Chalk Brood and Sugar Water

The bees have been busy and productive lately. We've gone from 40,000 bees when Adam bought them in April, to over 100,000 bees now. Lots of babies. When the sun came out yesterday, they went crazy, flying about to use the warmth.

You'll note that the hives are shorter. Adam removed the top box on each hive, the box that just contained a glass jar of sugar water, to feed the bees. You can see, leaning against the hives, the board covers that the jars sat on. These covers were a problem:  because they covered the main hive boxes, they prevented air circulation, which is so necessary to hive health. Adam has a fine screen on the bottom of each hive. It allowed air to flow in, but keeps other bugs out. Ideally, a screen should be on the top of each hive also. Well, yesterday, he removed those feeding boards, and put on screens.

He did this because he was getting chalk brood in the hives. Chalk brood is a fungus that gets on the brood -- the babies capped in the comb -- and kills them. The nursery bees throw this brood out. Chalk brood comes when the weather is moist, as it has been. Good air circulation prevents it.

But, how to feed the bees, once Adam removed the jars and their boards? Well, he has a solution for that too -- a feeding bucket. This is a 5-gallon bucket, turned upside down, full of sugar water and the essential oils that bees love. You can see that it's set in water, to prevent ants from climbing up and drinking all the bees' water.

He set the bucket out yesterday, and in no time, forager bees discovered it. Here's one, sitting just above the tiny holes that Adam drilled in the bottom of the bucket's rim. See them? They're the right size for the bees' tongues. The sugar water doesn't come pouring out, because a vacuum is created in the bucket. The bees can suck it out, but it doesn't come out on its own.

This morning, the bucket was loaded with bees. They're happy to find their water! But Adam wanted to know if all the bees there were his own, or if some were from other hives. So he decided to "bee line" his bees. He takes powdered sugar, sprinkles it on the bees at the bucket, and watches to see where they fly. The powdered sugar makes them look like little moths, or angels, flying around. But normal powdered sugar also has corn starch in it. He didn't want his bees to have corn starch. (They will groom each other, and eat the sugar off each other.) So he made his own powdered sugar.

Did you know you can powder your own sugar?

Just put sugar into a good chopper/grinder, and voila! Powdered sugar!

Happy bees.

That's what the beekeeper is doing this morning.

Blogasbord

I just have to start out with this whole Harold Camping thing -- have you heard?

The world is supposed to end on Saturday. 

That's right! Only 3 days left to shop! Spend it all up, ladies!

Seriously though, here are a few posts I've read about this elderly predictor of end times:
New York Magazine had an interview/conversation with Mr. Camping.
Rev. Chuck Betters hosted Camping once for a debate on his end-times predictions. He gives a good assessment of the man.
Time also has a simple article explaining Camping's math. It gives Scripture verses that are pertinent to his "formula."

Enough Camping. I personally think the man is a false prophet. The end times are supposed to be full of them.

And now on to ... Meat Glue!  I bet you didn't know about meat glue! If you ever eat meat in restaurants, you're eating meat glue. Simply put, it allows butchers to "glue" together smaller, inferior cuts of meat (think, stew meat), into larger, shaped cuts (think, filet mignon). Not only is it deceptive, it's also unhealthy.
Here's a video of how it works.
Here's a longer video, which I haven't watched all of yet, that looks more scientific, and interesting.


Obamacare Waivers -- they're everywhere! A total of 1372 one-year waivers have been given to companies.
The latest request? Nursing homes.

World had another worrying article about how higher education in the US is way overpriced.  Causing a little anxiety for this mom of college kids.

Where would you put honey bees, in a big city? Read this.

Panera Bread succeeds with a pay-what-you-like store. Can you believe this works? It makes me happy.

Netflix is the wave of the future. If you don't know this yet, you're behind :)


The Antikythera Mechanism. An ancient machine, found by divers. Man's oldest computer. Interesting stuff.

Why We Blog

I enjoy blogging. I also tend to talk to myself, always have. As MFK Fisher says in one of her books, writers tend to have an inner, yapping voice that is constantly talking. When we write, we just put that yapping on paper. Well, she said it better than that.

I have some blogging friends who weary of it. They begin for fun, they find an online community that they love, their blogging peaks with lots of readership, comments, advertising and other exciting things, and then life intervenes. Children, or work, or moving, or even crises come in, and the blogging suffers.

And the blogger wonders why she's doing it anymore. The less she posts, the fewer readers she has. She loses her motivation. She wonders if she should quit. Why is she blogging anyway? To talk to thin air?

Well, yes. That's exactly why I blog. I like to talk, and it matters little to me (I apologize, gentle readers) if anyone much is listening. Sad, but honest. Arrogant too, because I consider myself alone to be an adequate audience. Hmm. Gotta work on that.

I think blogging is not a way to help the blogger view the world. It's a way to let the world have a window into your home, your life. It's a view from the outside, in -- not the inside, out. That's the way I see it, anyway.

But for me, blogging is more like a diary. I've been keeping diaries on and off since 2nd grade. So blabbing about my days comes naturally. A diary is a labor of love, just for the sake of keeping a record, nothing else.

We do not intend for a diary to be read by others. It's for our eyes only. We do not intend fame or publication, and certainly not interaction. It's a mental exercise.

