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Farmer’s Dandelion Salve

May 1, 2018 by Erika

As I've read more and more about homesteading and reducing waste, foraging has become a topic of interest, mostly because you're getting something for nothing.  Great for the budget!  The plant that has caught my attention most this year is the dandelion.  And while I still don't know if I love them all over my yard, I do know we don't want to spray them because of the honeybees.  So why not make lemonade out of lemons...or salve out of dandelions?

The other day, after spending the afternoon working on my raised beds, my hands were rough.  That's what happens after they spend all winter inside.  And I had to keep reapplying lotion to make them feel moist again.  I had heard of salves for farmers, and I knew that people were in love with dandelions for stuff like this, and so the Farmer's Dandelion Salve was concocted!

Dandelions are used in salves like this because of their analgesic properties.  They can help reduce inflammation and ease muscle fatigue.  Who knew that a "weed" that we work so hard to get rid of, can actually ease the pain of all that work?!

I added a few additional ingredients to this salve for varying reasons.

  • Unrefined coconut oil: Coconut oil is a great moisturizer for skin because it penetrates deep.  This will help with the excessive dryness that can occur after a day of working in the dirt.
  • Beeswax pellets: Beeswax creates a barrier on skin to help lock in the moisture.  Plus, it helps the salve harden!
  • Raw Shea Butter: Raw shea butter is extremely moisturizing and can provide immediate relief to dry hands.  It also does not liquefy at room temperature helping to harden the salve a bit.
  • Lavender essential oil: Lavender oil contains antimicrobial properties which can help to speed up the healing of cuts and burns.
  • Helichrysum essential oil: Helichrysum has been shown to contain anti-inflammation properties and is also used in many anti-aging products to help with the appearance and heath of skin.  It is easy for a farmer's or gardener's hands to look "old" because of the hard work those hands endure.
  • Roman Chamomile essential oil: Chamomile also had anti-inflammatory properties to help your tired hands or neck muscles.  The anti-inflammatory properties, along with the anti-bacterial properties, found in chamomile also make it a great oil for skin health.

The first thing you want is to go in the morning or early afternoon on a sunny day to pick the dandelions.  You want the dew to be dried up, and the flowers to be fresh and open.  This is a great job for little hands to help with!

Once you have a good amount of flower heads, pluck out the petals and lay them out on a towel or drying basket.  Allow them to dry overnight or close to 24 hours.  Dandelions have a lot of moisture, and many people cautioned that adding the flowers without drying them first will cause your lotions, oils and salves to mold or mildew.

You want to make sure to melt your coconut oil.  This does two things: First, it allows you to pour it and mix the flowers in.  Second, the heat helps to allow the oils from the dandelions to infuse into the coconut oil.  Keeping the oil in the sun allows the oil to stay warm and liquid, helping the infusion process.  Your oil should be a golden yellow when you are done.

I used beeswax pellets because of how easily they melt and how simple they are to work with and measure.  However, if I had access to our own beeswax, I would definitely use that instead.

Glass jars are perfect for storing this salve.  Plastic has been reported to leach chemicals into products.  Plus, essential oils will penetrate the plastic so that it will forever smell like whatever oils you have used.  Filling  small glass Ball Canning Jars, like I did, would make a great gift for the farmer, gardener or homesteader in your life!

I personally use doTERRA essential oils and love visiting Dr. Axe's website for essential oil information, but I am NOT a medical professional and you should always do your own research before starting to use essential oils.

Disclaimers: Erika Bault is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

I am a doTERRA wellness advocate and do make a commission if you purchase any of the oils via the website link provided.

Farmer's Dandelion Salve
2018-05-01 15:18:07
A great salve to help hands heal after a day working on the farm
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup dried dandelion petals
  2. 1 cup refined coconut oil*
  3. 1/4 cup beeswax pellets
  4. 1 TBSP unrefined shea butter
  5. 7 drops helichrysum oil
  6. 7 drops roman chamomile oil
  7. 10 drops lavender oil
Instructions
  1. Collect several dandelion flowers. Pluck the petals from the flowers. It's ok if some of the green gets mixed in. Let the petals dry overnight.
  2. Heat the coconut oil until it is melted.
  3. Place the dandelion petals in a glass jar and pour the warm coconut oil over the petals. Place a lid on the jar and place it in a sunny spot for several hours while the dandelions infuse the oil.**
  4. Pour the oil through a fine mesh strainer and squeeze the oil out of the flower petals into a small saucepan.
  5. Add the beeswax pellets and shea butter to the dandelion infusion. Heat until all are melted.
  6. Remove from heat and add the other essential oils. Stir.
  7. Pour the salve into your jars and let them cool, making sure not to bump them and disturb the salve or it won't harden as pretty.
  8. Store in a cool place and use as needed after a hard day working with your hands.
Notes
  1. *Do not use fractionated coconut oil since it remains liquid. You want your salve to harden back up.
  2. **I let mine infuse for 6.5 hours, but you can do it even longer. I was just too excited to wait anymore.
Full & Simple https://fullandsimple.com/

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: beekeeping, dandelion, dandelion salve, DIY, gardening, hand cream, lotion, simple living

Hand-Picked Peach: Week 41

May 18, 2016 by Erika

Hand-Picked Peach Post Header Web

Work on the chicken coop has commenced!  We are building an 8'x8' building and adding a run on it as well.  Most of the time we will let the chickens free-range in the pasture, but we wanted the run in case we ever needed them penned up.

