Festooning Bees

Even after I added a second hive body a few weeks ago, the bees had been bunching up at the entrance in the evenings. So last week Nancy helped me open the hive and move frames of brood up a box to encourage them to "move in" to their new addition. It has helped, but some of the bees are persistently at the hive entrance, and a lot are there through the night. When I checked this morning, I found a string of bees dangling from the landing board. This is called festooning. When we rearranged the frames, I had seen bees linked up together across the spans between the missing frames--like a garland. It is a normal part of young bee behavior to link together in this way when they are secreting wax and making comb. I was a little surprised to find them hanging off the bottom board, but who am I to tell them to move?

Clamming in Chatham

Last weekend, Shelly was nice enough to teach me how to dig for clams on Cape Cod. These are large hard shelled quahogs, and we dug about 30 in less than a half hour. There was a whole incident with my rubber boots getting suction cupped in the mud before I gave up and went barefoot. I ditched the rake too, and end ended up just feeling around for the clams with my foot. I'd recommend sticking with the gloves though--I also had a run-in with a horseshoe crab, which has vary sharp claws.

We made made stuffed baked clams with these. The recipe calls for steaming the clams and then chopping them in the stuffing--very quick and easy. I've heard that trying to pry open the live clams can be really hard, and dangerous to boot. Shelly and I agreed that you might want to substitute a dried stuffing mix for all or part of the breadcrumbs recommended in the recipe--to your liking.

Bees in the Neighborhood

I can't say for sure these are "my" bees, but they were all out working within a couple hundred yards of my house this week, so it is likely.

Puppy Love

The time must be right, because Anthony & Chris are getting a golden puppy. She's 4 weeks old.  Since dicisussion on her name seems to continue, I'll hold out on an announcement.  I think the photos say the rest.

Meat Eaters Only: Texas Slow-Smoked Brisket

This winter I decided to serve brisket at a dinner party. As I searched for recipes, I learned that there are two completely different approaches to brisket--one I think of as Jewish, the other Texan--both take all day. For the dinner party I went with a recipe from Ina Garten--brisket with carrot and onion. It was a great choice for serving 12, and it turned out great, but I vowed that I would try the other version come summer.

Here are the results. I used a dry BBQ rub from Saveur magazine, and their instructions for a slow-smoked brisket (the Texas issue, July 2009). After marinating in the rub overnight, it calls for building coals on one side of the grill and placing the brisket over a pan of water on the other side of the grill. Keeping the grill in the 225-250 degree range for 4-5 hours was a little tricky, but I got the hang of it after awhile. Then you wrap the brisket in foil, cover it with beer and cook it for another 2 hours before letting it rest for an hour. It was an all day project, but not labor intensive. Completely worth it.

I also made the grapefruit sheet cake from the same issue of Saveur--yum! Photos next time, I promise.

Photo credit: Thanks Mario!

Tall Ships

I spent the afternoon on Sunday at Sail Boston, checking out the tall ships in the Boston Harbor. The photos are from aboard the Kruzenshtern, from Russia.

Marzipan Bees on Honey Lemon Cupcakes

Inspired by Jasmine, Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, and Couture Cupcakes, I've brought together baking and bees.

I started with plain marzipan and added yellow gel food color, rolled oblong shapes, piped melted chocolate, and added the sliced blanched almond wings.


So much fun!

Bees and Pollen

Honey bees collect pollen because it is protein-rich food for them.
The ecological byproduct and major bonus for us is that they cross-pollinate plants. Without bee pollination, most fruits, nuts and vegetables we rely upon for food sources would not "set fruit."

When the bees return to the hive, I can tell that some are loaded with nectar (the sugar-rich fluid they extract from flowers and turn into honey). The nectar-loaded bees are slower and heavy, and sometimes miss the landing board on their first attempt.

Others, are returning with pollen. They have visible lumps packed to the hairs near their hind legs (think bicycle pannier). I had read that pollen comes in a range of colors, depending on the plant source, but had only seen yellow-gold until today. Look for the red spot near the center of this photo.

The Sour Cherry Project

4th of July and sour cherries just go together.
With the rainiest June ever, I was a little surprised that they were ripe, right on schedule.

I drug my ladder over to a neighbor's front yard, and before I could stop myself, the result was over 4 quarts.


They found their first home in this tart.


And then in this jam.


Have I mentioned that I'm ga-ga about these Weck canning jars?

I have a few left, and am thinking homemade ice cream...

About the Bees...

There have been lots of questions about the bees, and many can't
(or don't wish) to come visit, so I've created a place to share their story. I'll use this space to post photos and write about my varied and sometimes manic interests of the day.


First, here is the "package" in which my 2-3# of bees arrived on May 30. Inside, there was a can of sugar syrup (food for the trip) and a queen, in her own compartment.

I picked up my package of bees from Nancy the Beekeeper in Woburn.


The queen was accompanied by 4 "attendants." She was marked with a blue dot of paint so a beginner like me can find her. More on the queen later. Mostly I just try not to disturb her--she knows how to do her job. I also pray I don't squash her, because if I do, the whole colony is doomed.


This is a Langstroth hive. Each box is open at the top and bottom and has 10 frames of wax foundation (imprinted with the hexagonal design, which the bees use to build out comb. They make babies and store food in the comb. The frames are spaced apart for bees to build comb and leave their favorite 3/8" "bee space" to move around.

Each box--the lower ones called "hive bodies" the ones stacked above called "supers" are like a filing cabinet. You can move these frames around like files. The unit has a base, inner cover and outer cover. The people at the container store would love this--lots of accessories and ways to organize and expand.


I sprayed them with simple syrup through the screen of the package, removed three of the frames, and literally dumped them into the hive. It turns out that they can't really fly away or sting you when they are wet like that.


For a month now, the bees have been building comb, collecting pollen and nectar, the Queen has been laying eggs, and the nurse bees have been tending them. Since gestation is 21 days for worker bees, the first batches are being born now, and things are getting crowded. They were due for an addition, so on Saturday, I added a second hive body.

The top short box is actually empty except for a feeder jar with simple syrup. It's good to have on hand when bees are setting up a new hive.