. With these factors it's time to eliminate the things that are not needed. Drones are killed by the workers or their wings are chewed off, they are dragged out of the hive and dropped to their deaths. The guard bees guard the entrance not letting them back in. So while it's a good life while it last, it ends in a tragic way for the Drones.

Happy September, let the Harvest begin!

As we come to the end of summer, it's time to begin harvesting everything you've worked so hard to grow this year. Many of you garden growers out there have a never ending amount of tomatoes! I decided to make stewed tomatoes and can them for the winter. This is wonderful to keep on hand for those long days when coming home and making dinner is a dreadful thought, but then you remember that you canned those wonderful tomatoes!

I used many different types of tomatoes including these plum tomatoes. To slip the skins quicker throw them in a hot bath of simmering water for about 3 minutes...

the skins just slide off!

I don't have a recipe but I will list the this and that's below and how I make these incredible stewed tomatoes that is delicious over pasta!

I netted 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes! These may also make some gifts or a perfect hostess gift!

Canned Stewed Tomatoes

Tomatoes prepped and skins slipped

Peppers, red, yellow and green cut into pieces

Onions-cut into pieces

Garlic-cut into pieces

Celery-cut into pieces

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Salt

Lemon Juice

Canning jars, sterilized

Cut everything and set aside. In a large bowl cut and core your tomatoes. Cut and prepare all other ingredients. Add them to a big pot. Simmer for no more than 10 minutes. Taste test and the consistency you may want. I don't measure anything, it's based on this and that until it is perfect! Let cool slightly, then spoon into jars. Clean the brims. Put your tops on and place in a hot water bath. Enjoy!!!

What to do with all that Lemon Balm?!!!

What do you do with all that Lemon Balm? You plant a small herb plant and it grows. The next year you find it in other parts of your yard or it shows up and you didn't even plant it! The smell and taste of this plant is amazing. 

This post will include a recipe below on a fantastic recipe for a bread that will melt your mouth. I also dry it and jar it for teas as well as adding to other recipes.

Here's an image of the bread I made. I have had this recipe for many years and don't remember where it is from. I keep a couple of these in the freezer in case we have visitors or need to take something to a party. Below is the recipe:

Double Lemon Balm Bread

 

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

6 Tablespoons Butter (room temp)

2 Tablespoons grated Lemon Peel

1 Tablespoon finely chopped Lemon Balm leaves

1 Tablespoon finely chopped Lemon Thyme (optional)

1Teaspoon salt

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs eaten

3/4 cups milk

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter, add sugar and beat together. Add eggs. Beat until fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately will milk mixture. Mix until just blended then add herbs and peel, fold by hand. Pour into a sprayed with cooking spray, 9x5x3 inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for appx 50 minutes.  

Lemon Glaze- Juice of 1 lemon, Confectioners Sugar

Mix glaze until thick but pourable. Drizzle over bread while still warm.

Enjoy!!!!

Holy Bearding! It's going to be a hot one!

It's going to be a hot one in Connecticut today! If you didn't watch the news forecast then you can tell by the bees. When bees get hot they "beard". This picture was taken at 6:30 a.m. Even bees will hang out and try to stay cool. Inside they will do all they can to keep the hive cool. They will bring in water to cool the hive as well as fan their wings. We have made sure birdbaths and other water is available to the bees as well as the wild birds. Connecticut is expected to hit temperatures in the 100's today!

Grooming a Wool Beast!

Our "Tawny" is what you would call a "Wool Beast." She has a coat that is twice as thick as any Angora rabbit I have had or bred. I am still waiting to get an offspring with such a lush coat.

It takes 2 days to clip her down with shearing scissors, clipping about an inch to 2 inches at a time. It is daunting and when she has had enough you pick up where you started the following day.

Her staple length is at least 8 inches long which makes it so fun to spin her wool. 

Somewhere deep in all that wool is our "Tawny." 

An Unexpected Goodbye

Today we lost one of the sweetest rooster I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, our "Tank". I'm still at a lost for what happened. He was the biggest rooster I have ever seen. The ground would shake when he walked, he was always a bit big for that body, and the sad part was he was only 3! He became weak and then just passed. 

We are going to miss his presence and the gentleness he brought to the coop. RIP our precious "Tank".

Oh no!!!!!

We woke up yesterday after a huge rain and wind storm to find a tree had gone across our fencing and our animals were out in the road! They took the opportunity to go on a walk about! 

As cars made their way around the trees, car parts (yes car parts because someone must have hit it) as well as the alpacas and goats. Not one person stopped to tell us, just drove by...

and the damage could have been worse...

but the best thing about it is that the animals are okay and safe. 

Into the Dearth we go...

In the middle of the summer, Nature experiences something called "The Dearth". This is when the early summer flowers have bloomed and are spent or gone to seed while the later flowers have not quite bloomed. This can be hard on bees and pollinators alike because food is scarce. They can go through their reserves and be dangerously low on food.

I found this last of the phlox still blooming...

while early signs of  Joe Pye weed blooming is promising.

Some Queen's Ann Lace here and there...

but the most important of all is the Goldenrod! I was in a meadow today and found just a few but there was tons days away from blooming.

So what do we do during the Dearth? We feed! I made up 3 gallons of sugar water and some essential oils and added them to the feeders...

and needless to say, they were eager for me to fill them! They were waiting for me when I opened the lid! Here in Connecticut we have had an unusually rainy summer so I think this Dearth will be short lived.

Learning new soap making techniques

 

I have been following the soap making world and am amazed by the new techniques that are out there. Bramble Berry Soap Supply company has kits and tutorials of all the up and coming newest things in soap making. So, last Christmas Tim bought me a kit and I put it away. I kept meaning to get to it and the weather has been so hot in CT lately that on a hot summer day I broke it out and decided it was time!

I went to work using my soap making skills. The hard part, the person who was the author of the recipe left some important tips out. Mainly that the particular NIO(Nature Identical Oil) sets up very quickly and you should not mix too much. There were some other things in the recipe I thought could have been explained better but I continued on.

The key was layering different colors which set up too quick so it was like working with putty.

A few days later I removed it from the mold. My Dragon's Blood handmade soap. Not as much as a hot mess I thought it would be. There are air bubbles and the blend could have been better.

A slice of the soap revealed a little better results than I thought I would have. The black is mixed with charcoal which is good for skin and the layers are different colors. This will be for my personal use however, I'm not looking to pursue this level of soap making any time soon. I will keep watching the trends and maybe give it a go again now that I see what went wrong.