About us...kind of

Well nothing quite as fantastical a story as those that begin with once upon a time, but it does begin with tregedy....I have loved bees since I was a young girl. What's not to like; they are fuzzy, they produce some of the yummiest food I've ever had, and they can waggle their booties with the best of 'em! Who wouldn't love that!!! I have always wanted to keep bees, I just never knew where to start. We strted the apiary in april of 2009 with one colony of bees given to us by a dear friend. Those bees were housed in some of the last of the equipment that belonged our beloved local beekeeper, Roy Parks, who was murdered.  It was by chance that we met our dear friend who introduced us to the wonderful world of bee keeping and shared some of Roys treasures with me. Without his gifts and knowledge, we would never be where we are today. So with the hopes of supplying the community with fresh honey from local bees and local flowers, we expanded our team to 5 hives and read as many books as we could get our hands on. As time went on we knew we were addicted! The more we read and the more classes we attended the more we wanted to know! Soon our eyes began to open to a world of problems our precious honey bees were facing.  I knew there was something we could do, I hoped there was something we could do. I sought out opinions, research documents, and advice from older beekeepers.  That was when we discovered the world of organic bee keeping! We have always grown organically, well why wouldn't the same principles apply to beekeeping? I wouldn't dump pesticides or chemical treatments in my childrens' rooms so why do it to the bees? So there we have it! Sustainable organic bee keeping!!!! No artificial food supplements, no medications, no nasty unnatural wierdness just plain old flowers, honey, and the occassional organic tea tree oil honey shake if mites show their ugly faces!Now we do all that we can to raise awareness and promote sustainable organic living for everyone! Spread the word, hear the buzzzzz, and bee the change!!!

Chilly Weather!

It has been 90degrees for over a month and the bees have been sooo busy putting pollen and nectar away for the winter. I have been so worried about them as up until a month ago our weather had not been conducive to happy foraging and the bees had not put much away! We atrted feeding them honey from last years draw and man that was just the kick they needed, plus the bonus of the hot weather...they kicked it into overdrive and filled all of their boxes!!! Just in time too; they crappy weather just rolled in! You gotta love western Washington! Even hough the bees made up for lots tim and have lots of honey, we are leaving everylast golden drop for them. "They" are predicting a nasty weather!!!

SHEA BUTTA!!!!

Shea Butter has been used for centuries in Africa as a decongestant, an anti-inflammatory for sprains and arthritis, healing salve, lotion for hair and skin care, and cooking oil. However, the protective and emollient properties of Shea Butter are most valued for skin care. In recent clinical trials, Shea Butter was found to help to protect skin against climate and UV aggressions, prevent wrinkle formation, soothe irritated and chapped skin, and moisturize the epidermis. Shea Butter also enhances cell regeneration and capillary circulation, which helps prevent and minimize stretch marks, inflammations, and scarring. The shea we use in our products is obtained through fair trade efforts! Our cost is a bit higher but we are more than willing to pay the extra amount knowing we are supporting the following prgrams;

Nut prices - Our suppliers pay 15-25% above market price for shea nuts

Fair wages - Their cooperative members receive a salary that is more than 4 times the average family income in Togo!!!

Benefits - Cooperative members also receive full medical care, employment security, and one paid month of vacation each year!!!

So not only are we supporting these wonderful programs, but we are also extending a higher quality product to our customers. And rest assured knowing our ingredients are produced using ethical and morally upstanding means!!!

Colony Make Up!!!

 A colony is a living breathing entity!!! The queen (which might live for several years), thousands of worker honey bees (which might live for several months, but continually are being replaced by the queen - she lays thousands of eggs every day!), and some drones to keep the whole enterprise happy. The colony has living organs - a mouth to feed itself (the forager bees); lungs (the bees that fan fresh air into the hive); a reproductive system (the swarms that fly out each spring); growth tissues (the new wax and new honey stored in 'fat cells' of the hive).... You can see, the the hive is alive and it truly may live for many, many years.

We found a non-chemical all natural organic treatment for varroa!!!!!

In all the years I have been bee keeping I have never had an issue with varroa mites.  I in all actuality had only seen them in my hives this once, and it was only in the one hive.  The poor things were completely infested, so much so that the capped brood was coming out with deformed wings and a grey coloring to their bodies. It was really sad.  I have never medicated my bees for anything and am against chemical treatments so I was at a loss.  I have read that dusting the infected colony with powedered sugar can be a somewhat effective temporary treament, so I immediately ran inside grabbed my sifter and a bag of powdered sugar and dusted away!
Now for long term...
At home with my family we use a lot of tea tree oil and have used it  on our black lab for various infections without any adverse side effects, so why not bees.  There have been a few studies where essential oils were tested on bees and found to be effective treaments for varroa with out any adverse effects to short and long term bee health.  Tea Tree oil is known to be lethal to varroa and when tea tree laced sugar syrup or tea tree laced honey is fed to brood, it disrupts the varroa life cycle therefore causing the varroa to die off rapidly.  Soooo I unbottled  about a gallon of honey from my healthy bees I had stored away for honey bee food emergencies and added 1 tsp of organic tea tree oil for every quart of honey.  I fed this mixture to the bees via an entrance feeder for 2 weeks. I also changed the bottom board of the hive to a screen bottom board.
It's bee three weeks and I am proud to say.....IT WORKED! And all of our bees are varroa free!!!