Full & Simple- Chicken Coop

And he's all mine ladies!

Anyway, I have had my eyes on these signs from Bainbridge Farm Goods on Etsy for a while now, and can't wait to get one for the new chicken coop.  I might even get one of the honey bee signs too.  But don't worry if you don't have chickens or bees, they have signs for goats, dogs, butterflies, veggies and more!

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"Bainbridge Farm Goods makes modern, colorful and hip farm and garden signs that are sure to liven up your space! There are colors and designs to fit any décor, chicken coop, mud room, or kitchen alike. Each aluminum sign is fully waterproof and UV resistant—think street sign sturdy! Both vertical and horizontal designs and in several sizes and shapes are available to suite your space."

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I think that these signs will make cute contibutions to our chicken coop and bee yard.  I can't wait for the chicken coop to be completed so I can share it all with you...and because the chickens are starting to fly out of their brooder and they are fast suckers!  LOL!

PLUS, if you visit Bainbridge Farm Goods and use the code fullandsimple you can get 25% off of your order!  Hurry, this code is only good until June 12, 2016!

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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Combining Hives: Easier Read Than Done

May 11, 2016 by Erika

Orange substance in the comb

We aren't sure what the orange in there is yet. If you have any ideas. let me know in the comments!

 

It has been a while since I've given everyone a bee update.  Well, the good news is that we had bees survive the winter with plenty of honey stores leftover.  The bad news is that the queen was not one of those bees.  This meant that we either had to re-queen or combine our existing hive with the new bees that we ordered.  After some research, my husband decided that it would be best to try to combine because we weren't sure we had enough bees left to attend to a new queen.  

Plenty of capped honey left & a bee getting a snack.

Plenty of capped honey left & a bee getting a snack.

 

When we bought the new bees, our hope was that the hive we bought last year would make it through the winter so that we would actually have two hives.  But when we opened up the hive for our first inspection of the spring, we weren't happy with what we found.  It looks like there was a lot of moisture that got into the hive.  Bees can't handle being cold and wet, so we think that this is probably the number one contributor to the loss of the queen and most of the bees.  However, you do expect significant losses during the winter anyway because a worker honey bee's lifespan is only four to six weeks during the active season.  It could be longer if the worker honey bee was born late in the season because they do very little work during the winter.  With a majority of the bees dying, their bodies blocked the bottom entrance to the hive, so we plan on making a top entrance next winter.  A blocked entrance prevented the bees from being able to remove dead bees or go out to do their "business" when the weather permitted, all of which could have played a role in the moisture problem.  Also, because of the moisture issue, we found mold within the hive.  We have been told that the bees will clean this up now that the weather is getting better so we shouldn't have to worry about it.  

We saw mold when we lifted the lid.

We saw mold when we lifted the lid.

A clump of dead moldy bees

A clump of dead moldy bees

 

When our new bees arrived, we got to work on trying to combine the hives.  There are things that you need to do in order to make this combining successful because each hive has its own scent.  If either hive smells the "wrong" hive, it will attack and try to kill the other bee(s).  

To prevent this, you are supposed add a weak hive into a strong hive by adding the boxes of weak bees on top of the boxes of the strong bees.  You use a sheet of newspaper with small cuts in it between the two boxes where the two separate hives meet.  With a bottom entrance, the bees on top will have to eat through the newspaper to get out.  By the time that they do this, the two hives will have the same smell and will then co-exist peacefully.

3lbs of bees added to the hive

Our 3lbs of new bees after being dumped into the top of the hive.

 

However, we added our new bees (which obviously did not have any established hive boxes) on top of our old bees.  Even though we had subdued the new bees with a sugar water mist, all of the bees were buzzing around before we had completed putting the newspaper down and then reassembling the hive box, so my husband concluded that the newspaper would do very little for us.  If the two hives were going to war, it was already happening.  We ended up just removing the newspaper altogether.  

Cutting holes in the newspaper

Cutting holes in the newspaper

Placing the box on top and keeping the newspaper lined up proved to be a challenge.

Placing the box on top and keeping the newspaper lined up proved to be a challenge.

