El Oso blanco que viene para la miel

I have been trying to spend at least twenty minutes a day with my Rosetta Stone Spanish dvd's - not that I was anything beyond a C student but two years of HS Spanish and two years of college Spanish have gone by the wayside. Rosetta Stone is a great program.

This afternoon I placed the bee escape on the stack. A bee escape is a special piece of equipment that beekeepers use to move bees. Once a bee enters the trap they become confused and can not find their way back to the honey. This is good for the beekeeper, because you can then take the super, extract the frames. The frames should have no bees - so you uncap and then place the frame in the extraction tank. Once in the extraction tank- you spin the honey out (it is nothing more than a centrifuge) - should be pleasant spinning honey on Saturday. Expected high 96 and 90 % humidity.

Labels

I have created the labels going to Fedex at lunch to have them printed.

The Bee Blog and the NBA Draft

Apparently it is not good fortune to be a NBA player that is mentioned int he Bee Blog - less than a week after making the bee blog. Stephen Jackson was sent packing. He was traded today to the Milwaukee Bucks. I wish we could all be so fortunate to have our employeer send us to a new city especially if the deal came with the guaranteed 19 million that MJ stuffed in his suitcase.

Karen, myself and Derek Davis (mentioned inthe bee blog in the spring) are riding Blood Sweat and Gears on Saturday. This is a ride through the NC and TN mountains. Beekeeper Karen is nervous about the event - but she is a strong determined rider and will do great. You have to like a ride that has the logo - "Blood Sweat and Gear - just enough pain". In all seriousness this is the hardest event I have ever finished - this ride is tougher than overall Ironman event.

On a bee note it is six days until extraction weekend. The mini bear bottles arrived today - need to create and print labels.

Harvesting the Ross Rounds

After work I met Bobcat Doug - as we are leaving the resturant a guy yells to Bobcat Doug.

. The guy waiving was huge - turns out he was Stephen Jackson of the Bobcats. Thus if you have ever wondered if the players notice the fans - they do notice Bobcat Doug. Thought it was neat that the guy said hello.

Although that was neat it wasnt the highlight of the day - after this interaction I drove to Cloister honey and picked up my botteling and packaging supplies. Once home I decided to harvest the Ross Rounds. The hive produced eight pounds of honey in the round. Once I extract and bottle the remaining honey, I will distribute the hives work.

Pretty jazzed that I kept the bees alive through the winter and they produced honey. I am really looking forward to extraction weekend - I want to know how much honey the hive produced.

Give it Up Bee

In addition to scheduling the extraction equipment the bottling equipment has been ordered. Althouh "we" have enjoyed being beekeepers this year it would cost less money to just give the hive followers $20. The stinking lids are expensive. Weahter has been hot and I will check the hive this weekend . In addition to checking the hive I need to create the "Honey Labs" label.

Extraction Weekend is Scheduled

I have reserved the extraction equipment for July 4th weekend. I have no idea how much of the long weekend this process will take. However I am looking forward to extracting honey. Honey distribution should occur in late July.