Sorry Pooh Bear, But These Bees Are Making Honey For Me!

A few weeks ago, I was out running errands when I received a text message, with this picture attached, informing me that I should hurry down to the beehives. One of the hives had swarmed and it was in a nearby apple tree.  Mark just happened to be in the right place at the right time and actually saw them leave the hive and settle in the tree.  This was all new to me and I didn't want to miss out on the action, so I turned the car around and headed home to learn how to catch a swarm of bees.

Having your bees swarm isn't the best thing that can happen and there are a number of ways you can prevent it.  But at this point it was too late and since we are new at this beekeeping thing, I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  Next year, provided the bees survive the winter (oh please let them survive), we will try to take steps to prevent this from happening.   Everything is a learning opportunity and here's what I've since learned about why and how bees swarm.
Why do bees swarm?  Basically it's because they've outgrown their home.  It's  part of the natural life cycle of a colony of bees and usually takes place in late spring or early summer.  They are more likely to swarm during a light honey flow that precedes a major honey flow.  Hive congestion is the main reason they swarm, but it can also result from a failing queen (which I sure hope it not the case with our bees).  If we had been watching, and knew what we were watching for, we would have seen signs that they were getting ready to swarm.  They'll build a number of queen cells, to provide the hive with a new queen when the reigning queen takes off with the swarm.  The queen cells are larger and lighter in color than the regular cells.  Bees also begin clustering on the landing board of the hive.  This can be misleading because they also do this during hot weather, but I'll be watching for this in the future.  They usually depart between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon.  Their journey takes place in two parts.  First they hover near the front of the hive in a large group and then fly off, usually to a branch of a nearby tree.  This is what our bees did and luckily they didn't pick a branch that was too high, making it easier for us to collect them.  They will wait here for a few minutes to a few days, depending on how long it takes the scout bees to find a new home for the colony.  A new home could be in a roof or wall cavity or a tree (which the bears would like).   So you're probably thinking if this is a natural thing to occur then why is it bad?  From a beekeepers perspective, swarming isn't a good thing, because it leads to weaker hives and less honey production.  But now that it's happened the next best thing is to try and capture the swarm and build up another hive.

Luckily we had an extra hive body and frames and just had to add new foundation.

Even though the bees were supposed to be very docile during a swarm, we decided to put our suits on anyway.  Mark has more experience with beekeeping than I do, but even this was new for him.  I was glad he was going to handle the bees and let me photograph, although I must say, taking pictures through a veil with gloves on isn't the easiest thing to do either.

The queen is somewhere in the middle of that mass and theoretically the bees are more interested in protecting her than they are in us. I sure hoped that was the case.

How do you hive a swarm?

Because the bees chose a nice low branch, Mark was able to hold the hive close enough to the swarm to brush them right in.  If they had flown higher, the branch could have been cut and brought to the hive.  But this was so much easier.  I have the nicest bees. They are so considerate!  Everything happened pretty quickly at this point.  He scooped as many as he could off the branch.

Then he shook it a little to get the rest.  I don't think they especially liked this part, but they quickly found the rest of their family and all started going into the hive.

He arranged the frames so they could settle in a little easier.

Stepping back and assessing the job, he watched to see how many were still on the tree, while I cheered him on from behind my lens.  Yes!!  We did it!!  We hived our first swarm of bees!

I admit he did the hard work, but even this photographer's heart was racing for a few moments there. I didn't have a telephoto lens or anything, so I was pretty close to those bees too.  It was totally exciting!  I'm happy to report that we suffered no stings and the bees seem to like their new home.  Mission Accomplished!

  I used this book as a resource to learn all this cool stuff about swarms.  It was Mark's Father's Day present and we put it to good use right away.  I highly recommend it as it's packed with useful information.  The only problem is the print is really small.  Definitely need bifocals for this one!

Margarita Pizza

One of the loveliest things about summer is having fresh basil right outside my door.  I jumped the gun a little in the spring and bought some of those healthy "green house" basil plants at Lowe's, (knowing full well it was too early), along with all my other fresh herbs and then sure enough we had a cold night...and that was the end of the basil.  Everything else survived just fine, but basil is delicate.

