Signs of Spring Blog

Bill Hamilton, the biology professor (and one of my dearest colleagues) at Penn State New Kensington has a blog entitled Ecologist's Notebook, where he writes about his observations of nature on his forays in the area.  Bill and his wife, Deborah, are responsible for the campus's Nature Trail, one of the crowning jewels of the New Kensington campus!

For a few years, Bill has been posting notes under the title "Signs of Spring." In the past, the Signs of Spring have been welcome indications as winter wanes that spring is indeed nigh.  This year is a bit different and Bill's been noting "signs of spring" even in January. He recently posted about unusual honey bee behavior during the 60+ degree weather we've had recently.  Check out his "Signs of Spring 2: Honeybees" post.  Robert is quoted! :)

Beekeeping Classes in Pittsburgh 2013

Caught the beekeeping bug yet?  If so, those amazing Burgh Bees are at it again with the best beekeeping courses in the area taught by Master Beekeepers Steve Repasky and Joe Zgurzynski.  Details for the classes are available at the Burgh Bee's website:

Hurry and sign up, the classes fill up quickly!

Beekeeping in the Classroom 101:  January 15, 17 & 22

Beekeeping 102, What to Expect in the Second Year, for new beekeepers with a year under their veils.

2013 Western PA Beekeeping Seminar February 15 and 16.
For novice, experienced and wannabee beekeepers, the annual Western PA Beekeeping Seminar is a great place to meet beekeepers and learn about the most up-to-date techniques and latest ideas.  Click on the link for more information and details about how to register.

Robert, Dean & Ray Extract a Beehive from a Tree!

We got a call from Ray in Crescent Township who discovered a feral beehive in a dead tree he was sawing down for firewood. Robert and Dean swarmed (!) into action to extract the colony from the tree and give it a good home. 

The small cavity in the tree  where the colony took up residence

Sawing through the log to get easier access to the colony.
Bees aren't fond of loud noises or vibrations, so this was likely a bit upsetting for them,
yet surprisingly, no one got stung!

A bit blurry, but still interesting!
This is a photo of capped brood in the honeycomb the bees built in the tree cavity.  Capped brood are young bees in the pupa stage.  To successfully extract the colony from the tree, Robert and Dean want to get as much
of this capped brood as they can, since soon they will be the workforce that helps the colony survive.

Great photo of the honeycomb layers the bees built for their colony.  Robert says that the colony
was "quite convoluted and in a rather small space."

The lighter honeycomb pieces above are newer comb that the bees just built this year.
On the darker comb, you can clearly see the capped brood (the cells that are "capped" with beeswax).
The lighter comb also has capped brood--it's just a bit harder to see. On the top piece of lighter honeycomb,
you can also see the nectar the bees began storing.  It's in the open cells on the left.
(HEY! is that my good bread knife???)

Dean is taking the honeycomb with the capped brood and using rubber bands to hold it in  an empty frame.
The hope is that the bees will begin to attach the comb to the frame with beeswax
and settle into their new home at the Spring Street Farm in Aliquippa.
We'll report back in a few weeks and let you know how they're doing!

Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper Documentary Needs Support!

Filmmaker Steve Ellington and Masterbeekeper Steve Repasky are teaming up for a documentary entitled "Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper" about urban beekeeping and seeking support for the project on Kickstarter.  Time is of the essence--they need $1250 in pledges by Monday, July 2nd--only a few days to go!  As of today, they're up to $1070, so they're close.  Be sure to check out the updates, which include a short clip of Steve Repasky's bees making "built in" comb honey in mason jars--ingenious and very cool!

Spring 2012 Extraction

We had a honey extracting extravaganza on Sunday!  Thanks so much to everyone who came out to help: Dean, Danielle, Elizabeth, Kim and Steve!   Dean is tending three colonies at the Spring Street Farm in Aliquippa, which part of the amazing efforts of the Uncommon Grounds Cafe (Dean's on Facebook, too--look for "Spring Street Farm.").  Danielle and interns Elizabeth and Kim tend seven colonies now (after their successful splits this spring!) at Churchview Farms.  And Steve, a state wildlife biologist,  is one of our area's few Master Beekeepers and Burgh Bees's indefatigable Apiary Director.  Steve also sells his honey on the last Saturday of the month at the Sewickley Farmers' Market. Check out their work:

Beautiful fully capped frame of spring honey

Dean & Robert using uncapping knives
to remove the wax caps from the honey

Danielle showing lovely uncapping technique!

