what I learned from the bees (#2) – the tortoise and the hare

Most of the honey bees in a hive are workers that go through a series of jobs that support the family with every chore necessary for the continuity of the family. On some days, they will be gathering nectar, propolis and pollen, and then spend some time working in the nursery to take care of the babies. At other times they are on guard duty to keep the aggressive cousins from coming and taking honey. The average life of these female worker bees in the summer months is six weeks when there is a lot of work to do, and the hive works as a family to bring in the crop and store it away. The other extreme in this range is in the winter when an average worker bee will live around six months, when the hive goes into dormancy and slows down. With the colder temperatures of the north, the cluster of bees gets tighter as the temperature drops, and the bees stay in a fairly close area, making warmth and eating enough to continue living. Their wings and bodies get more rest in the winter, and the bees live longer.
The bees essentially work themselves to death; when their wings wear out and they can no longer be useful to the family, the earth absorbs them and they become part of the great recycling of nature.

honey bee on New England Aster photo copyright Ann D. Watson, 2009
It is easy to get into this pattern in the life and seasons of a commercial beekeeper. One prepares for and then moves through the honey flowers with the bees. The honey flows can come with a powerful intensity that one wants to be ready for and efficiently utilize and not lose potential. In the years when we were working with 1,600 colonies of bees, the bees could make an average of 12 pounds of honey on a warm day when all the conditions were right, such as the soil being loaded with moisture and the fields of goldenrod not being mowed down. This translates into over 19,000 pounds of honey that they make in one day. The time to be prepared to work with nature can be intense.
I have always liked tortoises. It could be that there are not many turtles seen in Vermont, and the sightings a few times a year are special. When they are in the road, I stop and bring them to the side. They are special creatures, slowly moving along in their own shell of protection.

My path now is to learn more of the life of the tortoise. The French say that the “petit train va loin”, or “the little train goes far”. Our elderberry farmer Sylvain translates, “take your time and you will do more…..a little at a time adds up to a lot at the end”.
The honey bees are magnificent; they help pollinate almost 40% of what we eat and help make the earth more productive and colorful; they bring healing to many with their gifts of raw honey, propolis, pollen, venom and beeswax. We can value their industriousness and hard work and respect the benefit in this, while understanding that they also come in later, like the hare, or do not finish the race, in their limited time of life on earth.
May your little train go far.

honey bee on goldenrod, fall 2009 photo copyright Ann D. Watson, 2009

Recipes by Ann Kennedy

Honey Spiced Hot Cider
For each serving:
Combine in a saucepan, 1 cup unfiltered apple cider, 1/4 cup ginger ale, and 1/8cup orange juice.
Wrap 1 T whole cloves and 1 cinnamon stick in a small piece of cheesecloth and close tightly with kitchen twine.
Add to the cider mixture and bring slowly to a boil. Add 2 t of raw honey and stir until incorporated.
Reduce heat and simmer. Remove spices. Garnish with small strip of orange and lemon rind. Serve very hot with sliced, toasted French bread and blue cheese.

While this is delicious anytime, it also provides relief from sore throat discomfort.

Honey Fig Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup fig or apricot preserves
1 cup coconut
1 cup flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg

Mix together the first 7 ingredients.
Sift dry ingredients and combine with the butter mixture.
Drop by rounded T on a parchment covered baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. This is a very moist and chewy cookie.

Honey Sweet Potato Souffle

Line a baking pan with foil, puncture and bake 4 large sweet potatoes in a 400 degree oven until done–about 1 hour.
Peel the potatoes and add 6 T butter, 1/2 t Chinese Five-Spice, 1/4 t nutmeg, and 1/4 t ginger.
Add 4 T raw honey, 1/2 cup brown sugar and puree all ingredients until light and fluffy.
Beat 2 eggs until creamy and pale yellow and beat thoroughly into sweet potato mixture.
Bake in a lightly greased casserole dish at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Honey Glazed Cornish Game Hens with Brown Rice Apple Stuffing

4 Cornish game hens, rinsed and patted dry.
2 T olive oil
2 T raw honey
salt and pepper
Herbes de Provence
1-1/2 cups brown rice cooked in chicken stock
5 T butter
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 T chopped onion
2 T golden raisins

Mix together the olive oil and honey and rub liberally over the game hens. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Set aside.
Saute the celery, apple, pecans, onion and raisins in butter until onions are translucent.
Combine with the cooked brown rice.
Stuff each game hen.
Roast according to package directions, typically about 45-50 minutes until nicely brown and tender.

