You can take the boy out of the farm, but not the farm out of the boy. Or, whatever. Barry plans to start a small bee farm on a friend's property on the Maryland Eastern Shore. Barry has a history of bee keeping, at one time tended 70 hives spread out over northern New Jersey. The deal was: Barry supplied the bees to pollinate an apple orchard; and, in exchange, he got the honey to sell. Two tons of it to be exact.
The new launch is officially April 7 when Barry will pick up two nucs (frames) of bees from the Maryland Agriculture Department. You can't just show up at the bee store and get a few. He decided on Italian bees with the possibility later of adding a few Russians. So the lesson is: all bees are not the same. I'm fantasizing that Italian bees are probably melodic in their buzzing and form flight patterns of Statues of David. Pure bred Russian bees, on the other hand, are more like Vladimir Putin, more muscular and ready to take on anybody.
I know, it's not a honey bee.
OK, for those of you now chomping at the bit to try out bee keeping, here's what the starter kit contains: a helmet and veil, a smoker which blows smoke over them so they become confused and docile, and a hive with a starting foundation. Last, but not least, come the bees.
Starter kit
Did you know that bees have saved humanity by accident? If it weren't for their messing around in blossoms and accidentally getting the pollen on their bushy bodies and then accidentally flying to some other blossom and accidentally dropping a few of the pollen pieces......well, we probably wouldn't be here reading this blog.
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Photos of the week...
1. Lunch at....
Have no idea what this is, but it's part of the restaurant.
A long-time customer
2. Night time view off of Balboita's back porch...
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Video: Irma damage to neighbor's bar in St. Thomas...
My son Jim's neighbors in Annapolis own the oldest beach bar in St. Thomas, located in mangroves next to a boat yard. This video shows damage to the boats up on steel braces where they are typically getting painted or repaired, as well as damage to the neighbor's beach bar. Pretty dumbfounding. Take a walk-through with them. (copy and paste)https://drive.google.com/
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This week's plan...
We're leaving Balboita in Vero for the summer, stored on the hard at a Ft. Pierce boat yard. The Vero hillbillies -- Vicki, Barry, Kota and Skipper -- are then driving home to Annapolis to start the bee farm in April. Among other things. Late next fall, Balboita will return to Vero's city marina, available for the hillbillies when they feel like it.
This plan may change next week.
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This plan may change next week.
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That's all folks....
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Apple pollination did not yield honey as the bees used it all for brood rearing. The two ton came from Blueberry pollination after Apple. The bees are in Blueberries for a month as there are different varieties that bloom at different times. Later, for a comparison to Italian, I will have one hive with a Russian Hybrid, supposedly more gentile and better honey producers.
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