After waiting a few weeks, I replanted and now I have a number of nice healthy plants.  In order to have basil all summer, I have to keep trimming it back constantly, otherwise it gets tall and lanky and wants to go to seed.  Constant trimming is a good thing though, allowing me to keep a glass of fresh basil in water on my kitchen counter and use it in all kinds of ways.  Later in the season, I will make pesto for the freezer, but now I'm using it in salads, on sandwiches and on pizza.

Being the pizza fan that I am, I would like most any kind you could set before me.  Veggie, meat lovers, cheese lovers, you name it- I like it.  But in the summer, I don't really need more than tomatoes, cheese and basil.  That combination is known as the Margarita pizza, thus named for the queen consort of Italy, Margarita of Savoy. The colors represent the Italian flag and custom has it that it originated in Naples.  I had the great opportunity of eating this pizza in Naples a few years ago and doubt seriously if I could ever replicate that taste.  But when I bite into this pizza, it reminds me of that time and makes me long to return.  In fact, one of the things on my bucket list is to rent a house in the middle of Italy and take excursions north and south,  eating my way from the top of Italy to the heel of the boot. Doesn't that sound fun?  Maybe one day.  For now I'll indulge here at home in Margarita pizza, as long as the basil holds out.

I start out with a good pizza dough, rising in the bowl.

Then I make a fresh pizza sauce that's simple and delicious.  I begin with whole tomatoes, processed in the food processor.  To a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat, I add crushed garlic, until the house smells like an Italian bistro and then add the pureed tomatoes, oregano, a little salt and sugar.  While this is cooking down on the stove and thickening a little,

I press out the dough and get ready to top it with the magic ingredients;

fresh tomato sauce, basil and mozzerella.

First I spread out the sauce,

 and then scatter the basil leaves and pieces of mozzarella.  You might be wondering if you can use the shredded cheese in the plastic bags from the store, and of course you could, but it won't taste authentic by any means.  This pizza really needs fresh mozzarella. 

And for good measure, I cover the top with freshly grated parmesan reggiano.  That's always a good thing, right?   Now it's ready to pop into a hot oven and in a few minutes it will be time to eat.

While I wait, I package the remainder of the pizza dough to put into the freezer for another time.  Making double portions and freezing one is a nice gift to give yourself.  I love having frozen dough ready to pull out on a busy day.

Now there's just enough time to throw together a quick salad and dinner's served.

You can see this pizza has a nice thick crust.  I make it that way because someone I love thinks that's the best part.

Pizza Dough

2 cups warm water

5 t. instant yeast ( I like SAF)

5 - 5 1/2 cups unbleached flour 

2 t. sugar

2 t. salt

4 T. olive oil

Place water in bowl.  Add oil, sugar, salt, flour and then yeast.  

Mix and knead 5 minutes.  Form into a ball and place in a greased

bowl, turning dough to grease all sides.  Put in warm place, covered

with a towel to rise for about 40- 60 minutes, until doubled.  Keep an
eye on the dough, because it make take less time than that. Instant yeast
is an amazing thing!   Punch dough down and let rest for a couple minutes.
 Spread onto greased pizza pan or cornmeal dusted baking stone.

Makes 2 large pizzas

Pizza Sauce

3 T. olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large can whole tomatoes, processed until smooth

1 t. sugar

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/4 t. salt

Heat oil over medium heat.  Cook garlic, stirring constantly so it doesn't 

burn- about 1 minute.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about

30 minutes or until thickened.  This sauce also doubles and freezes well.

That Nasty Four Letter "B" Word

It's been six months since Christmas.  Hard to believe this year is already half over.  Time really does go faster as you get older, and  I don't like that at all.  Another thing I don't like...I haven't visited with my family since Christmas.  It's not like we live on different sides of the country or anything!  There is really no excuse.  Even that nasty four letter "b" word (busy) that we all use as our excuse, doesn't make me feel any better.  When I realized it had been six months since I saw my Dad, I looked at my calendar pages from December to May and analyzed what I had been doing.  Yes, I had been "b*#!", but not necessarily doing things that are as important to me as spending time with my family.  Facebook's good, and we're all on there enough to have some idea of what's going on with each other.  If it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't even know what the newest member of the family looked like.  I have a cute little great nephew that I've yet to meet in person.  So, I'm thankful for social media, but it sure doesn't take the place of  real "face" time.  Before Iphones, that actually meant physically being in the same place at the same time.  A few weeks ago, I decided enough was enough, and took off to do some old fashioned visiting.   First thing I did was meet my sister for dinner in Winston-Salem.  We ate and talked and talked and talked.  We had a lot of catching up to do.