 

When it was all said and done, I looked at my husband and said that we had just committed a bee massacre.  Unintentionally, of course, but I still felt bad.  He tried to console me a day or two later when he came home from work, and after talking to fellow beekeepers, found out that some had heard that bees without a queen (like our old hive) don't have a scent.  Based on that, our original hive would have easily integrated into the new hive.  However, I've done no research on this and fear the worst happened.

Things that we are hoping to do this summer with the bees are to possibly split the hive if it is doing well, which will give us the two hives we wanted.  We are also considering buying Indiana queens and then re-queening the hive(s) later in the summer.  The reasoning behind this, based on what we learned from our bee group, is that an Indiana queen may give birth to bees better able to withstand our winters and climate as we head into the cold weather.  The queen and bees we buy come from Georgia, so there is quite a difference in weather.

The queen that came with our new bees is the larger one on the very left.

The queen that came with our new bees is the larger one in the box.

Bees were constantly trying to attend to the queen while I was holding her.

Bees were constantly trying to attend to the queen while I was holding her.

 

It's all a learning process and the learning is part of the fun I think.  It can be frustrating to not do well the first time or to feel like you've lost money, but how boring would life be if we all just got "it" (whatever that may be) on the first go?  I find, especially now that I'm staying home, that I crave learning.  I could never understand why my students would come to class without an understanding of how fun and powerful learning could be.  Maybe that's where I failed as a teacher.  This love of learning is one of the things that I love about this blog too.  I feel accountable to you all.  I want to bring you accurate and new ideas to help you pursue whatever interests you have, whether that's beekeeping or reading or something altogether different.  I hope that you will keep trying and keep learning just like we are with our little honey bees. 

 

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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The Bee-Friendly Garden

April 9, 2016 by Erika

 

Full & Simple Book Review The Bee-Friendly Garden

Since we started keeping bees last spring, I have been wanting to add more flowers and plants for the honey bees to eat on, so I was very excited when I found The Bee-Friendly Garden.

The one thing that surprised me, was that it was not focused on honey bees.  I assumed (You know what happens when we assume....) that it would be because we raise honey bees and that is my focus and because honey bees are a big focus in today's world with colony collapse disorder being widely talked about.  However, this book reminded me that there are over 20,000 different species of bees in the world and we really need them all.  And here's why, honey bees do not and cannot pollinate everything that needs pollinating.  They are not big enough to vibrate the pollen loose on tomato plants.  I don't know about you, but I love tomatoes, so I'm thankful that the big bumblebee is around to take care of pollinating tomatoes for me.  This books gives suggestions on how to plant for native bees as well as honey bees.

The Bee-Friendly Garden large

This book is also incredibly in-depth.  The authors cover everything from different bee species to why some flowers appeal to some bees more than others based on the flower's structure and the bee's features.  Like, did you know that bees prefer flowers that are blue, pink, white or yellow because they see in the ultraviolet end of the color spectrum?  They break down the types of flowers that bees are attracted to into annuals, perennials, trees, vegetables and shrubs.

The Bee-Friendly Garden Inside page

As you can see, I have several pages marked with useful information so that when I head to our local nursery I will know what I'm looking for!

The other bit of information that I found extremely helpful was in the back of the book where the authors break down what native plants are good for different regions of the United States.  The reason, I learned, that you want to try to plant mostly native plants in your bee garden is to reduce the need for chemicals in your garden which we all know is harmful to the bee population.  Because native plants have grown to withstand the climate, soil and pests, there should be less need to use pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilizers.

Anyone, and really it should be everyone, that is interested in how they can help our bee population should pick up this book and plant bee-friendly flowers.  The authors show large gardens as well as small urban ones, so a small area is not an excuse for not doing your part!

The Bee-Friendly Garden small

You can find out more about the authors here.

You can find out more about the book here.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  The above post does contain some referral and affiliate links which means if you use the link and decide to purchase an item, I receive a little money from the company, at no extra cost to you, to help keep the blog going.  Thank you for supporting the blog!

 

 

 

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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Hand-Picked Peach: Week 29

February 19, 2016 by Erika

Hand-Picked Peach Post Header Web

 

Hey there!  Sorry I've been absent from the blog this week.  With it being a short week, and "baby" J turning one, I've been a little preoccupied.  We are going to have a lot of family over tomorrow for his party and I've taken on a bit of a challenge with his cake.  I've made all of L's cakes and I want to do the same for J, but I'm trying homemade fondant for the first time.  I practiced last weekend, and the results were far from stellar, but I'm hoping that I've learned and that this time it will turn out better.  Fingers crossed anyway!

I hadn't been on Anthropologie's website forever.  I used to shop there constantly, but when we were trying to get out of debt, it wasn't a store I could really afford so I drifted away.  This weekend someone I follow on Instagram was talking about something that they had gotten there, so I hopped over to have a look.  And then I found this!

