BeeRamblings
Hurricane Honey
Living in Hawai’i for the past 12 years doesn’t make me an expert, but I can say for certain that the weather has felt especially crazy during 2014-2015. Hurricane Iselle in August 2014 was one of the scariest moments of my life. Our house shook like an earthquake for 6 hours straight, but that wasn’t what had me worried. Of course, what kept me wide awake and running outside in the high winds and rain every hour was the bees! We got lucky, and only one top bar hive roof got knocked off by the wind (I put it back on and no bees were harmed). Other beekeepers around Puna weren’t as fortunate while large trees fell on top of their hives. Today, a hurricane passes off the coast of the Big Island and brings back memories of that night that felt like it would never end. So, what to do when you originally planned for a bee inspection today and instead are greeted with strong winds and rain? None of your beeswax! Just kidding ~ I made some lip balm!! I have ordered a bunch of tubes to hopefully make some available online by the holidays. For now, they will be exclusively at the farmer’s markets at the Pali Kai Farm booth. Ingredients: Lava Bees beeswax, coconut oil, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, and vitamin E oil. I have tested this recipe out for the past year and love the natural beeswax coconut scent and the smooth moisture it brings to my lips. Enjoy 🐝🐝
NewBee Blogger
Aloha Busy Buzzing People of the Internet,
I have been keeping bees for over 3 years (already?!), and what I have learned is that 1) I will never know everything when it comes to bees, 2) My bees would like me to be a full-time beekeeper, and 3) We have really good honey. The story never ends when it comes to our bees. I am constantly thinking about when I will go into the hives next, what am I going to do with all of this beeswax, Uh-oh — strong gust of wind — how are the bees? Bees on the brain!! Our bees get to enjoy a near constant state of summer (It’s a hard life here in Hawai’i), and as a result, it seems like the honey harvesting season never ends! Between all of the fruiting seasons of mac nut trees, avocados, mangoes, lehua blossoms, Christmas berries, and more, our honey is different and delicious every harvest, but nearly impossible to tell you exactly what they are gathering at any certain time. Bees can fly up to 5 miles from the hive, and we are simply surrounded by all kinds of things, so the bees go to where the nectar flows. Speaking of flows, we live near an active lava flow. Remember that town that was recently on the news as “about to get covered up by lava”…? Yep, that’s our town. But the lava goddess Pele has turned her attention elsewhere for now and we live to buzz another day in this bee-autiful paradise. I am not sure how good I will be at blogging, but once I get started talking about bees, it is hard to stop. So, I will save some more blog love for later. Thanks for checking out Lava Bees and I hope you enjoy the honey.
-Callie
lavabees.net 