Honey Roasted Green Beans (A Christmas dish with a twist)

1 lb. fresh green beans
2 slices thick-sliced bacon, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 T Balsamic vinegar

Blanch green beans in boiling water for about 1 minute. Reduce heat and continue to cook until crisp but tender. Drain and spread beans on a rimmed baking sheet. Combine chopped bacon, onion, and almonds in a small skillet. Cook and stir on high heat until bacon is slightly crisp. Sprinkle this mixture on the green beans along with the diced tomatoes. Drizzle with vinegar. Drop small bits of raw honey by teaspoon over the green beans. Roast at 400 for about 15-20 minutes until mixture looks slightly darkened. Recipe can be doubled. This recipe works for other vegetables as well–Brussel sprouts, root vegetables, mixtures, etc. Finely chopped vegetables prepared this way also make a great topping for bacon and brie pizza–great with shrimp and mushrooms added.

Thank you for your support of the honey bees, plant medicine, and those that work in agriculture.

The flowers of five months of the cool, northern summer have passed and only a few yellow goldenrod and purple aster plants color the countryside. The work of the beekeepers is now to gather and extract the crop. For many beekeepers, the bees made a crop at the very end of the season. In the honey house we are bottling the goldenrod/fall crop and blueberry honey. The elderberry crop has been picked, and this fruit, new goldenrod honey, and fresh pollen have been appearing in bowls of oatmeal many mornings around the honey house.
working at the honey house………

For the last few years working for Honey Gardens I have proudly boasted about the health benefits of “our” raw honey and plant medicine. I live in the New York City area and serve as a demo rep and communicator, proudly known as the “Northeastern Sister”. My work includes educating staff in natural foods stores, introducing Honey Gardens’ products to new stores and, of course, performing lots of honey tastings! I do my best to represent the bees, in appreciation of their tremendous hard work and organization of which I am truly in awe. I also share information about the healing properties of the medicinal herbs and contents of plant medicine.
One way I strive to obtain this knowledge for myself is by visiting Honey Gardens in Vermont and being close to the source. Here I can visit with the bees and get “hands-on” experience by helping with bottling, labeling and anything else they will let me do! The folks up there are so very patient with me, allowing me into the honey house to get in their way. I feel like a complete tourist!

I was able to be a part of the production team for one day and we made Apitherapy Organic Elderberry Syrup (that had been a dream of mine for a while). I actually picked elderberries that were growing right outside of the honey house. They are amazing shades of red and purple and you must hold them up towards the sun to check that they are ripe. They must be nearly black before they are ready to pick.
As I was de-stemming elderberries for the kettles, I thought about how so many people across the country, and perhaps beyond, will be able to use this formula for healing. It was a very rewarding feeling and with these intentions in mind, I went forth throughout what could have been a demanding and difficult day with a big grin on my face and lots of positive energy. Together we managed to produce and bottle well over 1000 bottles of plant medicine, being sure to finish each packed box with a personal hand-written symbol of health and well-being. Talk about spirit……

Vermont is a verdant, flourishing land and Honey Gardens’ garden is no exception. There are elderberry bushes, sunflowers, healing medicinal plants and herbs and a thriving veggie patch!! Andrew, our herbalist, gave me a tour of elecampane, nettles, thistle and much more. I have been raving about these plants and their healing powers as ingredients in Honey Gardens’ products and here they were!
I saved the best for last……

Todd took me out to see the bees, it is so very inspiring, almost breathtaking to be this close to the source. We visited several hives including some wild bees that had moved into some old equipment. They had survived the summer with seeming abundance. Lots of honey was there as we chiseled through the propolis seal to check on them. We provided the bees with a few more boxes with which to build for the remaining three weeks or so of the bees’ goldenrod season. I realized this assists them and it helped me to understand the relationship between us and the bees and how we do support each other.
It is important for me to try to give back, and I really hope to have hives someday. I would like to provide some bees a clean and safe place to live. Until then, I appreciate all that I can experience and learn from Todd and the community here. I can truly say I feel like a real part of a team, something so much larger and greater than myself. Honey Gardens is truly like a beehive with everyone working and cooperating together. I know I will be buzzing for a while!