This is their Beehive Trivet.  Isn't it fantastic?!  I want like six.  I like finding these little pieces that add a bit of whimsy, but are still classy.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend and I should be back to my normal blogging routine next week.

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Erika
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Yes, I’m Trying to Kill My Bees

November 9, 2015 by Erika

Here are the bees with uncapped honey.

Here are the bees with uncapped honey.

Before you read any further, please reread the title with a sarcastic voice.  Ok, now we can go on.

Since the temperatures are dropping, I doubt we will have another opportunity to check the bees this year.  In the last post about the bees, I wrote about the fact that we had decided not to supplement our bees with sugar water this summer.  My husband has conducted hive checks since then, but I kept waiting for us to be able to do one together before I wrote this post.  (Having littles makes it hard to do much of anything together at times.) Now that we're having days where the high is in the 50s, I don't think that I'll have an opportunity to check on the ladies again this year, but I wanted to give you one last update on how our first hive is doing.

I'm sure that you are wondering why I chose the title I did.  Well, after the hive check we completed where we found that they weren't building as much as we had hoped without supplemental feeding, I started doing more research and I reached out to some beekeeping groups for advice.  One group that I reached out to was a BEGINNER beekeeping group on Facebook.  Let me tell you, some of the responses not polite and were not helpful.  I honestly cried one day.  Lack of sleep may have contributed, but still.  I don't understand why people feel the right to be hateful to others that they don't know online.  Many in the group asked me if we "wanted bees that were alive or natural dead bees."  Well, obviously we want bees that are alive.  Beekeeping is not a cheap hobby.  We did not spend $140 on bees plus what it cost for the hive boxes, frames, suits, etc. to intentionally kill them, so no, I'm not actually trying to kill my bees.

There is a lot of research and articles out there that point to why feeding sugar water to your bees is not good for them.  It was these articles that helped me make the decision to not feed over the summer.  In the late spring and summer, flowers are abundant.  And nectar and pollen contain additional nutrients beyond just sugar and water, nutrients that can help ward off parasites and boost the immune systems of the bees.  In a post on Beekeeping Like a Girl, she talks about how bees actually will prefer certain flowers that have the necessary properties to kill any parasites that may be present in the hive.

Besides the online resources and groups, we also asked my brother-in-law what he did.  He made a few good points.  1.)  If you feed bees sugar when there is also an abundance of flowers, the colony make focus on making honey instead of brood.  The brood (think babies)  that the queen lays in late summer and autumn will like be the bees that make emerge in the spring.  You want to make sure that there is room for them in the hive.  2.)  BUT if you don't feed them at all in the late summer and early autumn, they may start eating their winter stores of honey early due to the lack of natural forage.

After all of the advice and reading, we did decide to feed our bees a mixture of sugar and water shortly after I wrote my post.  There were fewer flowers around, mostly just goldenrod, making natural forage harder to come by.  We were concerned that they hadn't filled up that top box yet and DID NOT want them to not be prepared heading in to winter and then not make it.

We did add in ingredients to our mixture so that the bees got more than just sugar and water.  For every cup of sugar we added a drop of doTERRA wintergreen oil and doTERRA lemongrass oil.  These oils are good for parasite and pest prevention.  We also added a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin and a tablespoon of local honey we had bought from another beekeeper.

My husband says that things are looking good for the bees.  They had started to build in the top box when he last checked.  Now we just have to prep the hive for winter and hope that they make it until spring.

I'm comfortable with the choices we've made so far.  As much as I want to be wholly natural, we do need to do what is best for the bees.  If they lack honey of their own, we'll feed.  If they have plenty and there are flowers out, we won't.  And I think the longer we keep bees, the better we will be able to determine when or if they need the sugar water mixture.

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Disclaimer:  The above post contains affiliate links.

Erika
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Food Lovers Devotional

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An Afternoon Visit to the Terre Haute Children’s Museum

October 5, 2015 by Erika

This awesome treehouse is one in the center of the museum.

This awesome tree house is in the center of the museum.

I think that one thing (of many) that is great about being a parent is that you sort of get to be a kid again.  You get to buy Teddy Grahams and go to cartoons in the theater without people giving you funny looks.  And you get to visit places like children's museums.

I was surprised that we had a really nice children's museum so close to us.  I saw some friends post pictures of a field trip that their kids took to the Terre Haute Children's Museum, and decided that we needed to check it out.

Disclaimer: Terre Haute Children's Museum provided us with complimentary tickets in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Before we get into all of the fun stuff, let's go over some of the logistics.  The museum is located in downtown Terre Haute, Indiana.  There is free two-hour street parking right by the museum, a parking garage a block away that charges $1/hour, or if you don't care to walk a few blocks, we found free street parking with no time limit.  Admission is $8 for everyone ages two and older and they are open Tuesday through Sunday.  If you are going to be there around lunch or dinner there is an attached pizza cafe, Savoia's.

