All Work and No Play....

OK, you've heard the expression. And this "Jack" (or Jill, as the case may be) wants to be a lot of things, but DULL isn't one of them. Now with school a little bit more under control and my job in great shape, I have decided to get into a new hobby in the spring. I've been reading a lot about it, and am fascinated by the whole process. What is it? BEEKEEPING

Now, stop laughing. First, it's important to do for the benefit of our gardens, and our gardens and plant life in general. Many of the bee hives worldwide died off a few years ago (actually it's been an ongoing problem) and science is still puzzled about why. But without bees we have no vegetables, no fruit, no flowers. Some countries (China, for one) have even resorted to humans hand-pollinating fruit trees so that there is no mass shortage. Serious stuff! I just can't see myself out in our vegetable garden this spring, with a little paintbrush in hand moving pollen from blossom to blossom....but I digress. Also, I determined that it's either bees or get some laying hens, but my neighbors might like that less and they take a bunch more daily work!

Second, once the hive is established (did you know you can buy the hives and bees by mail?!?) you add a food source (like when you put out sugar water for your hummingbirds) and the bees do their thing! Very limited maintenance required, and after a period of time you have comb and honey you can harvest. And, like anything you do yourself, you know where the food came from, and the quality of its production and packaging. You can then use the wax to make candles, great bar soap, etc. Then, after tidying up the hive, the bees stay there (hopefully) over the winter if you supply some food, and they are established for yearly production. I'm thinking that I might invite my neighbor's son to be a part of this project. His Mom is a single parent and it's good for him to have interaction with adults. This all might be a lot of work for a few days, but like home canning, it's sure worth it for the end product.

So, I'll keep you posted. But I figure that all of us need to make sure we have lives enriched by lots of things....books (not just anatomy, thank you very much), hobbies, friends and family, church, whatever. And, if you are good, I might just share my golden honey when I get into production!

Till Later...
Cheers!
Ima