Susan Blacklocke

Pumpkin Raw Honey Spice Cookies by Ann Kennedy

1 15 oz. can pumpkin or fresh pureed pumpkin, if you have it
1 stick butter, softenedPumpkin cookies
1 cup raw honey
2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 ¾ cups flour
1 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 t each ginger and nutmeg
1 ½ t cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans, if desired
½ cup golden raisins, if desired
Mix together first 5 ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy.
Sift together dry ingredients.
Combine moist and dry ingredients and mix well.
Drop by rounded soup spoon onto parchment covered baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
Sprinkle lightly with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes.
These are great served right out the oven with French vanilla ice cream and home made caramel sauce.

The new crops of northern honey are in ! We are now sharing Apitherapy raw honey from this region and blueberry honey from Maine. After almost three months of rain, the First Fruits of the new crops are in the honey house, and we are grateful to be able to send this delicious honey to you.

What I learned from the bees (# 1 in a series)

patience

Working with the honey bees helps to stretch and fortify one’s patience. While we do all we can to help the bees make a crop, such as give them mite resistant queens that have been selected over the years, make sure they have enough room to raise brood and make honey, give them equipment that has light wax or foundation to help them keep their home clean, follow other organic support procedures that encourage them to be stronger in the midst of mites and other environmental challenges, wrapping them well for the northern winters, etc. , the ultimate control of a honey crop is not in our hands.

In Northern Vermont, we are blessed by five months of sunny summer weather, often cool and seldom hot. This is the weather that allows for the good crops, and encourages flowers to make nectar. Where the summer temperatures are hotter, this production of nectar may be shut down. This year it has been raining for much of the last six weeks. While this has been a challenge and hardship to a vegetable farmer, for those that are growing strawberries or tomatoes, or those who plant fields of corn, things are different in the world of honey bees. The rains have allowed the plants to grow larger and stronger, producing many flowers that will offer nectar. The soil is loaded with water. When we get sun now, and if it is in the time when there are flowers on the clovers, milkweed, knapweed, goldenrod, or other flowers, the bees could make a good crop.

In many years of working with the bees, I often found that the crops were made in the last week of the five month season. As a young commercial beekeeper, there were weeks of great anxiety and worry in the years when the bees did not make a crop for the first 95% of the season. Imagine a profession where there was not a weekly paycheck, but the whole year’s income was primarily made on a few days at the very end of the season. This has happened over and over again, and has helped me grow in patience and faith in this work, and also in life itself. I feel grateful to have experienced a string of miracles where there is no surplus honey on the bees one day, and ten days later when you come back to inspect, three or four boxes of honey are found on the upper areas of the hive.

Over the years, I have become very sensitive to the moment in time, when, after all the waiting, watching, and prayers, I first saw that a crop was made. I call this the “turning point”, always so thankful for the day. I will never forget the minute in a particularly dry year – I walked up to the bees in the “Glake bee yard” in the St. Lawrence River Valley of Northern New York. Upon opening the first three colonies, I saw that all had made an average of 60+ lb. of honey where there had been no honey two weeks earlier. Each hive in this yard was the same. Then I heard the “click clack” of the horses as they drove by, pulling a cart with an Amish family, the men all dressed in blue shirts and their straw summer hats. This was a very special moment I will never forget.

As beekeepers, we do all that we can to help the bees; we give them room, keep them in areas where we believe they will be able to gather nectar and pollen, be protected from the bears and the winter winds, and help them with their queens. Then, we have to let go, and let them do their work.

A life of beekeeping has given me a great peace about the things that I cannot control. Every season we are given daily opportunities to understand the prayer of serenity more fully:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change.
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference. “