An uncapped frame of honey ready for the extractor

The uncapped frames are loaded into the extractor.
This is a motorized radial extractor, which spins
the honey out of the comb.

Honey pouring out of the extractor and
into a strainer placed over a bucket.

Freshly extracted honey!

When all's done, there's still lots of honey
at the bottom of the extractor.
It will slowly drain into a bucket.

Spring honey bottled and ready to enjoy!

SWARM!

We had an exciting swarm day at the apiary yesterday. You can see here that a swarm landed on the trunk of a small pear tree not far from the apiary.  Tuesday was the first sunny day after several days of rain and that it often when a colony intent on swarming will make its escape.

We lucked out with this one, since it wasn't high off the ground, making it somewhat easy to coax into a new hive box.







Below you can see the bees beginning to march into the box that Robert set beside the swarm.  We saw the queen (though not quickly enough to get a photo of her!), and once the bees could tell that the queen was in the box, they began to march in and take possession.

Here you can really see how the bees are beginning to march down from the trunk of the tree into the box.

Though dramatic to watch, swarms are not dangerous (even though they certainly can frighten people).  Honey bees in a swarm are intent upon finding a suitable home to relocate and are not inclined to sting.

A swarm is the way that honey bees reproduce their colonies.  The old queen from the mother colony leaves with the swarm--usually about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bees in the mother colony.  They leave behind several swarm cells where a new queen will emerge to carry on.

The photo on the right was taken about an hour after we saw the queen go into the box.  You can see here that there are no more bees on the pear tree trunk.  They've headed inside to get used to their new home.

Colony Collapse Disorder: Great Brief Explanation!

If you've had a hard time wrapping your head around the concerns bees are facing, we highly recommend this interview with Dr. Marla Spivak, MacArthur Fellow and Distinguished McKnight Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota.

Here, Dr. Spivak is interviewed by Lynne Rossetto Kasper on Kasper's weekly radio, The Splendid Table, which airs in Pittsburgh on Sundays from 1pm to 2pm  (Essential Public Radio, 90.5 FM).  I look forward to the Splendid Table each week for great discussions about food, eating and issues that affect our food supply.

Here's a recipe for Honey Ginger Lemonade, also from The Splendid Table:

Honey Ginger Lemonade
2 ounces fresh ginger, peeled, cut into thin disks (⅓ cup)
¼ cup honey, or more to taste
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 large lemons)

• Put the ginger in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring 2 cups cold water to a boil, then pour it into the bowl and stir to agitate the ginger. Slowly pour in the honey, stirring until it's dissolved in the concentrate. Add the salt, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.
• Strain the concentrate into a large pitcher (it will keep for 5 days, covered, in the refrigerator), reserving the ginger slices. Add 3 cups cold water and the lemon juice to the pitcher, and sweeten to taste with honey. Set the pitcher in the refrigerator to cool further; store the ginger slices in the refrigerator as well. (The lemonade and ginger slices will keep in the refrigerator for 5 days.)
• Fill each highball or pint glass two-thirds of the way to the rim with ice, and pour the ginger lemonade over it. Garnish with a slice of the steeped ginger.

Reprinted from The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor by Matt and Ted Lee. Copyright © 2009 Published by Clarkson Potter.

Barley Salad and Beekeeping with Danielle!

We visited the hives yesterday with one of our favorite beekeepers, Danielle M., who is one of the farmers at Churchview Farm and an accomplished baker at La Gourmandine Bakery in Lawrenceville.  Danielle is tending six hives at Churchview.   What's the barley salad have to do with this?  Nothing really--just made it as part of celebrating Mom's birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday, Mom!) and wanted to include a recipe in this post.  The salad was a big hit at Mom's birthday party and a breeze to make. Scroll to the bottom for the recipe AND a great find the queen photo!

Danielle showing her skill.  In this hive, we were checking to be sure it was "queen right," which means that it had an active, laying queen.  The best sign that a hive is queen right is the presence of newly laid eggs.
   

This is a frame of capped brood, which is a great sign of a thriving colony.  The filled in cells are bees in the pupa stage and will soon emerge to join their sisters.

An active entrance of busy foragers bringing in pollen and nectar.  An active entrance like this is a good sign that the colony is thriving.

