Bee trivia Honey bees are not native to North America. They were first introduced in Jamestown in 1622 and gradually spread on their own throughout the colonies and eventually westward. The Native Americans called them “white man’s flies.” By the early 1900's, the US was the largest honey producer in the world and NYS was the largest honey producing state in the country.
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More Bee trivia: Did you know many churches still require 100% beeswax candles and the Catholic Church requires candles used for mass be at least 51% beeswax? (Excerpt below from Catholic Magazine, 1991)Light, as the New Catholic Encyclopedia notes, signifies “joy, optimism, goodness, purity, beauty, festiveness, dignity and life. It is opposed to darkness, which signifies sadness, gloom, desolation, death, ignorance, error, and evil in general.” We find that by Jerome’s time, “In all the churches of the East lights are lit when the Gospel is to be read, even though the sun is rising, but the purpose is not to dispel the darkness but to give a visible sign of joy.” When the meaning of the beeswax candle was pondered, particularly in the Middle Ages, a rich and detailed symbolism emerged. Christ had declared, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5), and the candle’s light came to be the symbol for his presence. The pale wax of the candle symbolizes Christ’s flesh, his sacred humanity. The wick, embedded in the center of the candle, represents his soul. The flame, as it burns down the wick, consumes the wax to give us light. It burns, expending itself, sacrificing itself, just as Christ sacrificed himself. The burning candle is aesthetically pleasing, and it gives a sweet aroma as it burns, another reminder of the presence of our Lord. The wax produced by the honeybee is considered the sweetest and purist, the most appropriate for symbolizing the humanity of Christ. It is produced by the bees actually consuming honey. Honey itself is a symbol for the superlative in sweetness, the sweetness of the Word of God.
If you are interested in beekeeping classes in the spring shoot us an email and we will provide details.
Comments from Bob!
Notes from October 31st, 2024 What a fall! As I write this on Halloween, the temperature is pushing 80F! Hope you are able to enjoy some of it. It has been busy at the store this fall, especially on weekends as folks stop on their way to pick apples, view the fall colors and take those day trips while the weather is nice. We have had lots of first-time customers who have already been back a second and third time in just a few weeks. Thank you! Inventory is at its peak with all the candles now out, Linda’s ever-popular lotion bars and honey in all sizes. Our spring harvest granulated earlier than normal this year (most beekeepers are reporting this so there was something that bloomed in quantity this year that normally doesn’t to cause this). The honey is just as flavorful and good, just softly granulated. I have only about 8-10 jars of these left and have put them on sale. Many find it easier to use, especially in coffee or tea. The candles make wonderful holiday gifts whether for a host’s Thanksgiving table or as a Christmas gift. Their delicate, honey aroma and hand-crafted natural beeswax will make them the talk of any dinner. If you are interested in these, pick them up now. With chemo complete, in a few weeks Linda will be starting radiation treatments and so candles we currently have will likely be all that are available this year. On a personal note, we want to thank the many customers and friends who have offered help, notes of encouragement, produce, and all kinds of gestures of kindness helping Linda and I on this unexpected journey. A huge THANK YOU to all! We are often asked if we have issues with animals in our apiary. The answer is “sometimes.” We have many critters visiting our apiaries, but most are just visiting. These pictures were taken in just the past couple weeks. I also had pictures of coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, and who knew blue herons were quite the nocturnal party goers as they also show up frequently and are quite active at night. Less benign are other animals in the area: Bear: Bear are plentiful this year and have been seen throughout the area with regularity. Bear love both honey and the honeybee brood which is rich in protein. Unfortunately, they are extremely strong and can easily completely destroy multiple hives in a night. The key is not to let them get a taste of the treats in the hive. Once they know what is there for sure it is very difficult to keep them out in the future. Note the electric fence in the picture. We keep this on all year as bear no longer hibernate like they used to but rather hibernate during cold spells then forage again during warmer winter weeks. Fisher: Fisher are also fond of honeybee brood as a source of protein. They typically are only a problem in winter when other food sources are scarce. While they don’t have the strength to tear apart the boxes, they can easily tip them over to get at the