Then I spent a few nights with my dad and stepmom.  I got to see (and eat from) Dad's garden.  He sure has a green thumb and I'm always picking his brain to figure out how he does things so well.

On this trip he gave me this little tip -plant radishes around your squash plants.  Apparently, squash bugs don't care for the company of radishes. Who knew?   Not me, but now I do and  hope it's not too late to plant some, because I had a heck of a time with squash bugs last year.

Dad and I took a hike at Stone Mountain State Park.   I love this place!   The trails are nice and

what a great reward when you get to the end.

I coaxed a nephew into coming along with us.  Okay, so maybe I didn't have to do too much coaxing.  Jackson had a blast hiking and playing in the water.

After watching for a few minutes, I decided to shed my boots and join him.

Unbeknownst to us, this little guy was sunning on the rocks, while watching us wade around him in the water.   I really appreciated the nice man who came over to us and said, "ugh, you do know there is a snake on that rock don't you?"  Well, duh.  Of course we didn't!  We came out of the water PDQ (that's "pretty darn quick" for anyone who wasn't raised in Yadkin County) and Dad and Jackson commenced to do what boys will do,

throw rocks at the snake to try and get him to come out.  It worked.  Boys will be boys.

After a quick change back into dry-ish clothes, we started back up the trail.

The return trip was a tad bit harder...

and we stopped once in a while to rest.

I couldn't help smiling as I watched this little guy romping around, enjoying the great outdoors.  This had been his last day of school and we decided he had started his summer off with a bang.  Hiking, playing in the water, seeing a snake and a deer (which he was the first to spot )

and this big cone of ice cream on the way home might have helped a little too.

We enjoyed a wonderful cookout later in the day.  Dad was the burger chef.  Do you think maybe he  got the hint, when I gave him an apron, oven mits, a new spatula and grill basket for Father's Day that maybe I wanted him to put them to immediate use?  

The smell of burgers cooking on the grill rock my world.

I got to spend time with more nephews (sorry for the blurry shot, but this kid doesn't slow down much)

and my brother too!

Unfortunately, I missed one of his boys who was sick at home with mom.  Next time Cortland, it's you and me buddy.  Let's plan something really fun!  I don't know how I managed not getting any pictures of my stepmom, but as always she was the ideal hostess and I enjoyed spending time with her too.  That lady can cook up a breakfast that would rival any Cracker Barrel and I always appreciate being the recipient of her efforts.  So yummy.  All in all, it was a great trip and I feel better having spent time with some of the family.  I'm still working on seeing the rest of them soon.  Yes, Facebook is alright, but nothing like the real thing.  I sure love my family and I don't want to be guilty of being too "b*#!" to let them know. 

Life in June - Daybook Entry

Outside my window...sunshine, glorious sunshine.  The butterfly bush is full of purple blooms and really big this year.  I think we should have pruned it back in the fall....  Pink roses, daisies and lots of weeds in the flower beds.  Who has time to weed flower beds? 


I am wearing...red button up cotton shirt and new cropped khakis from Eddie Bauer. I do like the way their pants fit, how well their made and how long they last.  And I'm down a size since last summer and that makes me really happy.


I am listening to...the washer and dryer and someone scrounging for something to eat in the kitchen.


I am thankful for... the juiciest and sweetest cantaloupe that I'm eating as I type this.  I love melon season!  I haven't bought a watermelon yet though - with the prices hovering at six dollars a piece,  I think I'll wait a while longer.   The mountain laurel is beginning to bloom on the driveway and the little tomatoes that are growing on my tomato plants bring a smile to my face. 


Around the house...I'm trying to work on cleaning out the office area in the basement.  I've misplaced some very important papers that I felt sure were there.  I've fretted, fussed and stressed to the point that I've made myself sick over the "lost recipes", (which I hope aren't like the "lost manuscripts" and will actually be recovered).  I'm praying powerfully that they will show up soon, all the while trying to not lose hope that I've lost family heirlooms.   The more I work, the madder I get that I ever let things get that out of control in the first place!  I have twenty five years of photos, scrap booking materials, homeschooling resources and more in that small space.  It's past time to do something about it. 


I am loving... the longer days.  And I saw the first lightning bug last night - a sure sign of summer.


