It's not really a New Years Resolution because I usually break those in the first week of January. But I'd like to think of it more as a good intention. This year ( amongst other things) I am intending to be a lot more frugal and where possible make my own things rather than buy them.
Last year my husband and I made our own candles which turned out to be a whole lot of fun. We tried making our own bread ( which was a little less successful but we are persistant). We had chickens laying an abundance of fresh eggs for us and of course we made some homemade Toys for the Toy Society. Last year I got out the knitting needles and made a whole slew of scarves for Christmas gifts and for my children to weather the particularly nasty winter we are experiencing in the Pacific NW this year. There is our family blanket that I knitted and my hopes are to again plant a vegetable garden come the spring.
But something else that I would love to try is making my own honey! I doubt that I will ever actually get to do it due to our suburban location and the hazards of kids with bee allergies...(I can already hear my neighbors letting out sighs of relief)....but maybe one day.
While we were on vacation we stayed with my husbands brother who kept bees and the honey they produced was magnificent.
Apart from a few bee stings here and there...(which I admit could present a few problems)...the bees seem like the perfect pets. They produce mountains of honey and once you have their hive set up they do everything else themselves. You don't even have to feed them! (My dogs who are currently fast asleep lying on my feet will have to pick their game up this year if they don't want to be replaced by bees)
Wow. I am completely fascinated and completely freaked out! (but I do get a terrible reaction when I have been stung - the last time when I was pregnant!).
ReplyDeleteAaron thanks you for not bringing boxes of bees home! He is a bee magnet. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I would be on board with you having a box of bees near a certain "Chalet" in Idaho! :)
And I would be willing to eat the honey, too. You know me... always willing to pitch in and help! ;)
Oh my! While I am a little creeped out by the bee picture I have to admit it's a great shot. I have a cousin that kept bees in the PNW for several years. They've sold the business but I remember the honey was fantastic and so were all the other products they made.
ReplyDeleteI've always been fascinated by bee keeping. The farm I grew up next to had hives and combs that were see through so you could see the bees working. My grandpa and my parents kept bees, too. We still have jars of my grandpa's honey and we use it on special occasions.
ReplyDeleteAnd if nothing else, beekeeping makes for great stories. I'll have to ask my mom to write out her story about bringing the bees home in her car when they all escaped, hee hee, it would make a hilarious post!
I used to love buying good, local, organic honey at the farmers' market when we lived in Tacoma.
ReplyDeleteOh, and that first photo gave me the chills!
fresh honey - nothing better. You just need some crumpets.
ReplyDeleteThe photos are great.
BTW: Love the new bolg header too.
I agree - the new blog header is fantastic! I should have said that earlier. I love these bee/honey photos - extremely well done. I don't mind bees, we co-exist happily - if you leave them alone (even if you get close), they'll leave you alone. =)
ReplyDeleteThese are some GREAT photos! There's nothing like fresh honey.
ReplyDeleteWe were very fortunate to have had a "hunny" tree on our property for several years. Unfortunately the poor hive was in a pretty rotten old tree and it ended up being destroyed and the bees have moved on.
I noticed this past summer that there were several honey bees hanging around our garden though, so hopefully they can find another close spot to build a new hive!
Is there anyone close to you who raises bees? I think that whole process is facinating.
Hi there...stumbled across your blog. Love it! I'm a fellow Aussie expat, currently in Dallas, TX, but spent three years in your neck of the woods in Washington State on the beautiful Puget Sound. Cheers! Jan :)
ReplyDeleteDon't give up those dreams..you never know!! I could almost taste that sticky honey!
ReplyDeleteBees would be cool but what I really want is chickens. Backyard chickens.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband was a kid my in-laws kept bees. My MIL became deathly allergic to honey bee venom from being stung so many times. Now my husband is also. It's pretty scary. I would stick to buying honey! Oh, and you can't snuggle with a bee!
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with your family's goal.
ReplyDeletewhen i lived at home, my dad had chickens (and a rooster) right in the middle of a nice residential neighborhood. My dad has always liked doing things the "colonial" way, so he made his own bread and we made candles too. he would have probably had bees if he wasn't deathly allergic to their sting. He still makes sourdough bread every week. Haha he talked about getting a sheep when I was doing my own weavings.
good luck with your New Years Resolution - what a great thing to teach your children.
As a kid I spent hours with my grandpa's bees, observing them and listening to their buzz ... nothing beats the smell of the inside of the hive hut and i get that same sensation reading your post :)
ReplyDeleteLove the photos!
While I think bee keeping is fascinating, I could never do it. I am such a wimp (dork) when it comes to getting stung!
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures!!
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