And we certainly don't expect anyone to pay us anything, for keeping a diary. We do it for ourselves. Don't you love the old, red leather on this one?

When I tire of talking to myself -- of thinking -- then I suppose I'll tire of blogging. I may slow down at times, or become less creative:  write fewer poems, cook less often, neglect my yard.  But I don't think I'll stop altogether. It's not time to close up the diary yet.

So, all you weary bloggers out there -- take a deep breath, take a week off, and give your brain time to ruminate and ferment. You'll come up with something new to tell the world. Don't pull the curtains closed on your window.

Making Money

I have a big patch of money plant in my yard. Last year, I allowed the interesting seed pods to dry on the plant, before I cut them. Big mistake. In the rain and moisture, they'd already begun to mildew, and had lost their silvery luster.

So this year I'm trying something else -- cutting them while green, and bringing them inside to dry. But money plant is a biennial, I think, so it seems to go on a 2-year rotation.  This is the year of the greenery. I think next year I'll have a bumper crop of the "money." So, if the drying works like a charm this year, next year, I'll be rich!

I'll let you know if they turn out. Wouldn't it be easy if it grew on trees?

"Mommy, How Do I Flip This?"

This morning, Anna asked to bake a Honey Puffed Pancake for breakfast. I've blogged about it before, here. The recipe I'll give below. It's not a simple recipe, but she loves it, and I want her to cook, so I said yes. We agreed she should cut the recipe by half, since she's the only one eating it this morning. She did a great job!

It looked wonderful in the pan, as it began to bake.

And it turned out that golden, crispy egg-yellow. But then I heard her call from the kitchen, "Mommy! How do I flip this thing?"

And my heart itself flipped over, skipped a beat. Isn't this what she's doing, right now in her life? Making that move, that flip, from our home to her college? She's done all the work. She's adjusting to new responsibilities. But she still needs a little help from these older hands, experienced hands. Hands that have learned how to flip things in life.

"Grab the handle upside down, honey. Like this."  I show her. "Put the plate beside the pan, and turn the pan over, quickly."  You have to trust that a good firm, confident upending of the cast iron will reveal a beautiful pancake.

It was delicious. Now she's cleaning up the kitchen, bless her. Nineteen years of slow, vaguely-methodical training do eventually pay off. She's ready.

Honey Puffed Pancake (from the Hancock House B&B, Dubuque, Iowa):
1 cup milk
6 eggs
3 Tbs honey
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbs butter, divided

Honey Butter Spread:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. In blender: milk, eggs, honey, cream cheese, flour, salt, baking powder. Blend ingredients on high for 1 minute. Grease 10-inch ovenproof skillet (We use cast iron.) with 1 Tbs butter. Add remaining 2 Tbs butter. Heat skillet in oven until butter sizzles. Pour batter into skillet and bake for 20-25 min. until puffed and golden brown. Pancake will fall and flatten some after being removed from oven.

Beat the ingredients for the spread while the pancake is baking. You may heat it gently on the stove to a liquid, if you prefer. (As Anna did in the pictures.) You may serve the butter spread with pancake syrup on top, or use it alone.

Pesto Baguettes

My neighbor Ali saw my basil growing bushy, and she said, "I'd make pesto with that." I'd never made pesto before, so I thought, "It's high time!" One of our favorite items at the bakery in Brevard, is a pesto baguette. If I'm making pesto, why not make some bread to go with it?

Here's the basil. I cleaned it like lettuce.

Here are the other ingredients: olive oil, pine nuts (which we happened to have!), and garlic.  I also threw in some pecans, because they're my favorite nut. Well, besides Adam.

Toss it all in the food processor, pulverize it, (tell Philip that, no, the nut pieces are NOT too large), and presto-pesto!! There it is! The big green slime monster! But it tastes oh-so-good.

I whipped up two loaves of French bread and rolled the pesto inside it, just like a jelly roll, before baking. Couldn't be easier. See that green stuff about to ooze out the side? That's the best!

Yum. But I think I should have rolled it thinner, to give more rings of pesto.

Julia says it met her expectations.

Philip took a nap while it was baking. He likes pesto, and it's even green! Miracles still occur. This cute photo of Philip taking a nap is especially for Rebecca, because we miss you, dear. No children (or mothers) were harmed in the taking of this picture. He doesn't know I took it, and he also doesn't know that I'm about to post it online. It's hard, having a blogging mom.

Just What She Wanted

Anna's graduation was different from your usual high school ceremony. One graduate. About 20 people. Held in a small room in the local library. But it was exactly -- exactly -- what she wanted. Private, small, spiritual, just her friends.

Still, we had the usual fun tables displaying the joys of Anna's growing-up years.

And a couple of display boards, and cards.

Adam and I each gave a little speech.

And Anna thanked all the people who've been important in her life -- even her siblings!

Mostly, there was lots of talking, visiting, hugging, smiling, and congratulating.

And even a congratulatory kiss from the daddy ...

My dear parents drove over for the event. Bless them -- with 26 grandchildren, my mother said they had 8 birthdays and 3 graduations, just in May! That's a lot to remember! We're so glad they could come, even though I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, getting everything set up.

The two buddies. Julia and my dad have been pals since way back :)

There was some goofing around. Adam and Peter are always good for a bit of silliness.

Finally, Anna got to kick off her shoes, and visit with old friends. It was a great day! We are so proud of her!