Ok, on to the fun stuff!

We started to have fun before we even entered the museum.  In the vestibule, they have a thing that makes smoke rings when you push on it.  We played with it for about five minutes before even going in!  Once inside, we were greeted by a very helpful staff member.  She gave us the run down of where things were and provided a map.

This was the first exhibit we saw. I loved that it discussed where our food comes from, why you want to buy local and why some items can't be bought local like bananas.

This was the first exhibit we saw. I loved that it discussed where our food comes from, why you want to buy local and why some items can't be bought local like bananas.

The first exhibit we visited inside discussed food and the different options we have as consumers.  The exhibit discussed eating locally, GMOs, and what farmers do.  It had a cute little "farmer's market" where kids could play with fake produce.  L was too little to figure the cost of her basket of apples, but older kids could do this to incorporate math and currency if you were homeschooling or taking a field trip.

Kids can brush away the mulch to find fossils in this area.

Kids can brush away the mulch to find fossils in this area.

Next up was the dino dig where "fossils" were buried and kids get to be the archaeologist.  The area was complete with brushes and scoops to move the tire material away from the buried fossils.  L loved the dinosaur hand scoops.

Here is a top view of the room with all of the play tables and the beehive jungle gym.

Here is a top view of the room with all of the play tables and the beehive jungle gym.

The beehive had holes so kids could move from cell to cell.

The beehive had holes so kids could move from cell to cell.

In the same room as the dino dig were several hands on items like Kinex, musical instruments and a giant treehouse.  But this room also housed L's favorite thing from the whole trip, a giant "beehive" where kids could climb and pretend to be bees.  I keep telling my husband that we need to build one for our kids.  It was so cute and L loved it.

The toddler play space was a safe environment for the younger kids to move around.

The toddler play space was a safe environment for the younger kids to move around.

This gentlemen was in the grocery area the whole time helping kids

This gentlemen was in the grocery area the whole time helping kids "check out" their picks. The area also included little shopping carts for the kids to push around and a lot of play food.

On the second floor of the museum was the toddler play space.  It was only for kids under the age of four, and had a soft floor for crawling or falling if your little one is still wobbly while walking.  I loved the little bee scooters and may have to get one for our kids for Christmas or birthdays.  Also on this floor were some farm items like a tractor and a cow that you could "milk" as well as a little grocery store.  I loved the conveyor belt that they had made for the grocery store and that there was someone that was always there to help your child check out all of the items they wanted to buy.

Agriculture was a big part of the museum, which I think is great since we are surrounded by it. Kids need to know that there is science behind all of the farming.

Agriculture was a big part of the museum, which I think is great since we are surrounded by it. Kids need to know that there is science behind all of the farming.

L tried to pull the rope too fast and the bubble would always pop so I had to hold on to slow her down.

L tried to pull the rope too fast and the bubble would always pop so I had to hold on to slow her down.

L and I made a giant bubble around ourselves before moving on to the water table.  Baby J loved the water table and my husband and I thought it was incredible that the museum had thought to put in baby seats so that babies could enjoy their time at the museum as well.  J did end up getting pretty soaked, but who cares when you get a smile like that?

The water table area had aprons for the older kids, but baby J got pretty wet. He loved it though!

The water table area had aprons for the older kids, but baby J got pretty wet. He loved it though!

The exhibit I was most excited about seeing was the indoor beehive.  I had heard that it was in a tree trunk, so I had imagined a real tree that the museum was possibly built around (There are buildings on ISU campus that have been built around trees.), but I was a bit disappointed when I found the hive was in a fake trunk.  The hive was in a back corner, which also disappointed me.  The hive may have also been less exciting simply because now that we have our own bees, seeing bees out isn't as big of a deal.  Overall though, I loved how much the museum incorporated bees into their exhibits.

This is the beehive exhibit. Unfortunately all of my pictures of the actual bees turned out really dark. They had frames lined up in the trunk behind plexiglass so you could see the bees working.

This is the beehive exhibit. Unfortunately all of my pictures of the actual bees turned out really dark. They had frames lined up in the trunk behind plexiglass so you could see the bees working.

I think the things that I loved most about the museum were that it was very hands-on, I wasn't afraid to let L touch things and try things, and I also loved that a lot of the exhibits had to do with food and agriculture, things that our kids here in southern Indiana see all the time, but may not understand the science behind.  The exhibits allow them to gain a deeper understanding for things that are tangible to them in their everyday life.

I can definitely say that my family and I will be going back.  We had a great time, and made a lot of memories.  It may even be the location for future birthday parties.

Tree House

Kids can either climb up the tree house or enter the top on the second floor. L was too little to climb by herself, so we took the stairs.

When we got home, I decided that I wanted to give you all a way to put some of what you're kids will learn into action.  As I said before, I loved all of the bee stuff that was incorporated into the decor and exhibits as well as the bee hive exhibit itself, so I came up with this bee waterer craft and found a book for you and your littles to read as well.

