Registration Open for Bee Ball

Come have a ball with us! https://www.xpressreg.net/eReg/?ShowCode=BCBB0916
There will be art, flowers, music, dancing, food, drink, face-painting, 4-H, live demo hive, and an original choreography of the "Dance of the Queen Bee," by the Zariifa Belly Dance Troupe. The event is open to the public and is very affordable!

Beekeepers' Ball 2016

Save the Date

The Beekeepers' Ball
9/17/16
5:30pm - 9:30pm
Cultural Center of Cape Cod
Raising awareness of the honeybee while having a rocking good time!
Food, music, flowers, 4-H exhibits, vendors, and more.
Come and play with us.

National Honey Month!

Save the Date: September 17, 2016 for The Beekeepers' Ball, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm for people of all ages.

Lots of Provincetown honey to enjoy! The Province Lands are unique, due to the hydro-geologic makeup. The groundwater, the "soil" (sand), the indigenous plants...all contribute to an interesting "terroir" to the honey and wax.

June on Cape Cod

First Aid Kit sums up my beekeeping approach this year. All new bees, as all hives died last winter. The winter was INCREDIBLE with snow, ice, extreme temps. Hope springs eternal! Hives are in Barnstable Village and Provincetown. 

The Beekeepers' Ball

Working on the first annual Beekeepers' Ball. It's an idea I have been hatching mentally for a long time. The BOD approved the feasibility committee. Cross your fingers and look for it in September 2016, as presented by the Barnstable County Beekeepers Association! The intersection of education and entertainment. Good times.

Practice World Bees

It's a beautiful day on Cape Cod. I am practicing world bees. That is a practice that transcends language, like love, yoga, and music. Peace.

Today, I harvested fall honey and should be able to extract this weekend. For sale Monday-ish at Cape Cod Organic Farm.

Cape Cod Beekeeping

A story in the Provincetown Banner about beekeeping on Cape Cod.

And, yes, I am a hip shaking mama.

Lazy days of summer? NOT

Oh, the beekeeper's life's for me.
This summer has been mad, mad, mad fun. I hope you are having a great time. What have you been up to?
Between the Woods Hole Film Festival, The Hooker's Ball, Airbnb, Lobsterfest (at my house), my volunteer work,  and everything else (yes, that too!), I am straight out. It's all good and keeps me out of trouble!
I extracted some honey the other day and it's for sale at the Cape Cod Organic Farm.

xx

Comb honey and The xx are on my mind. What's on yours?

Camper Bees

So, I am a big mess of freckles, salty hair, and bathing suit strap tan lines...don't you love summer?
Swimming, BBQs, fireworks, new friends-summer on Cape Cod is the best. I am in love with this life.
I have been working with 4-H Camp Farley to have some bee hives (I posted pictures earlier in the year). This is a small article written in our local paper about the project.

A Persian Dream

Rosa rugosa or 'beach' rose

The black locust is blooming...the wild brambles are blooming. The air on Cape Cod is perfumed with these blossoms, salty winds, and Rosa rugosa. It is like a Persian dream.

Black locust

These are the sunny days with cool nights and white linen. Blessed be.
I have been swimming a lot and have gained lots of freckles!  Salty skin, messing around in boats, green grass and warm sunshine.

This time 16 years ago I was pregnant with my Olivia!

It is lovely to have the affection and nurturing support of family, friends, and community. They ask about the bees and are curious about the process. Their interest fuels my interest. I have been reading about pollen production. Do you harvest pollen?

I get lots of feedback about chemicals, due to the professional work I do (serving on the Barnstable County Hazardous Materials Team). This app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/GrowSmart/id881636448 is appealing to me. It was developed by the hazardous waste folks out in King County, Washington. It is always nice to be noticed...so, I was recently (6/10/14) awarded a "Champion of Toxics Use Reduction" by the Massachusetts State Senate and the State Legislature, along with an official recognition and a citation for my work. My work as a very small business beekeeper is aligned with my "real" job at the county.

Rep. Timothy Madden and me at the State House in Boston

The bees are happy, the black locust is a big nectar push for them! It's been quite dry and I have to be mindful of making sure they get enough water. I use a fish tote and a block of wood for the watering.
Life is beautiful and delightful and full of mystery. #grateful

All my love, Kalliope

Two women

"There's a marked difference between acquaintances and friends. Most people really don't become friends. They become deep and serious acquaintances. But in a friendship you get to know the spirit of another person; and your values coincide. Friends may disagree, but not about serious matters. A friend will stand for you when you are no longer able. A woman can say to herself, "'If I die, I know that my friend, my sister friend will be here to hold up the banner."'
-Maya Angelou
Died May 28, 2014

“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "'What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew i would never see it again?”'
― Rachel Carson

Born May 27, 1907

Snapshot

Second deeps on and filled feeder buckets

Gearing up to check the bees

The horse chestnut is blooming on Cape Cod...

Horse chestnut in Sandwich, on Route 6A

As are the bluebells.

This Narrow Land is Paradise.

It all works out for the best

What an action packed weekend!
I went to the Brewster Herring run on Friday, it was totally packed with fish! The shad bush and the beach plum are in bloom, so it's all in synch. Cod cheeks, oyster, quahogs, and Chablis at The Squire was a great start to the weekend. Chatham was crazy busy, like August.