brood. While fisher are common now, generally they have enough other game and food available that they have been leaving hives alone. Skunk: Skunk LOVE bees. They will go to the hive entrance at night and scratch on the wood to make the bees crawl out and gobble them up as they emerge. Their mouth and face are resistant to stings and they will visit the same hive night after night until the hive collapses. The one part of their body that is not resistant to stings though is their belly. Note my hives are up on stands about 12” in the air. This makes the skunks have to stand on their back legs exposing their belly. While they do occasionally visit the hives, getting stung on the belly deters them from being too much of a pest. Mice: These little critters are only an issue in the winter when the bees are lethargic and in their winter cluster. Mice like the hive as it can provide both great living quarters and food in the form of dead bees. They will chew through the comb and build significant nests. Bees will attack and potentially kill them if they enter too soon so we put mouse guards on in the fall. This hardware mesh lets the bees go out on warm days but prevents mice from entering. Once the weather warms so bees can protect the hive we remove the guards. Vampire bees: Fortunately you only need to be concerned with these tonight - but beware! Bee well, Bee safe and hope to see you soon! Bob
Notes from October 4th, 2024 Drones are the male bees in the hive and this time of year, the female worker bees boot those boys out of the hive. As they serve no purpose during the winter and just eat the honey reserves, they are sacrificed. It is a common sight to see one struggling to get back in the hive while three or more workers block him. By November the hive will be inhabited solely by female bees (queen and workers). Tough time to be a drone! Store Updates Our extracting is complete with honey supers and equipment cleaned and put away for the season. It was a great harvest with favorable weather throughout the summer. If you, or you know someone who may be interested, we do offer special pricing on case lots of honey. Just email me if you are interested in 12 or more jars of honey and what size. I will be happy to quote you. For a limited time, we will have a “sale shelf” at the store. Sizes will vary but it is the same pure, raw 2024 honey as in the rest of the store. Sale items will include discontinued sizes (ex. 1.5 lb pints), honey beginning to granulate (just warm it) or jars with miss-applied labels or not filled 100%. Stock will vary as we pull these, so check often for your favorite size and a nice savings to you. Cold weather is around the corner and you will want natural relief for your hands and lips. Good news as we currently have a good supply of Linda’s ever popular lotion bars in stock! We will not have the quantities of candles we have had in the past but we do have a good selection of smaller candles in stock now. All candles are 100% beeswax made right here from our own wax. Enjoy these last nice days of fall and bee safe!
Bob
Notes from June 28, 2024 Sun Mountain Apiary and Honey Store - Early Fall Harvest and FFD 2024 As you may have heard, many growers are reporting crops maturing earlier than normal this year. We fit that pattern as this past Friday we began pulling the first honey supers of the fall season. Despite being about 10 days sooner than we would normally start, they were full of honey and capped by happy bees. The summer has provided a nice mix of rain and sun which maximized the nectar flow of the diverse flora at the farm and surrounding area. All this food makes for happy bees, great honey and bees that are easy to work with! Getting some early honey was timely as it lets us replenish some low stocks in the honey store in time for Family Farm Day this next Saturday. Plan on attending and make our apiary one of your stops. The forecast is perfect - SUN AND FUN! We will be offering a number of things for families and folks that visit including:
We aren't always available to answer your honey and beekeeping questions so here is your chance. This year, beekeeper and friend Mike Hammond of Memai's Apiary in Knox has graciously agreed to join us so we are sure someone will always be available to answer all your bee related questions.
Buzzing bees! For the first time we will have our new observation hive on site so you can be nose to nose with the girls and safely observe their many fascinating activities.
Photos anyone? Also new this year is our children's photo stand. Kids will love getting their picture taken as a working beekeeper!
For history buffs, our store will take you back over 130 years with our numerous artifacts on the rich history of beekeeping in the Mohawk Valley. We will be happy to take you on a tour and explain the many pieces and their place in history.
Of course the honey store will be fully stocked with honey in every size including comb honey and Linda's very popular lotion bars.
For your convenience, we have shade, chairs, bathroom and easy access for all abilities. Come, tour, visit and set a spell!
