29 and Counting...

29 years and counting...so much more to do and see.  We are lucky, indeed and feeling blessed.  Things in the bee yard have been a bit rocky of late and not so great.  We discovered wax moth larvae in are strongest hive but decided to see if we could beef things up by feeding the bees to build up the colony.  It seems as if they were out of MOJO when we initially went into the hive about 2 weeks ago & the honey stores were all gone.  As of this afternoon, we are optimistic that the bees have rallied and fought off the moth. We saw fresh larvae but never spotted the queen...we are assuming we missed her and hope to spot her the next time we dive into the hive. 

August 17, 1984...oh so young!

August 18, 1984...The BIG Day!

....and 29 years later...still smiling!



Loaded Tots...this is what you get after 29 years of wedded bliss!

  


A great little place to check out downtown...lots of choices at Busy Bee Café like TOTS!



This looks like great fun...next time!  

 


 

A few shots from the garden...too much rain this year but a few highlights despite what seemed like a monsoon season.

 

Rose of Sharon with a big bumble bee...

I thought this was a Ginger Lilly but am not sure...

Shade loving plants and volunteer Impatiens

Need to read as I already devoured the cookie in honor of HONEYBEES...thanks Anne and Bill for keeping me in the know and my sweet tooth satisfied!

Something to think about...lots of grass in my yard...perhaps I should add that to a plant based way of life...not sure where the cookies would fit in here but still intrigued. 

 

 

Indulged!

An unexpected visit from a dear friend, more wonderful friends at the sea, blueberries for the picking and a few yummies from the garden.  Feeling lucky, indeed! 

 

 

 

Crisp, NC at the farm.

 

 

What's for dinner tonight?

 

Flying Insects at Work in the Garden

 

Not sure what kind of bee this is but it's a big one!

We went into all three hives today and found that the newest hive is still taking sugar water and the queen is laying.  Take a look at the larvae in the picture below.  That's a good thing!  The two more established hives appear to be in good condition so all is well. 

The bees built this comb out in an empty space in the newest  hive.  Not bad work for a bunch of newbies!

Liquid Gold!



2 Bee Stings
1 Frame of Honey Comb
4 Gallons of  Sticky Sweet Honey
Plenty to share...Priceless

 

Rain, Rain, Take A BREAK!

Rain and more rain...the garden and the grass are a
beautiful shade of green but the veggies need some
sunshine to grow and ripen and the bees well...they
need to get out of the hive and forage. 

Soft Moss

Giant Elephant Ears

     

Bearding Bees Early Evening

Waiting for Mr. Sunshine

Vertical Cucumbers and Spinach



Pollinator!

Spinach Upward!

Extra Large Yellow Daylilies

Just Peachy! Don't try this more than once a year!

 

Yummy peach pie...so glad it's that time of year! 
Any food item made with two sticks of butter is a once a year thing!

Food Network...Mama Thorton's Peach Pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for bench and cutters
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed

Filling:

• 10 ripe but firm peaches
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon or pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg
• Special equipment: fluted pizza cutter or fluted ravioli cutter

Directions

Cook's Note: You can increase the amount of sugar to 1 1/4 cups, depending upon the sweetness of the peaches. Peak summer peaches will only need 1 cup.

For the crust: In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cold butter.
Pulse the processor until the mixture resembles fine sand. Remove the lid and add the ice water to the mixture. Run the processor just until the mixture rolls itself into a little ball. If the mixture is a bit dry, add more ice water by the tablespoonful until it comes together. Gather the dough into a ball. With a bench scraper or knife, divide the mixture evenly in half. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. At this point you can keep the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze for later use.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Flour your rolling pin and roll out 1 pie crust to about a 12-inch round and drape over a 9 1/2-inch fluted pie plate. Roll out the other pie crust to about a 10-inch round, and cut this into 1-inch strips with a fluted pizza cutter.

For the filling: Peel and cut the peaches into 1/4-inch thick slices (you should have about 7 cups) and toss with the lemon juice and almond extract in a large bowl. Whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in another bowl, making sure there are no lumps. Stir the flour mixture into the peaches and mix well. Pour the peaches into the pie crust. Scatter with the pieces of butter. Top with the lattice strips. Brush away any flour underneath the lattice to make sure it seals well. Crimp the edges to seal. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water and brush the lattice and edges with the egg wash.

Pop in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, and then lower the heat to 350 degrees F and bake until the crust gets brown, about 50 minutes more. If the edges brown too fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil about halfway through baking. Cool about 30 minutes before serving.  Eat one slice and give the rest away! 

 

1...2...3....4 Honey Extracting on June 29, 2013

1.  Clear the bees from the frames. 

2.  Transport the frames to a place away from the hive. 
 Leave the bees behind!

3.  Uncap the wax and spin the frames in the centrifuge.

4.  Let the Honey flow!



Honeycomb!

Jars waiting to be topped off with honey...yum!