We were also checking for swarm cells.  A quick way to do that is to tip the super up on its end and look at it from the bottom because the bees build swarm cells on the bottom of the frame.  Here, we see a number of what are called "play cups." These are potential swarm cells--but they don't have an egg or larva in them yet.  A colony will often build play cups just as insurance in case they need to make a queen.  However, on the bottom left side, you can see swarm cell in formation.  There's also one in the center of the middle frame.  In both cases, the cells are damaged, so there won't be any queens emerging there.

Can you find the queen?  Look for a bright blue dot!

BARLEY SALAD

This is adapted from a Martha Stewart Living recipe.  Makes about 8 servings.

1 1/2 cups pearl barley (not instant)

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons summer honey

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup fresh mixed herbs (I used chives, cilantro, parsley, thyme and oregano)
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse barley well and place in a large saucepan with 3 cups water.  Bring to a boil, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, lower heat and simmer for about 40 minutes until barley is tender.

While barley is cooking, whisk the onion, mustard, vinegar, honey and oil in a bowl.  When barley is finished, drain if necessary and add to bowl, mixing well.  Let cool for about 15 minutes and add herbs, mixing well and adding salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  

Our Last Day at the Market

Our last day at the St. James Farmers' Market in Sewickley!

Loyal customers who became friends!

After three years of selling our honey and talking about bees at the St. James Farmers' Market in Sewickley, we are turning over the market reins to Steve Repasky, an Eastern Apiculture Society-certified Master Beekeeper (a very big deal!) and Vice President of Burgh Bees (big deal, too!). It's been tough decision to give up the market because we have made many, many friends and enjoy market day so much.  Yet our "real" jobs have gotten busier, making it harder for us to give the market the attention it needs. 

Steve Repasky, ready for customers!

Luckily, we have the irrepressible Steve to take over! In addition to selling his honey (and ours when we have it), Steve has some wonderful new products to introduce, including a delightful peppermint foot cream that'll get you ready for sandal weather!

.

A frozen Robert and a warm Steve!

Perhaps it was a sign, but it actually SNOWED on Saturday, on our last day.  Temperatures hovered in the low 30s, so we couldn't bring the observation hive out for one last show, alas.

We look forward to coming to the market as "civilians." We'll be the ones hanging out at the bee booth bothering Steve (unless it's snowing!).

A queen between two drones! (Thanks, Felicity, for taking the photo!)  

Though we're scaling back, Robert and I remain devoted beekeepers and will continue to sell our honey from our home and apiary in Aliquippa.  We welcome visitors!  Call or email us to find a time to stop by.  We'll also plan to update this blog more regularly, so if you haven't already, please "follow" us and sign up for email notices when we add a new post.

Many, many thanks to: Bob Jankart, market manager extraordinaire; our fellow vendors at the St. James Farmers' Market, whose beautiful produce and wares always inspire; and especially our loyal customers and friends for embracing us so warmly--even when it snowed.   Bee happy!  --Jennie & Robert

Winter Bees

Western PA was hit with our first big snow storm of the winter last night.  The apiary is buried under about six inches of snow.  We often get asked how bees get through the winter, especially since honey bees don't sleep, they don't hibernate and they don't fly around when the temperatures are below 40 degrees.  

So, what do bees do in the winter time?  They cluster. 

As winter’s cold sets in, the worker bees tightly cluster around their queen and vibrate—shiver, really.   Their collective shivering keeps the internal temperature of the hive at a cozy 95 degrees, nearly the same temperature as a normal human body.  The bees move in and out of the cluster so no individual freezes.  They all share the burden.  As the winter progresses, the cluster moves through the hive, munching on the stores of honey they worked so hard to save through the spring, summer and fall. 

A typical colony needs about 60 pounds of honey at minimum to survive the winter.  An experienced beekeeper can lift up a hive from the back to judge the weight and tell if the bees will have enough to eat.  Anything over about 80 pounds is surplus honey that the beekeeper can safely take for herself.  

The job of the winter worker bee is to feed the queen and get the colony through these next frigid months. In the spring and summer, a worker bee will live no more than six weeks.  She literally works herself to death tending to the colony and foraging for nectar and pollen to feed their young and store for the winter.  The winter worker bee, though, can live as long as four to six months—the kind of time a colony needs to survive the vagaries of a Pittsburgh winter.  On a rare winter day when the temperature inches over 40, the bees will break their cluster and take what are called “cleansing flights”; they leave the hive to relieve themselves.  Mostly, though, they shiver and eat their way through winter.  Kind of like the rest of us.