Shortly after we bought our bees, I bought L the book, Bee & Me.  It is very cute and and has a good rhythm to the words.  It explains that while we humans fear bees, they are around to help us and that they do more than just make honey.  I think you're little one will enjoy it!

You can buy this cute board book from Amazon.

You can buy this cute board book from Amazon.


Bee Waterer

Bee Waterer

I was inspired by this bee waterer, but I wanted something a little more fun so that L would be excited about it.

Supplies for a bee waterer

What you will need:

  • a terra cotta pot
  • a terra cotta plate
  • yellow acrylic paint
  • black acrylic paint
  • yellow puff paint
  • white puff paint
  • a sponge brush
  • an angled brush
  • marbles
  • hot glue gun

Directions:

  1. Paint the outside of your pot and plate with the yellow acrylic paint.  I did not paint the inside of the plate because I was unsure of what chemicals could end up in the water and how that might affect the bees.  I painted on three coats of yellow to get rid of most of the streaks.  I wasn't worried about the tag mark since it would be hidden once I was finished.IMG_5428
  2. After the yellow paint has dried, paint a small amount of black paint on your child's thumb and let them "stamp" the pot with their thumbprints.  These will become the bees.IMG_5429
  3. Use the puff paint to create the yellow stripes and wings on all of the bees that your child stamped on the waterer.
  4. Now, using the angled brush, add streaks of black paint behind some of the bees to show a "flight path."
  5. Once all of the paint is dry, place the plate right-side-up on the pot.  I did not do this next step, as I did not think of it before I assembled my waterer, but I think it will help especially those of you perfectionists out there like me.  Move the plate until you are happy with the placement, then use a pencil to trace around the bottom of the plate so you have a guide as to where to put the hot glue.IMG_5430
  6. Remove the plate and add hot glue around your tracemark and place the plate back on top of the pot.  Let dry.
  7. Once the hot glue is good and dry, add the marbles to the plate.  The marbles give the bees somewhere to land.  Bees can easily drown in water if they don't have anywhere to land.  And then fill with spring water.  Tap water has chemicals like chlorine and fluoride that you don't want bees ingesting.IMG_5431
  8. Now, place your waterer in your herb or flower garden so that visiting bees can stop for a drink while they're out collecting pollen!IMG_5442

Disclaimer: The above post contains affiliate links.

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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Did We Make a Mistake Going Natural?

September 8, 2015 by Erika

Modeling my new bee suit.

Modeling my new bee suit.

Last week my very own bee suit came.  Originally, the bees were supposed to be more of my husband's thing.  I had planned on making yummy treats with the honey and candles and things with the wax, but that was going to be the extent of my involvement.  Well, if you've been following the blog, you know that I have become very enamored with our bees.  And with the realization that we need to have an "us" thing, my husband bought me a bee suit as a late anniversary gift.  (You know you're starting to get older when you ask for practical gifts!)  

Since I received my bee suit, we decided to do a hive inspection last week as well.  When we opened up the hive, my heart sank.  A month or so ago, we added frames to the fourth box on the hive and took out the feeder.  My husband talked about getting another empty box to put on top so that we could add the feeder back because we only bought the four boxes so far this year.  We fed the bees a mixture of white sugar and water, mostly because we were told that the bees needed an extra supply of food because they were starting their hive from scratch.  However, I have been doing some reading, and natural and organic beekeepers do not feed sugar water.  I talked to my husband and he said that he would leave the decision on sugar water up to me, and I decided to let the bees forage for all of their food instead of providing the sugar water.  When we opened the box, the frames were empty.  No honey.  No comb.  (Sigh.)  I immediately had the "Oh, crap!" feeling.  Had I made a mistake in wanting to go more natural?

Where's the honey?!

Where's the honey?!

My husband has reassured me that these empty frames should not be a problem for the bees.  We kept a queen excluder (a metal grate that keeps the queen in the bottom boxes to prevent her from laying eggs in the top box) on top of the third box, because this ensures that only honey is made in the top box since the top box is usually extra honey and where a beekeeper will harvest from.  Okay.  I felt better.  We were only missing "extra" honey and we aren't going to harvest this year anyway.

You can see here that they have not built any comb on the frame. You can also see the metal queen excluder.

You can see here that they have not built any comb on the frame. You can also see the metal queen excluder.


The queen is too large to fit through the excluder so the beekeeper doesn't jeopardize any brood when harvesting honey.

The queen is too large to fit through the excluder so the beekeeper doesn't jeopardize any brood when harvesting honey.

