Fun Stuff To Do In The Fall When You Are A Beekeeper!

Stuff to do in the fall when you are a beekeeper? The job of the beekeeper is pretty much over until March or so here in California (probably world-wide.) Although the bees do not hibernate, but remain quite active in the winter (inside the hive on bad days and cleaning it out and soaring on good days), they require little actual care. ...maybe a supplement of sugar water in February until the fruit trees bloom.
So, what do I do? I create crazy cosmetics. No boring candles for me. ...way too practical! No, I've conquered lip balm and have moved on to baby bum ointment. Full of beeswax, honey, lanolin, and OF COURSE....zinc oxide! After doing a tremendous amount of reading and testing I have settled on the perfect recipe and a lovely presentation.
Above is a pic of the label which I have applied to the top of a round cobalt blue jar. The label I designed on http://www.myownlabels.com/ . I named the bum cream after my newest grandson. The lanolin and zinc oxide powder I purchased on eBay. (OF COURSE!)
--Marty
P.S. i won't go into my miserable failure of the lotion experiment. sigh

Becoming Part Bee

I knew going into beekeeping that I was going to get stung. I almost looked forward to getting that first sting overwith! My first sting was on my right ankle. I thought I was impervious to getting stung because I was covered head to toe. Wrong.

This was the beginning of my learning curve on my precious bees.

Lesson one: Steal the honey, pay the price.

Lesson two: If there is even the teensiest, tinyest opening in your clothing a bee will find it. My ankle and foot swelled up like a watermelon.

Lesson three: all bee stings swell. This does NOT indicate an allergy to bee stings. Bee stings cause swelling to the second joint. If your hand gets stung, normal swelling will occur all the way to your elbow. The two joints being your wrist and your elbow. Speaking from experience though, the "two joint" rule does not apply to the neck, head and face. I've been stung pretty much everywhere and the only bad swelling has been on the foot and hands. ...and the reaction is nominal at this point in my beekeeping.

(My husband would like me to confess that the stings to my lips this past summer did result in pretty impressive swelling...a la Angolina Jolie.)

The great thing is the bee venom has eradicated my arthritis and it has protected me from yellowjacket/wasp stings. Whenever I get stung by those nasty predators my old bee stings react by slightly swelling (like tiny pimples) and I can feel my body fight back the yellowjacket venom. I believe I am now part bee. The yellowjacket venom has NO effect on my body.

So beekeeping is in my blood by heritage and honeybees are in my blood by injection!

I'll go over the basics of beekeeping in my next several blogs, but if you have any questions or would like certain topics covered then email me at mhatty@aol.com.

--Marty

What does beekeeping have to do with blood?

I've wanted to keep bees since...forever! I can't remember when my desire for tending the little animals grew, but the MOMENT I moved to Napa, California's wine country I began pouring over catalogs and books on the subject. I did this because I finally was no longer a city girl. My husband and I had 40 acres to play with and honeybees were my first country endeavor. (BTW, since then I've learned that San Francisco has a HUGE beekeepers association. ...they do it on rooftops and balconies!

When I told my mother about the my honeybees she told me that my grandfather was a beekeeper! She has never spoken much about him and he died before I was born. Honestly, I had never heard he raised bees.

....thus, I realized beekeeping is in my blood.

Now, 8 years later, its even more in my blood. I am now part human, part bee. ...more on this later!

Marty