Here's a recipe for Creamy Curry Cauliflower Soup, perfect for a winter's day.  Adapted from a Vegetarian Times recipe (a great source for soup recipes!). All the creaminess comes from the vegetables--it doesn't have even a splash of milk.  The honey is mostly a spice or flavoring here. Serve with bread or corn muffins. And don't forget to cluster!


2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 medium tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 clove of garlic
1 large head cauliflower, chopped (about 6 cups)
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or, if you're not vegetarian, chicken broth)
1 - 2 tablespoons honey, plus more for a drizzling.
1 teaspoon vinegar (cider, rice wine, white wine)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in olive oil until soft and golden in a stock pan. Add apples, curry powder and garlic and cook until curry powder is fragrant and apples soften a bit.  Add cauliflower and broth, bring just to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower and apple are very soft.  Let the soup sit for about 20 minutes for the flavors to meld.  Blend until smooth. Stir in the honey and vinegar.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Beekeeping Classes in Pittsburgh Area

Caught the beekeeping bug? You're in luck!  Area beekeeping organizations are offering beekeeping classes in January and February to help you get ready for the spring beekeeping season!  


WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA BEE SEMINAR
February 17 and 18 this year.  This is a great place to meet area beekeepers and learn from the best (including our area's Master Beekeepers Joe Zgurzynski and Steve Repasky!).  This seminar is designed for "old" and "new" beeks alike.  Here's a link to the brochure:  Western PA Bee Seminar Brochure.

BEGINNING BEEKEEPING CLASSES 
Penn State Extension in conjunction with the Beaver Valley Area Beekeepers, Westmoreland County Beekeepers, Armstrong/Indiana County Beekeepers and the Central Western PA Beekeepers will be offering Beginning Beekeeping Workshops at two locations again this year -Wexford and Greensburg. (The same information will be presented at each location.)   Here's a link to the brochure:  

Penn State Extension Beginning Beekeeping Workshops

WEXFORD:

Saturday, February 4, 2012, 9 a.m.— 4 p.m.

Soergel’s Orchard

2573 Brandt School Rd., Wexford, PA 15090-7606

GREENSBURG:

Saturday, February 11, 2012, 9 a.m.— 4 p.m.

Westmoreland County Cooperative Extension

214 Donohoe Rd., #E, Greensburg, PA 15601-7552

Burgh Bees will also be offering their popular Beginning Beekeeping 101 class in January as well as Beekeeping 102 class in March for second year beekeepers. The classes are taught by Master Beekeepers Joe Zgurzynski and Steve Repasky. Click on the links below for more information and registration form.  Register now!  The spaces fill up quickly!


Beginning Beekeeping 101: three evening class sessions
Monday, January 23, Wednesday, January 25 and Monday, January 30, 6-9:30

Beekeeping 102:  Saturday, March 10 8-2:30

Beekeeping catching on from Aliquippa to Pittsburgh - Timesonline.com: Business

Hey! We're famous! :)

Beekeeping catching on from Aliquippa to Pittsburgh - Timesonline.com: Business: ALIQUIPPA -- Standing in the yard of Jennifer Wood and Robert
Steffes, as thousands of bees buzz across the sky in seemingly
random paths, it'…

Emerging Worker Bee: The Life of a Tireless Worker!

In just about the center of the photo below, you can see a young worker bee almost fully emerged from her cell.  At the top center, you can see a worker bee has just chewed through the beeswax on her cell and will soon be joining her emerging sister.  Shortly after a worker bee emerges, she gets right to work.  Her first task usually is cleaning out her cell! 

Can you find the emerging bee in middle of cell?  Click on the photo to enlarge

As the worker bee ages, she progresses through a series of responsibilities that support the colony's life.  She begins by feeding and tending the brood (the eggs and larva) that will become the next generation workforce. After a few days, she'll graduate to taking nectar from foraging workers and evaporating it into honey.  If needed, she'll secrete beeswax and begin to build honeycomb.  As she ages, she'll progress to becoming an undertaker, removing any dead or ill bees from the hive.  After about three weeks of her six-week lifespan, she'll advance to becoming a guard bee, charged with keeping out any interlopers that threaten the colony (like wasps, skunks or humans!).  In the last two weeks of her short life, she's promoted to forager, and tirelessly brings back nectar, pollen and water for her colony. In fact, many worker bees literally die of exhaustion in their effort to help their colonies thrive. The National Honey Board claims that one worker bee produces about 1/12th a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime, which gives you as sense of just how valuable honey is!

