So my tenure as beekeeper has come to an end. Rather abruptly, I might add. Last weekend bald-faced hornets invaded my hive and even though my guard bees fought valiently—there was a massive swarm of agitation happening at the entrance of the hive—it appears the hornets have won. This week most of my bees are gone. So are about six frames of […]
where I work
Wednesday Webs: Things Keeping My Interest This Summer
So this has been my summer of beekeeping. Since I know absolutely nada of these honeys, I’m learning things as I go. For example, I now know the cone shape in the center above is a queen cell and since I already have one queen, another could be problematic. I should get rid of this cell. Or not. […]
Canning and Planning for the Upcoming Months
It’s Foodie Friday and we’ve been canning homemade grape juice. We use my mother’s recipe, hence every jar conjures up childhood memories of sweet, purple purity (unlike the artificial, high-fructose infiltrations we have today). I’ll share the recipe below, it’s super easy peasy. Anyway, we did 53 quarts and that means we can enjoy our little vineyard at least once a week for the next […]
Slowing Down for Quality
We live in a somewhat busy airway. We’re centrally located between Madison and Milwaukee airports so jet trails frequently criss-cross our upper skies. We’re 90 minutes south of Oshkosh, which means in July fleets of propellers drone past on their way to the EAA AirVenture. If that’s not enough, we’re also a couple miles from a hot air balloonist who regularly offers scenic tours to air-loving adventurists. I shot […]
Our Vanishing Wisconsin Barns
Not like I’ve ever mentioned it before, but my work gets me out of the office in so many interesting ways. Like this past weekend when my husband and I roamed the countryside in search of the perfect “weathered, red barn” to illustrate an author’s article (more in the upcoming Fermentation Fest event guide). In the meantime, here are some of the glorious […]