Family Farm Day is a free event and you are encouraged to visit the wide diversity of farms in the area. This year we are partnering with our friends Ray and Sara of Fox Creek CSA. They own/operate a local produce farm just a little over a mile west of our store just off Rt 146 (https://foxcreekfarmcsa.com/). They have some of the finest vegetables you will ever taste! They will be offering farm tours that will start from their barn 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 2:30 PM. You can visit their fields, get your questions answered, and visit their draft horses. Be sure to mark both as "must see" farms on your stops! To see other farms participating and plan your trip, visit: https://cceschoharie-otsego.org/family-farm-day. The event is free and family oriented. We also have free maps of participating sites available at our store now. Bee Trivia: Ever wonder where the idea for the plastic honey bear came from? Ralph and Luella Gamber, who founded Dutch Gold Honey, came up with the idea in 1957. The prior year Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne died and while at dinner with friends they came up with the idea to honor Milne and leverage the beloved bear's penchant for honey! The rest is history with millions of the iconic bottles sold each year. Hope to see you Saturday! Bob & Linda
Notes from June 28, 2024 We are pleased to announce the Sun Mountain Honey Store will be opening this Saturday, June 29! We are certainly blessed to have wonderful friends, who knowing my wife Linda is unable to help this year, stepped up and helped with extraction and bottling. This helped immensely and kept us on track for opening this weekend. The honey is beautiful and light with lots of clover and early fruit blossom nectar. We have all sizes bottled and available although it will be a few more days before we have comb honey. That has to go through a few more steps but should be available Monday. As usual we have our honey jar return this year. Just return any clean honey jar and take $1 off all 1-3 pound jars and $2 off for every 4-12 pound jar returned. No need to remove the label, just wash the jar and leave it on the cash counter. Bee Trivia: Did you know that nearly all honey bees communicate by scent? Both the queen and workers secrete pheromones that communicate the health of the queen, how many workers are in various roles and needed for others, and to alert the colony to danger. The pheromones inside the hive are relayed by touch. Workers touch the queen then spread the queen pheromone throughout the hive. Outside the hive, alarm and sex pheromones are spread as a scent and in fact you can smell the “danger” pheromone as it smells like bananas! Our store is self-serve and open from 9am to 5pm daily. Stop by and if you would take a moment to review us on Google we would appreciate it. You can review here: https://g.page/r/CQw38g274rdKEAI/review Bee safe and hope to see you soon! Bob
Notes from June 15th, 2024 Everyone is anxious to know when the honey store will open, so just a quick update to let you know that barring unforeseen weather events, we will be open by July 1. With the warm spring we began adding honey supers to the hive a bit earlier so with a bit of luck we may even be able to open a day or two earlier and if so, we will let you know.
Why our bees can make such great honey!
The girls have had a great spring as blooms have been prolific and the bees are taking full advantage of them. Right now, wild multiflora rose is in full bloom in the hedgerows. While this invasive, thorny bush is tough to encounter on trails, the bees sure enjoy their fragrant flowers. White clover is also really coming on strong and that makes a light, flavorful honey that most folks love.
We are coming off winter with one of our best years ever of overwintering and with strong hives and good weather so far, we are looking forward to a great honey harvest this spring and fall.
Note all the pollen on their pollen sacs
This spring we have also been working on a significant addition to Linda’s “craft room” where she makes the beeswax candles and lotion bars. Windows have been installed, spray foam insulation in place, painting is largely complete and we hope to get the flooring done this week. Unfortunately during this process, Linda has encountered some serious medical challenges so we are praying all works out so she can enjoy her new “digs” and make the lotion bars everyone is asking for.
We look forward to seeing all our friends at the store again! Bee safe, Bob
Notes from March 22nd 2024 Although it doesn’t feel it at the moment, HAPPY SPRING! It has been an unusual winter with virtually no snow and well above normal temperatures. This can actually be hard on the bees as they have been out scores of times on those warm winter days looking for pollen and nectar. This burns up their winter stores of food very rapidly with nothing to show for it. It also places a lot of wear and strain on the “winter bees” which need to make it all the way through winter and are not designed for field work.
The good news is though that our hives have overwintered remarkably well with the lowest hive loss ever. We are hoping the very cold weather of the past few days hasn't hurt them. With a little cooperative weather this summer, we should have a great harvest. As usual, we are planning to reopen the Honey Store on July 1st. With the colder weather of this past week it was a good time to clean and upgrade our honey supers for the upcoming season. We set up several colonies this past summer to overwinter and be split into “Nucs” or nucleus colonies for sale this spring. These provide beekeepers with a five-frame colony and marked queen raring to get started. We have a limited number for sale, so if you know someone wanting to get started in beekeeping or wants to increase their hives, we can help. See our website for details.
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Sun Mountain Apiary 127 Marcus Road Delanson, NY 12053