Apicultural

"I am often moved by the example of small insects, such as bees. The laws of nature dictate that bees work together in order to survive. As a result, they possess an instinctive sense of social responsibility. They have no constitution, laws, police, religion or moral training, but because of their nature they labour faithfully together. " - The Dalai Lama These are my reflections on traveling, beekeeping, and what I am learning from both.

[thosewhomake]

Make : Highland Honey Bees Film : Spencer Sarson

[diy]

Help Attract Bees with Plants!

Many plants can’t create a seed, nut, berry, or fruit without the help of bees. Bee populations have been mysteriously declining, but we do have the power to revive bee colonies ourselves. Check out these 8 beekeeper challenges!

[tayloramcmahon]

Bees Buzzing on Caffeine

Coffee and citrus plants use caffeine to manipulate the memory of honeybees, a new study says.

[tayloramcmahon]

[thelilnan]

[fayfreshwater-deactivated202211]

A bees eye view. 

[nybg]

Can’t pass up a good foxglove. Or a few thousand (they’re pretty popular in our Conservatory right now—though I’d advise against eating them, no matter how candy-colored they get). —MN

[tayloramcmahon]

A bee's eye view.

[hersinkingsun]

[hogtownhoney]

The National’s Bloodbuzz Ohio

[tayloramcmahon]

Home

I've been home for a few days now and have had time to collect myself and my thoughts from traveling. I really want to thank the numerous people who made my trip possible. I wouldn't have been able to go if it weren't for the selflessness of friends and family who helped with the cost. It meant so much to me to see how the people in my life are truly invested in my development and care so much about giving me opportunities to learn and grow. I look forward to passing that gift on to someone in my life.

I'm also grateful to all the people that made the trip worthwhile. Nearly every person I met along the way surprised me with their benevolence and the sincere kindness with which they helped me along my journey, in the biggest and smallest ways.

My stay wouldn't have been the same without Agape and Kwao's openness and generosity, either. I felt really fortunate to leave Jamaica with not only the knowledge they've shared with me, but their friendship as well.

Jamaica has challenged me in ways I couldn't have expected. Thank you too, Jamaica.

[tayloramcmahon]

These photos may or may not have made it onto the blog already, but I wanted to be sure they did. Some miscellany from Jamaica.

[tayloramcmahon]

Here are some photos of my first top bar hive, built with the help of Yerba Buena's "How to Build Your Own Top Bar Hive" booklet.

I definitely benefited form the advice of peers that have a good bit more carpentry experience, but with some simple instructions, there's no reason anybody couldn't build one of these on their own. I used pine, but I've even seen people using empty barrels or adobe.

[1los]

[tayloramcmahon]

[tayloramcmahon]

The rare bee emergency

A neighbor's grandson came over to the yard to ask us for help righting one of the hives in his yard that had somehow toppled - they felt that it was the wind, but as it was weighed down with a cinder block we felt that it could well have been a mischievous goat.

We went over to assess the damage. It was pretty bad. A hive that two days prior had a newly mated queen laying eggs that were swimming in royal jelly (a good sign of the hive's health) and full of honey and pollen is now queenless and seriously lacking in resources. We salvaged what we could, though, and are giving them the eggs they need to replace their queen and start from scratch.

[tayloramcmahon]

I had a green papaya facial to clean and exfoliate my skin - seeds and all right in the blender with some water.

[tayloramcmahon]

When the sunblock is ALL the way back at the house

[tayloramcmahon]

Feeding the fire in the clay oven to make bread tonight.

[tayloramcmahon]

Coronation Market this morning. Another really nice experience with kind Jamaicans.