Happy Earth Day!

Happy Birthday/Earth Day!

Earth Day was born in San Francisco, as was I. I am a day and a year older than Earth Day, being born on the 21st in 1969, but feel deeply connected to it. My work is boots on the ground, collecting hazardous and difficult-to-manage waste. We collected ten tons of it on April 19th!

At the HHW collection on Saturday: Dave, Kalliope, Linda

This past weekend was glorious on Cape Cod. Everything is starting to open up from being closed all winter. A fabulous feast with good friends on Friday started the holiday weekend off beautifully. Easter was spent picnicking at Herring Cove in Provincetown with a dear friend watching whales from the beach. We had a grand time drinking champagne, eating egg salad sandwiches and potato chips while watching whales from the warm sand, it was amazing!

I spent my birthday at the farm, continuing to clear brush from around the stone wall. It was warm, sunny, and quite a lot of bees were flying. The news from The Queen Rearing Program up around the calving barn was they lost a lot of their hives over the winter but I think some of the bees were from that project. I bought several pounds of wildflower seed and am going to sow around the hives. It’s going to be beautiful!

My birthday dinner was with my parents (my mother made bread!), it was sweet and simple. That is how I like it. They both had good news. My mother is publishing her book, Beatchik, on Tuesday, and their company, Crane Herb, has had a lot of good press in the WSJ and Time magazine this week. I am so proud of them!

Today, I am floating, yet grounded-happy and content with the prospect of the next 45 years. Beekeeping, being an environmentalist, having a spiritual program, practicing yoga, being an uplifting parent, cooking, running-it’s all lovely and satisfying. What better birthday/Earth Day gift than enjoying life and experiencing happiness?

All my love,

Kalliope

Future tripping

What about next winter? The good news is I am going to paint the deep boxes and move their location. The bad news is none of the hives overwintered. Admittedly, weeping was on the agenda. It's difficult to accept loss, especially when you have put time, money, and energy into sustaining life. This past winter on Cape Cod was the third coldest on record. It snowed a lot and was often in the single digits. Rough on the bees.

One winter, some years ago, I went to London, to take a course with Simon Buxton (the famous British beekeeper/shaman), and learned quite a lot about synchronicity of life.

Bhramari Devi, Indian Goddess of Bees, she lives in your heart chakra

Putting some action to those words! I was reading about the apiary established at UMass/Amherst in the early 20th century. They overwintered bees in a cellar there. This brought me to a doc published in 1918 on Wintering Bees in a Cellar. At the field station where I work, we are lucky enough to have an entomologist and he is a "mole for research." So, he is digging into it.

University of Massachusetts Apiary, around 1918

The farm where I keep my bees does have a root cellar under the calving barn. Keeping the bees there next winter is a consideration...What do you think? Have you tried this method?

All my love,
Kalliope

Ripping out the roots

This past weekend was glorious on Cape Cod. Seriously, it was Paradise Found. I had my Passion Red Volvo convertible cleaned and waxed, put the top down and WENT. There were oysters, top neck, Monomoy steamers, duck and more. It was great fun. And, fun is good.

This weekend I also started clearing the space for Honeypot Hives at Cape Cod Organic Farm. This spring I am moving the hives to a sunnier, more open location. The space is currently covered with old vines, and the ground is tangled with established weeds, brambles, vines, and such-like. Clearing was hard work. Hard work is hard. It’s easy to want to give up and just have fun. Grand plans with no action is no way to live. That is just not my focus for my life.

A life with intention. My teenaged daughter directed me to a fashion-y blog written by an insightful, beautiful young woman. In this particular blog that Olivia pointed me to, the author writes about a life lived with intention. She’s no Deepak Chopra, but not everyone is (thank goodness!), however, her thoughts resonated.

Ripping out the roots is hard, whether it’s the roots of vines or the roots of pain. It’s easy to want to give up and go have fun. Resiliency is underrated. Personally, I’d rather deal with the roots, do some intense yoga, take a bath and move on (in that aforementioned shiny red car!).

That is probably why today is the best day in the world. Driving to work with the top down, listening to great tunes, with some sore muscles and a smile on my face, I know I earned it. I am ready to live a life with intention, not afraid of the work, and ready to enjoy the sweet stuff.

Love,

Kalliope

 

Burning

This weekend I burned. Firing up the burn barrel or getting a big ol’ pile of branches, left-over clippings from last year (my Incrediball hydrangeas become mini-fireballs), and the like, is a welcome harbinger of spring. The smell of smoke on me reminded me of beekeeping and got me excited for my season.

When my daughter and I completed Bee School is the winter of 2006, we had to decide on a hive management plan. When going into a hive, you have several options for controlling the 60k+ bees that are in there. Going in when bees are out foraging reduces the bees by a bit, but you still need to think about protecting yourself and keeping the bees occupied.

My Olivia decided she wanted to spray sugar water on the bees. This method distracts the honeybees from wanting to sting you, as they are so busy licking sugar water off their fur with their proboscis. The other method is smoking them, which Olivia objected to. She objected to this method because the smoke freaks the bees out. They think their house is on fire. They are so busy ingesting honey to protect their stores that they cannot be bothered with you going into their hive. It also sets the hive back. She didn’t like that.

One summer, when we were newbie backyard beekeepers, there was a summer drought. I didn’t know this, for whatever reason. We rarely went into our hive in the summer, and  generally nectar is abundant. Well, we went in with sugar water and the bees flipped out. They were starving and angry and sugar water just didn’t cut it. The bees circled the house for days. Lesson learned. I always smoke my bees.

As a commercial beekeeper smelling like smoke has become common for me. Yesterday evoked the memory of regular hive visits, hot summer days, a swim at the Mill Pond after working the hives with the farmer, maybe clam fritters at Capt’n Frosty's (they open April 18!!!!) and more. At my evening yoga class, (Vinyasa Flow) I could smell the smoke on me from burning during the day. It’s a certain kind of perfume for a beekeeper (we can’t wear perfume…).

Sending you loving smoke fairy bees to soothe your soul with wing kisses on your cheeks and forehead.

Kalliope

Actions always speak louder than words

“A firefighter’s death is a reminder to all of us how much we need each other,” O’Malley said. “There can be no real community, there cannot be human existence, without sacrifice, courage, love.”

Right on.

I am learning to see what people do and not listen to what they say they will do. It's a rough lesson.

I know, it's not about bees, but my heart is still breaking from this tragedy. It tests my faith-Why do the people who have so much integrity and commitment die? How many people will mourn you and your contribution?

With a heavy heart,
Kalliope

Honey Dust

Ah, honey dust...the general reaction has been along the lines of, "cool," with a bit of bank stare, or pause at the other end of the phone. Well, folks, I am making it and it will be for sale at the farm stand this summer. I know my Woods Hole girls are all about it!
Last night was the Annual Meeting for Buy Fresh Buy Local Cape Cod. The get-together was at Cape Cod Beer, in Hyannis. The food was made by Pizza Barbone-super yummy! It was great fun talking with land and sea farmers, state senator Dan Wolf (he is a beekeeper!), and generally connecting with the ag crowd on The Cod.
Back to honey dust...I am working on my recipe and it will definitely include gold (organic!) dust. Email me if you want a sample in June or July...
All my love,
Kalliope