How Do Bees Keep Cool?

The pond at SteffesWood Apiary

Honey bees keep cool just like the rest of us:  they go swimming!  Well...not exactly. But they do head for water.  That's why beekeepers need to have a good source of water near by (and why honeybees can sometimes become a nuisance at a backyard pool).  We have a small pond at the apiary and on a hot day like today, the bees use it to gather water to take back to the colony.  Once inside, they'll sprinkle the water around and then flap their wings to evaporate it.  It's their form of air conditioning!

Close-up of bees on the stone ledge by the pond.

Bee on a lily pad at the pond.

Bees can quickly get water logged, so they like to hang out on stone ledges or lily pads (or sticks or leaves) where they can easily lap up the water and not drown.




When it's really hot like today, then many of the bees will "beard" on the front of the colony to help keep the temperatures inside cooler.  And how cool is the colony?  About 94 or 95 degrees Fahrenheit--near the temperature of normal human body.  Whether it's below freezing or close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the bees maintain a fairly constant temperature in the hive!

close up of bearding

Bees bearding in front of two hives.

Spring Honey Extraction!

Frames of capped honey waiting to be extracted

Spring honey is one of Western Pennsylvania's most amazing delicacies. Nectar from early and late spring tree blossoms, especially the black locust and tulip poplar trees combine to create a delightfully light and delicious spring honey.  With all the rain in early spring, we were worried we wouldn't have much of a spring crop.  Rain can dilute the nectar so much that the bees have trouble turning it into honey.

     Once foragers collect the nectar, they store it in their "honey stomachs" and take it back to the colony.  At the colony, waiting house bees take the nectar from foragers in a mouth-to-mouth transfer.  The house bee will work with honey for about 30 minutes, moving it in and out of her proboscis, a process that adds enzymes and helps with evaporation.  Nectar is usually about 80% water, while honey is about 17% water-very dry!  Once she works with the nectar, she'll place it in a cell to evaporate more.  She and her sisters will fan the nectar until most of the water in it has been evaporated.  At that point, they'll cap the cell with a bit of beeswax to prevent moisture from getting back in.

A close up of nectar and just-capped honey (as well as some pollen)

Here's a close up photo of nectar on the verge of being capped.  In the top left, you can see some that the bees are starting to cap some of the cells.  The shiny cells have nectar not yet ready to cap.  In the lower right, the cells are filled with solid, colorful pollen. Nectar and honey are the bees' source of carbohydrates.  Pollen provides their protein.

Uncapping the honey to get it ready to extract

To extract the honey, we remove the beeswax cappings using a hot knife. The frames are then put into the extractor.









Here's a photo of "Big Green," our four-frame "antique" honey extractor, which we use when we don't have a lot of honey to extract.  The extractor spins the honey out of the cells using centrifugal force.

"Big Green" our 4-frame extractor  

And voila! Honey flows from the extractor into a strainer and a gated bucket.

Fresh spring honey!

A Pre-Father's Day Shout Out to Drones!

Drones of two different bee races.  The lighter colored drone is
likely Italian while the darker color is probably Carniolan.

Much-maligned honeybee drones (the male bee in a colony) get a bad rap for being lazy because their one and only function is to mate with virgin honeybee queens. Unlike the busy (and aptly-named) worker bees (who are all females), drones don't collect nectar and pollen.  They don't tend to the brood.  They can't even defend the hive because they don't have stingers.  When they're not hanging out in "drone congregation areas" waiting for virgin queens to fly by, they shuffle from one colony to the next begging food from busy workers.

Yet drones serve a crucial function for honeybees by providing a diversity of genetic material that helps the entire population of honeybees survive.  As Thomas Seeley writes in Honeybee Democracy (2010, Princeton University Press), drones "help their colony win in the ceaseless evolutionary competition to pass genes on to future generations" (p. 24).