I am hoping....well, more than anything to find the recipes.  I'm also hoping for answers to some hard questions.


I am reading.... Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Never read it before and felt like I needed to.  I just finished To the Rescue - the biography of Pres. Monson which was wonderful.   I think that one will deserve a post all it's own.  Also read The School of Essential Ingredients, and The Sunflower, which is the book club selection for this month.  They were easy and light reading and I enjoyed both of them.  I listened to a book on CD when I took a little road trip last week and loved it.  These Is My Words is a fictional journal account of a pioneer woman and her family as they settle the Arizona Territories.  The narrator was delightful, so I'm glad I listened to it, but there was so much "quote worthy" material that I ended up buying a copy of the book for myself...and the next two in the series.  I hope they are as good as the first one.   I'm rereading A Place at the Table as I eat breakfast each morning.  I have much I can still learn from this one.


I am creating...a vegetable garden - a really big vegetable garden!

I am pondering... 

"Don't hyperventilate about something that happened at 9:00 in the morning when

                               the grace of God is trying to reward you at 6:00 in the evening."        

   Elder Holland

This is just one little snippet from an excellent talk in April's General Conference.  I realize that I  never understood the Parable of the Laborers before this talk...thought I did, but I really didn't.  I have listened and read this one over and over again.

I am learning... that it's so easy to slip back into bad habits.  During my lenten fast, I cut out sugar and processed foods and felt great.  At the end of that time, I felt like I was in the healthiest place I had ever been in my relationship with food.  Yes, food and I definitely have a relationship. But in the last few months I've found myself backing off on my "once a week sweet treat" commitment and sneaking in a candy bar here and there (they are really good candy bars!). Chips,crackers and other processed things have found their way back into my grocery cart.   And I've gained five pounds.  So, I'm embarking on another forty day fast to get myself back on track.  Don't worry, I won't be going hungry by any means, but I will be going without sugar, processed foods and meat.  Yeah, I decided to cut out meat and see how I feel.  If ever there is a good time for me to take a trial run with vegetarian food, I figure it is now, with all the fresh fruits and veggies available.  We eat a lot of meatless meals anyway, so it will just be a matter of adding a few more in a week, right?  During this fast, I will take a break each week on Sunday and eat whatever I want, meat and sweets included.  I'm hoping to get my eating habits back on track and grow spiritually at the same time.  


From the kitchen... I've made blackberry scones (twice) with our berries and oh, man, were they good!
And I made that Best Lemon Cake Ever for Father's Day for my sweetie.  He declares it his favorite.  


Living my faith by... recommitting myself to early morning scripture study.  Something about summer makes me lazy and undisciplined.  It takes more effort to get up early.  I always say I will study later in the day, but it doesn't happen.  To be faithful to this discipline, I have  to get up early.  It's just the way it is (same thing for exercise).  After reading President Monson's biography, I want to focus more on people.  Showing love and concern and rescuing those in need is how he lives his life.  He follows the example of the Savior to minister to the "one" and I want to work on that as well.  We have one more Primary training session this Sunday and our conference trainings are over for this year.   Then we will visit units and help out as needed.  Being with the children each Sunday is one of the Lord's tender mercies to me.  He knows how much I miss having little ones around my house.  


One of my favorite things... the thrill of pulling carrots out of the garden.  It was exciting, each one a different size and shape. 


In the garden...so much is going on in the garden.  All the plants are in the ground.  I ended up with 25 tomato plants, five rows of string beans, okra, squash (bunches of different kinds), four varieties of potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, eggplant, leeks, onions, peppers... I think that's all!  I harvested the carrots and the garlic.  Yes!!  The garlic turned out great, another first for me.  I have a new tiller, compliments of my husband, that is small enough that I can operate it myself.  Now, hopefully I can do a better job keeping up with the weeds.


Around the farm... well the big news is the bees have swarmed and we put them in a new hive.  That was exciting and I'll post about that later.  My poor chickens look pitiful, as they have lost so many feathers.  We are still trying to figure out what on earth is wrong with them, as we've treated for mites and they don't look much better.  They still turn out the eggs...but I want pretty chickens!  That is so prideful isn't it?  We had a great crop of raspberries and blackberries and the blueberry bushes are loaded.  Just waiting for them to turn blue...and hoping the birds don't eat them first.