We put the top box aside and found that the bottom boxes are FULL of bees.  We found a lot of brood (eggs and larvae) and honey.  We didn't see the queen.  I have to say that I was disappointed at how much harder it was for me to distinguish the different bees and their jobs in real life versus a picture in a book.  I'll have to study more!  We also took a spoonful of honey from one of the frames.  I just couldn't resist.  I HAD to try it, and let me tell you, it was delicious!  The honey had a much more subtle taste than store-bought which I liked better.  I'm definitely looking forward to harvesting next year!

That is a lot of bees!

That is a lot of bees!


Here are the bees with uncapped honey.

Here are the bees with uncapped honey.


This is capped honey.

This is capped honey.


The top portion with all of the bees on it is honey and the bottom portion that is an opaque yellow is made up of brood cells.

The top portion with all of the bees on it is honey and the bottom portion that is an opaque yellow is made up of brood cells.


You can see the bee larvae all curled up.

You can see the bee larvae all curled up.


We did spray sugar water as we opened the boxes. This makes it harder for the bees to fly, but it also keeps the bees busy. Bees are very tidy and the sugar water is messy to them, so they will clean it up instead of bothering you. Here you can see them cleaning each other off.

We did spray sugar water as we opened the boxes. This makes it harder for the bees to fly, but it also keeps the bees busy. Bees are very tidy and the sugar water is messy to them, so they will clean it up instead of bothering you. Here you can see them cleaning each other off.

Hopefully, my husband is right and the lack of honey and comb in the top box doesn't mean disaster for our bees this winter.  I think we will do at least one more check before winter, and hopefully we'll see some change in that top box then.

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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A Day at the Indiana State Fair 2015

August 19, 2015 by Erika

State Fair Midway Arch

A visit to the State Fair....I don't think there is a more iconic mid-western summer image than that of kids at the fair.  I was a ten year member of 4-H and even was able to show my grand champion gilt (that's a female pig that hasn't had piglets) one year at the State Fair.  I was also able to represent my county in the Indiana State Fair Queen Pageant.

However, I hadn't been to the State Fair in a while.  Actually, this was my first visit as an adult.  Normally, I'm in school when the fair is going on, but luckily now that I'm staying home, I get to take my kids to things like this...on a weekday.  (Insert happy dance!)  The fair is still going on through August 23, 2015.  While we didn't get to do everything that I wanted since we missed nap time and had a cranky girl, I did get to see a lot and here are my thoughts if you are planning a visit before the fair ends.

1. For the family on a budget.

We went yesterday when it was $2 Tuesday.  Every adult got into the fair for $2 instead of the regular gate price of $12.  Children age 5 and under are free everyday.  For three adults (my mom, stepdad and myself) we were able to get into the fair and pay for parking for only $11!  That's less than just admission would have costed for one of us on a regular day.  Check out this page for upcoming discounts like $5 Foodie Friday this coming Friday!

2.  Eating

For many, the fair is about the food.  There are all of your fried pickles, corn dogs, and fried Oreos.  But for the family on a budget, food at the fair can be a big expense.  At one stand we saw, a corn dog and drink were $13!  I just cannot justify giving a two-year old a $13 corn dog.  I. Just. Can't. Do it.  We packed a cooler full of water, peanut butter, lunch meat, bread, cookies, bananas, etc. and ate lunch at the car.  While I was extremely impressed at how many nice places there were to sit around the fair to eat, It was nice that L got to move around a bit and we could relax during lunch.  We still got some fair grub (Because you can't go to the fair without getting some junk, right?), but we didn't spend a fortune.

3. Attractions

Other than the typical fair attractions like the animals and rides, here are a few attractions that I really enjoyed.

The Glass Barn: Sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance, the Glass Barn exhibit educates visitors on soybean production in Indiana and the world.  There is information concerning products that use soybeans and GMOs.  While, I will admit that I haven't done enough research on my own about GMOs and their use, they do make me nervous. HOWEVER, I think it needs to be said that the actual farmers that use these crops are NOT villains, and you can clearly see this at the Glass Barn.  They are simply doing what they feel is best for their farm and family.  There were five featured farmers at the Glass Barn, and I was so impressed that three of them were women!  Women play a much bigger role in Ag than I believe we give them credit for.  My mom and I also completed a scavenger hunt here and got free hats.  Free stuff from fairs is always a must.