An interesting "Father's Day" fact about drones is that they themselves don't have fathers, though they do have grandfathers.  Here's why:  in most cases, the queen will fertilize the eggs she lays with sperm she obtained from mating with 10 and 20 drones when she took her maiden flight.  Fertilized eggs become female worker bees (or, if fed a rich diet of royal jelly, a potential new queen for the colony).  As Seeley writes, the queen will withhold sperm from about 5 percent of the eggs she lays.  These unfertilized (fatherless) eggs will become drones.  So, drones don't have a father, but they do have a grandfather--the drone that provided the sperm that fertilized the egg that eventually became the queen that laid the unfertilized egg to produce a drone.

While the drone's seemingly lazy life might sound like a sweet deal, if he's successful in achieving his life's mission and does mate with a queen, he does not survive the event.  Seeley writes that "when it comes to seeking sex, drone honeybees are no slackers" (p 24).  They strive to out-fly the other drone competitors and inseminate the queen 30 to 60 feet in the air. Go drones!

Women Beekeepers Potluck!

Queen Bees tart de citron by Danielle Marvit

A busy swarm of Pittsburgh-area women beekeepers arrived at SteffesWood Apiary Saturday afternoon to share beekeeping know-how and some fantastic food, including this delightfully decorated and delicious tart de citron (lemon tart) made by Danielle Marvit.  Danielle is a baker at La Gormandine in Lawrenceville and is a partner in Churchview Farm (busy woman!).

Joan and Chris "cracking" open a hive.
Claudia's in the background 

A hive inspection begins with "cracking" open the cover, which sounds much more destructive than it is.  Honey bees glue their colonies together with a sticky substance called propolis that they make from tree resin and their own salivary secretions.  So, to get into a colony, beekeepers have to "crack" the propolis seal on the lid with their hive tools.

After cracking open the inner cover, Jennie, Joan, Monica and Barb look at the top of the hive to see if the bees need more space.  The one below is a small 5-frame "nuc" (short for nucleus) that just got started this year.  The bees in this colony were still building comb and didn't need more room.

from l-r:  Jennie, Joan, Monica (behind Barb) and Barb looking
at newly opened colony to see if it needs more space

Monica, Claudia, Eva (holding frame) and Kerry
looking at a frame to see if it has newly-laid eggs

Monica, Claudia, Eva and Kerry inspecting a frame to see if it has newly-laid eggs.  Spotting eggs is an important beekeeping skill.  If you can see freshly-laid eggs, you know that the colony is "queen right"--they have a queen who is laying.  

Barb, Claudia, Kerry, Chris and Jennie take a close look at a frame to see if it has brood (eggs, larvae and pupae).  Eggs are very hard to see--they look like a tiny grain of rice at the base of a cell--so it sometimes takes close inspection!  We brought a couple magnifying glasses to the apiary to help us out.  

From left: Barb (in pink), Chris, Kerry, Claudia and Jennie
looking at a frame of brood

(Clockwise from lower left:  Christina (her back is to us),
 Barb, Jana, Roberta, Kerry, Wendy, Mary Anne and Lynetta
(Linda and Robin are hiding in the corner.)

We called this the first ever Western PA Queen Bee Pot luck, but we were much more like worker bees than queen bees.   Here's part of the "field force" enjoying dessert!





Then it's back to work again! :)

Queen bee?  Looks more like a worker bee!
Barb at sink with honorary "honey bee" Lucy the Dog

Thanks to everyone who came out, brought food, shared your knowledge and then cleaned up!

RHUBARB REFRESHER
This is a tart drink that is nice after a hot day in the apiary.
4 cups rhubarb, chopped in 1 inch dice
2 quarts water
4-5 cups (even more, if you'd like) orange juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup honey (or more to taste)
Seltzer water (optional)
Place rhubarb and water into a large sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Simmer, uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until rhubarb is very soft.  While the rhubarb is simmering, stir together the orange juice, lemon juice and honey in a large container (3+ gallons).  Strain rhubarb water into the container, pushing on it a bit to release its juices. Stir well to dissolve honey and combine.  Cool to room temperature then place in refrigerator. To serve, fill a glass with ice, then fill half way with seltzer water and pour rhubarb mixture on top. Add-ins and alternate:  Add a splash of vodka   Or, use sparkling wine instead of seltzer.  Or, skip all that and just pour a tall glass over ice.  Makes...oh...a lot!