Fish ladder at Stony Brook in Brewster

You know when you say "yes" but you want to say ,"no?" I had that sort of weekend but it turned out fine. The Town of Mashpee had our election, for which I volunteered. It was an early morning, and I saw some lovely people I have done this with in the past, and, voter-people from my town. My warden is someone I have wanted to be friends with for the past couple years but I haven't extended myself. This past election I asked if he was wanted to play this summer and he said "yes!" I look forward to skiffing and gunkholing around Popponesset and learning to tie flies.
Later that same day I went to volunteer at the Woods Hole Film Festival. The movie was, 'The Off Season." A bit of a thriller! I adore WoHo beyond repair and it's always nice to zip down. The weather was beautiful and I kept my top down in the car all weekend.
I checked the bees and they are doing great. Almost ready to put the second deep on. I'll do that before I go to California. I collected some comb for lip balm. Honey lip balm at the farm stand, yo. I filled the feeder buckets in all  but one hive (hive 1 and 4 were not empty). It was nice to hang with the farmer too. We are connected at many different spots, but mostly at the hip.

Kalliope and Farmer Tim

The black locust is blooming, along with lilacs, dogwoods, dandelions, buttercups, autumn olive, and such-like. It's really freaking green, hot and sunny. Yay!
I picked up some asparagus, fingerling potatoes, and flounder for lunch, pan-fried with a lemon, saffron and butter sauce. So good. Between great meals, new friends, happy bees, and awesome Vinyasa Flow, well, life is sweet.
All my love, Kalliope

Honeypot Hives today

Checking on the girls at lunchtime....

The girls are on the Cod!

The girls are all installed at Cape Cod Organic Farm and 4-H Camp Farley. No stings!

Me and Mike Campbell installing the bees at 4-H Farley

It was a fabulous weekend on Cape Cod. Everything is blooming, all the leaves have unfurled, and life is beautiful. This Narrow Land is a flowery and green paradise.
We (Barnstable County Beekeepers Association) distributed over a quarter of a million honeybees on Saturday. It is a subtle transformation of our environment. It was great fun. All the newbees were so excited and curious to pick up their bees. It was great fun volunteering with Miguel, Jan, Claire, Marte, and Lisa.

The two hives at camp, so cute!

 After I installed the bees at CCOF, the farmer and I went to Captain Frosty's. Oh man. That is good stuff. They are a member of Buy Fresh Buy Local Cape Cod. Their food is delicious and fresh. I totally recommend them. Clam cakes and fish sandwich, yummers!

Distributing bees early Saturday morning....Do I look nervous with 225k bees and no protection?

 Mother's Day was wonderful! The weather was perfect, all my spring bulbs are so gorgeous, the air is fragrant, and the sunshine was much needed. All the birds have returned! From my room I can hear the conservation land is alive with nesting, pairing, and eating (woodpeckers!). Mother's Day was filled with spiritual practice, family, and yoga-it was perfect. I had a civilized lunch with my grandfather and my parents at the Landfall, in Woods Hole.By civilized, I mean lunchtime cocktails and lobster. I wore a spring party dress! Dad went swimming (the water is 57 degrees!) after lunch and I took a walk and a nap. My teenager sent me a beautiful card and bee earrings. Like I said, perfect!

The bees waiting for pickup!

I hope you had a good day and, did you get your bees? All my love, Kalliope

Spring-ish!

Spring is in the air...town meeting was last night. It was pretty intense. Almost a complete lack of decorum, which is extremely unusual for my little Cape Cod towne. 

Going to town meeting...with Sarah

Another sign of spring is picking up my milkweed plugs. I am going to plant some at the farm-around the hives, and some on my property. Supporting pollinators is good for all, right on!

I joined the Cape Cod Mushroom club! It's pretty exciting. I adore cooking and eating, exploring my habitat, and  meeting new people, so it's a natural fit. Probably these folks will be interesting too.

Random...Are you loving First Aid Kit? I am!

The countdown--4 days til my Italians get here. Wicked excited to meet my girls!

Beekeep couture from Martha's Vineyard

Hot, sunny Greek day on the coast

It's all in the waiting

The bees have been delayed. Tornadoes in the South, it's still really freaking chilly, who knows? May 1st and I wore my light wool coat tonight. Bees are not fond of wool (or leather, perfume, and such-like, for that matter). In any case, the bees are late and hopefully wool will be obsolete soon.

My baby girl back in the day and my sister on the Tokyo River

Have you ever waited with anticipation? It's sort of delicious and slow, and slightly rough on the nerves. It's also giving me some time  to think, which I enjoy. Resultantly, there will be glitter on the hives. The theme is evolving towards disco hives in the meadow. Keepin' it non-toxic, yo.

Years and years and years ago, I waited for the baby to arrive. She was a loooong time in coming and in the interim waiting weeks I planted hundreds of bulbs in pots (it was November on the South Shore). Today I am waiting for my bees. The hundreds of bulbs I planted  this past November are coming up and blooming, blossoming. It's glorious. Tulips, daffa-down-dillies, grape hyacinths, and globe hyacinths. Ferns (I had a fern obsession two years ago) are unfurling. It's all in slo mo. And, the bees will be here May 10th. It's all good. My mind wanders to spring things like ramps, scapes, Chablis, and pokē. The herring are running.

What happens when bees live in your house

 I am installing seven packages of Italian honeybees, 2 at the local 4-h camp and 5 at Cape Cod Organic Farm. Honeypot Hives is physically located there-against the stone wall, west of the perennial garden, near the arched birch. There is a bench for daydreaming, er, hive observation.
Shaka.

All my love, Kalliope