• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • The Apiary
    • Nectar & Pollen Sources
    • The Colony
    • Seasons
  • Events
    • The Benefits of Backyard Beekeeping Class JWCC
    • Beginning Beekeeper Class
    • MVBA/ISBA 2023 Summer Conference
    • Small Group Demos
  • Hive Products
    • Honey
    • Beeswax Candles
    • Waste-Not-Want-Not Beeswax Food Wraps
  • Bee Removal
  • Blog Buzz

Uncategorized

Waste-Not-Want-Not Beeswax Food Wraps

July 11, 2022 by friendshillapiary

Food Storage Wraps made with Beeswax, PineRosin, Jojoba Oil & Cotton Fabric

A “Green” Alternative to unwanted plastic. Waste-Not-Want-Not Beeswax Food Wraps are safe, re-usable, compostable, practical, AND pretty!

Use to cover bowls or jars. Wrap snacks, cheese, sandwiches, produce and so much more!

If properly cared for, Beeswax Food Wraps can last up to a year and then can be composted into your garden! Never any waste. Never any chemicals!

Instructions for Cleaning are simple: gently wipe and wash with tepid water and if needed, add a tiny bit of your favorite dish soap, rinse thoroughly and let air dry.

Can be refrigerated… NOT meant for cooking with… NOT recommended for use with raw meats!

YUM! Ham, Beans & Cornbread!
Easy to Clean!

Filed Under: Beesweax, Gifts, Hive Products, Home Products, Products, Uncategorized Tagged With: Products

Mouse Nest in Hives

May 9, 2022 by friendshillapiary

I had recently spent some time talking with and going over some of the negatives of beekeeping with a future beekeeper. I’m an honest soul, so I let people truthfully know that it’s not always about honey and sweetness. If you’ve been a beekeeper, you know exactly what I mean when I say that there is nothing more sticky than propolis on your kitchen floor, on your gloves, or in your hair. You know what it means to pray for the rain to stop so a decent nectar flow can finally begin. You also know that ants can find any spilled drips of honey. You know that you should do a split, but before you know it, your best hive swarms and lands too high up in a tree for you to be able to capture them. You know that wearing a full suit while doing any apiary work in the summer heat, can get pretty miserable. You also, unfortunately know how devastating and discouraging it is to lose hives in the wintertime.

There’s a lot to beekeeping that isn’t always taught in beginning beekeeper’s classes. For “new-bees”, aka “new-beeks”, you should always be willing to learn, because you will, whether you want to or not. (Most new-bees we’ve met are usually receptive to learning and are just as inquisitive as we were when we first stepped into this amazing venture).

Pests are a real obstacle, and can include quite a number of species. Hive beetles, varroa mites, ants, and yes mice! Here is a photo of the remainder of a mouse nest that we pulled out from the bottom of a hive this spring. She obviously tried to over winter and rear her young inside the warmth of the hive. We have found dead mice completely mummified with propolis before and other times, just a skeleton.

Above this mouse nest were 2 frames that the bees didn’t draw any wax out or use at all. They hate mice as much as we do. After cleaning it out, we replaced the old frames with fresh new frames and we could tell almost immediately that they were happier.

Honey bees are super smart. They will chase pests into corners, sting them, carry them out and dispose of them and guard their hives with their lives against them. We, as beekeepers, work very hard to help protect the hives and offer as much assistance as we are capable to make certain that our honey bees stay healthy, happy, and strong.

Filed Under: Buzz Blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: Hive Inspections, Hive Maintenance, Honeybees, Pests

Small Group Demos

August 28, 2018 by friendshillapiary

Teaching a Child to NOT step on a Caterpillar

is as Valuable to the Child as it is to the Caterpillar

Bradley Miller

If you have small groups of kids, young adults or clubs & organizations, we would love to share our knowledge!

The following are just a few of the local events that we’ve had such memorable moments sharing with both the kids as well as the adults:

  • Friends Hill Apiary Shop and View
  • Earth Day at JWCC
  • Community Based Outreach at JWCC
  • Caden’s Carnival
  • QMG Kids Activities
  • Private Groups
  • Farmer’s Markets

CONTACT INFO IS: friendshillapiary@gmail.com or tnt@friendshillapiary.com

Filed Under: Beekeeping, Education, Events, Gifts, Honeybees, Uncategorized Tagged With: Butterflies, Honeybees, Kids, Life, Nature, Pollinators, Teaching

Copyright © 2023 ยท Friends Hill Apiary, All Rights Reserved