A few plans for the rest of the week... gardening and working on the basement will be the priorities. Finish stringing the beans, dig some potatoes and make a potato salad are on my list.  I hope to catch up on some blog posts.  I have lots of ideas, but no time to sit and work on them.  I'd like to take a hike and view the world from the top of a mountain and maybe a bike ride over the weekend?


A picture thought...

Meatless Monday - Black Bean Burgers

So have you heard of Meatless Monday?   It's a national movement to help people eat less meat and improve their own health and the health of the planet.  Most of us eat too much meat and would be healthier if we would cut back and enjoy more veggies and grains.  I've been interested in this for some time now and we usually eat meatless three or four days a week.  I've been gathering some great recipes and thought I would begin to share some on the blog and help spread the message of Meatless Monday.

There are a ton of recipes for veggie burgers.  Some good, some not so good.  But this one is extra good if you are a fan of tex-mex food.  And I am.  I adapted this recipe for Black Bean Cakes from a Cuisine at Home magazine and serve them with mexican rice and slaw.  It's a tasty combination.  We don't eat them on a bun, but you could if you wanted it to be more like a burger.

I make the rice first and cook it in my ricer cooker.  Of course this can be done on the stove top, but I love my rice cooker.   Start off with chopped carrots, onions, celery and garlic. 

These are sauteed with tomato paste, a bay leaf and cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper.

While this is sauteing, I take the rest of the tomato paste in tablespoon measurements and put them in an ice cube tray.  I've found if I freeze these little cubes, it's easy to pop out one or two as needed and defrost in the microwave.  It's rare that a recipe calls for an entire can of tomato paste and if I put the remainder in the refrigerator, when I pull it out to use later, it's often growing fuzzy stuff.  Yuck!  I hate to waste food, so frozen cubes of tomato paste work much better.  I also keep pesto, lemon juice and chicken broth in the freezer in the same way.  Works great when I need just a little for a recipe.

I transfer the sauteed veggies to the rice cooker and add the rice, chicken broth and spices.  The reason I love my rice cooker is because at this point, I can totally forget about it while I make the cakes and slaw. Be careful to remember to take out the bay leaf before you serve it.  I am bad about forgetting that, and it would be okay if I were the one who ended up with it on my plate, but usually someone else gets that gift, and biting into a bay leaf isn't a nice surprise.

Into a bowl, I put the beans first and mash half of them with a potato masher or fork, leaving some beans whole.  This makes for a nicely textured burger.

I grind up tortilla chips in the food processor and use that as the binder to hold the cakes together.

To this I grate a little onion,  and add chopped red pepper, an egg and spices.

Shape into patties and fry in a skillet until they are heated through and lightly browned on each side.

 While they are browning, I make the slaw, by shredding the cabbage. 

The sauce for the slaw is made in the food processor with scallions, cilantro, jalapeno and lime juice and

sour cream. This combination of flavors screams mexican!  I wouldn't be interested in eating this slaw on

it's own, but it's really good with the rice and bean cakes.  

With a few slices of avocado on the side, it makes a great meal and no one will be missing the meat!

Black Bean Cakes with Mexican Rice and Slaw

For the Rice:

1/3 cup each of onion, carrot and celery, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. tomato paste

1/2 t. each of salt, ground cumin and paprika

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup white rice ( I use brown - it takes longer to cook)

1 cup chicken broth or water

Saute veggies, garlic, tomato paste, spices and bay leaf in 1 T. olive oil in a saucepan for 2 minutes.

Stir in the rice and broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from

heat and let stand, covered until ready to serve.  Fluff rice and remove bay leaf.

For the black bean cakes:

1 can black beans, drained, rinsed and divided

1 egg

1/4 cup corn tortilla chips, ground fine

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

2 T. onion, grated

1/2 t. each of salt, cumin and chili powder

Mash 1/2 cup beans and egg in a bowl.  Add remaining beans, chips, bell pepper, onion and seasonings.

Refrigerate mixture for 10 minutes if needed to firm up the consistency. ( I didn't have to do this)

Form into round cakes and fry in 2 T. oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat until heated through and 

browned on each side.  

For the slaw:

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced ( I used a little less than this)

10 sprigs of fresh cilantro

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

juice of 1 lemon

2 cups cabbage, shredded

salt to taste

Puree the first 5 ingredients for the slaw in the food processor; toss with cabbage and then season with

salt.