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The Garden Greenhouse:  Next to the Normandy Barn, the Garden Greenhouse showcased ways that you can grow your own veggies and herbs using very little space.  I think that this is an important exhibit.  Being that the fair is in the "big city" of Indianapolis, many visitors are not country people.  I think its important that people that live in urban areas are shown ways in which they can grow their own food to cut down on grocery bills, green house emissions, and help local pollinators.  The Greenhouse also had a scavenger hunt that you could complete to earn a free take-out box of seeds.  They had different sets to choose from like a taco garden, herb garden, flower garden or pizza garden.  I chose the pizza garden set which included seeds for tomatoes, basil, banana peppers and oregano.  I even learned that the first vegetable grown in space was a potato.  Maybe they called it Spudnik!  Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

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The Livestock Nursery:  Baby cows.  Need I say more? Probably not, but a few things to mention about the nursery are that the cows actually give birth where visitors can see.  There are even bleachers so you can watch if you want.  Also, ever since I read The Dirty Life, my husband has been teasing me about getting a milk cow.   And while there is a part of me that thinks it would be cool, I also realize it would be a tremendous amount of work.  After visiting the nursery, I realized that having a milk cow could be even more work than I realized.  Did you know that one cow can produce up to 8 gallons of milk a day?!  If you had your own family milk cow, you would not only have to milk it at least twice a day, you have to find a way to use all of that milk because it is not currently legal to sell the extra raw milk for human consumption.

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Indiana Beekeepers Exhibit: Visit the Purdue Extension Ag/Hort Building to get to meet some Indiana beekeepers.  They had a bee mascot that you could get your children's picture with, free samples, actual bee frames on display, and you could buy honey made right here in Indiana.  We even found honey for sale from a beekeeper in our little town!  While I was hoping for a bit more information for aspiring beekeepers, this is an exhibit that I still think you need to check out.

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Yes, those are live bees.

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Indiana honey for sale.

Indiana honey for sale.

Visit Indiana Harvest Pavilion: In the Harvest Pavilion, there were several different "sculptures" made out of canned food.  And while the Minions were a big hit, we were really excited to see Bob and Larry from VeggieTales.  Also located in this building was a booth for the Indiana Artisans which is an organization that showcases "Indiana's best."  You can read about the organization here.  This building is a great stop for the Lego lover too.  There are tables where kids can stop to build something of their own, or see a full farm built out of Legos.

VeggieTales made out of canned vegetables!

VeggieTales made out of canned vegetables!

This farm was made completely out of Legos.

This farm was made completely out of Legos.

The Glass Barn made out of Legos.

The Glass Barn made out of Legos.

These are just a few of my favorite attractions and exhibits from the day.  Overall, we had a great day while not breaking the bank.  The Indiana State Fair really is a must-see event for the family looking for that quintessential, wholesome family summer experience.

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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3 TED Talks to Watch if You Want to #SavetheBees

July 23, 2015 by Erika

3TED Talks to SaveTheBees

Since I've started to stay home, I find myself craving brain stimulation.  Super Why and Bubble Guppies just aren't doing it for me.  I don't have adult conversations most of the day and on busy evenings, I don't have them really at all.  I have found myself becoming obsessed with podcasts and TED Talks to fill the gap and give myself some "adult time."  I even bought a arm strap for my iPhone so that I can listen to my podcasts while L is watching cartoons or doing something else. (Yes, I do make sure the volume is low enough that I can still hear the kids.)  I watched these TED talks while feeding J in an attempt to learn more about our honey bees.  If you are at all interested in bees (which you should be) then you have to find time to watch these!

Why Bees Are Disappearing

Did you know that in parts of the world, where there are no bees, that people are paid to pollinate flowers by hand with a paint brush?  Or did you know that there is such a thing as a tomato vibrator called the Tomato Tickler?  Kinky, huh?  Bees are the number one pollinators of our food, so it should worry you that they are disappearing at an alarming rate.  Marla Spivak delves into colony collapse disorder in this intriguing TED Talk.  She also has amazing photography illustrations to support her talk.

A Plea for Bees

Beekeepers lose approximately thirty percent of their bees each winter.  That's a lot of bees!  If a cattle farmer lost 30% of their herd in a given winter then we'd call in the National Guard!  The reason that bee loss seems to be given less attention is the beekeeper's ability to replace these bees the following summer.  In this talk, Dennis vanEngelsdorp (also interviewed in the Vanishing of the Bees documentary which I reviewed here) discusses colony collapse disorder as it was just coming to light.  This is the oldest of the TED Talks, but I find that you can feel the frustration and angst in his voice at how big of a problem CCD is for all of us.

Every City Needs Healthy Honey Bees

As the French listen to the opera at the Paris Opera House, the honey bees that reside on the roof are collecting pollen from nearby chestnut trees.  Honey bees do not have to live in the country to survive and thrive.   In fact, surburban honey bees actually seem to do better as is discussed in this TED Talk by Noah Wilson-Rich.

Learn more about the bees at the Paris Opera House here.

Bonus Video: The First 21 Days of a Bee's Life

While I don't necessarily feel comfortable with the genetic manipulation discussed in this video, it is something that it being researched and we need to be aware.  Anand Varma was asked by National Geographic to photograph a story of the first days of a bees life.  The only way he knew to do this was to start raising a hive himself.  Anand is able to capture the first 21 days of a bees life in pictures and shows them in a time-lapsed 60 second video.  During the video, you also get a glimpse of one of the causes of bee population decline, the varroa mite.

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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