The Vineyard

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We finally finished removing and extracting our honey crop. I really like to get the job all done by Thanksgiving so that we can keep up with our Christmas Candle orders.

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I am always getting questions from people about yellow jackets. Quite often they confuse yellow jackets (wasps) with honeybees. We are often asked if all the "bees" in the vineyard produce our honey & I remind them that they are not honeybees at all but yellow jackets. I tell them that they are as different as dogs & cats. Here is some information on yellow jackets:

ORDER: Hymenoptera - FAMILY: Vespidae (paper nest)

Description: Wasps in this family are social Insects that take care of their young. Most wasps are solitary but others, like Yellowjackets and Hornets live in large colonies, consisting of one queen and many workers. Some of these wasps are dark brown but most are striped yellow and black Bee-like insects. They nest in grey or tan, oval or irregular-shaped, papery nests in trees and under house eaves or even in the ground. Some move into the house. Most are beneficial as they kill many pest insects around the yard, but Yellowjackets and Hornets may become pests when colonies grow in size and workers invade people's habitat looking for food. When agitated they can render a painful sting. Some people are allergic to these stings and need medical attention immediately (see Comments below). Wasps can sting more than once, which is not the case with Honeybees, as their stingers are hooked and remain stuck in the victim. Hornets are like Yellowjackets but larger and could also be dark brown to black in colour. They produce tan-coloured nests. Some Wasps make umbrella-shaped nests and are known as Umbrella Wasps.

Stages: 4

Generations Per Year: Many

Over-winter as: Young newly mated females under bark, in tree crevices etc. These females are the queens for next year's colonies.

Egg Stage: Laid in cells of nests composed of paper, which adults make by chewing wood.

Larva Stage: White grubs are found inside cells in the nests. These are fed daily on juices of insects and sweets. They last from 9 days to 22 days. A colony could produce as many as 10,000 grubs.

Pupa Stage: Pupae are cocooned in a silky canopy produced by rolling in their own saliva. This stage lasts about a week. Afterwards they emerge either as sterile female workers or in August as "sexual" males and females.

Adult Stage: Adults are bee-like insects with yellow or black striped abdomens. The workers build cells, look for food, nurse the larvae and protect the colony. The "sexual" males mate with the "sexual" females. These females store the sperm to fertilize next years eggs. These are the queens that overwinter in protected holes and crevices. The workers and males die off before winter. Empty nests will not be revisited the following year.

Attack: Flies, Caterpilars, Cutworms, Aphids, Beetles etc. A colony of wasps could devour more than 200 insects per day.

Damage: Holes in ripe fruit.

Solutions

Physical Control: Remove and destroy nests. Do this at night. In the house wasp-nests can be located quite a distance away from the entry holes. If you feel this is a problem or the wasps enter rooms it is best to contact a licenced pest control operator. This person will find the nest and dispose of it. Outdoors pour boiling water into ground nests. Use Wasp Traps (purchased from hardware stores) to draw these insects away from patios, picnic areas etc.. Bait these traps with sweet liquid or ripe bananas.

Or hang a piece of raw meat or fish or liver on a string over a bucket of water. Add a little detergent in the water to break the surface tension. As these insects collect food they get so heavy that they can't fly anymore and drop into the water and drown.

Biological Control: A skunk will eat wasps.

Chemical Control: Hornet & Wasp Aerosols and Hornet & Wasp Foam. (purchased from hardware stores) Treat nests after dark. If you have to use a flashlight, cover it with red cellophane to make it invisible to wasps . Spray the entrance holes. Once you hear them or they start flying out, walk away (Do NOT run). Repeat this every evening until you no longer see or hear the wasps. They will not return to the nest.

When using pesticides always read the entire label on the container and follow the directions.

Comments: Wasp venom contains histamine and a substance that dissolves red blood cells. Some people get hives, have trouble breathing, experience a rapid drop in bloodpressure etc. Shots of adrenaline or epinephrine may stop the allergic reaction. Call a doctor immediately. There are about 20.000 wasp species in the world. They range in size from 3 mm to 8 cm. Most are solitary and predators but some (the most noticable ones) are pests and live in colonies. Some small wasp varieties are parasites and lay eggs on or in caterpillars, aphids etc.. When these eggs hatch the wasp larvae will feed on it's host eventually killing it. Some of these beneficial wasp species are: Braconid Wasps (use Caterpillars and Cabbageworms), Chalcid Wasps (use Aphids, Scale, Mealybugs, Beetle larvae etc.), Ichneumon Wasps (use Caterpillars) and Trichogramma Wasps (use Cabbage Loopers, Cutworms etc.).

Mud Daubers (Family: Sphecidae) make nests from mud in which they deposit eggs and also a paralyzed insect for the larvae to feed on when they hatch.

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December Honey recipe - Honey Bread from Richard C. Bloom, Grand Blanc, Michigan

Mix all ingredients together. Fill foil-lined, greased tins ½ to ¾ full. Bake in slow oven (325 degrees) for 1-1 ¼ hours. Remove from pans and foil. Cool. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and store in tightly covered container to ripen. (2-3 weeks) When ripe, the top will have a very moist layer. Slice thinly and serve as coffee cake. May be buttered if desired. This makes 3-4 medium loaves.

This recipe was given to my parents by a Belgian couple (Truck gardeners who lived near Selfrigde Field) in the Mid 1930’s. We make at least one batch in time to be ready to eat at Christmas and often will make another later.

It is a good way to use up left-over coffee, but it can be made with strong instant coffee also. It is very important that you follow the instructions about the lining in the pan and the ripening of the bread after the baking. The pans are bread loaf size. We use the smaller size as this gives more top sides. Richard C. Bloom, Grand Blanc, Michigan

2 lbs. flour
4 tsp soda
2 eggs
1 tbsp salt
1 pint sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 pint coffee
few drops oil of anise
1 pint honey

Do you have a great honey recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.

December in the Vineyard

Not much happening in the vineyard in December. The leafs are completely off the vines and they are ready for winter. Due to a light crop load this year and everything getting picked well before we had a hard freeze, the vines should have matured properly and be ready for winter.

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MSU Course in Viticulture & Enology

Our interest in this program was started last year when one of the MSU students, Bernard Call, who is taking this program purchased some grapes at our farm and was measuring the brix of the grapes with a refractometer. The following year he returned to our farm after being in the program for one year and he was very enthusiastic, interesting and knowledgeable.

Sandy Paetz who graciously decided to help us sell grapes one day a week had also started the MSU course in Enology. There were some very interesting conversations between the three of us about what they are studying at MSU. These converstion convinced me that this is a very worthwhile program and these two gentleman have been very helpfull in giving us an insiders view of this course.

The studies will prepare the student to work in a commercial vineyard or winery dealing with grapes grown in cooler climates such as in Michigan.

Our farm has a slightly different focus than a typical commercial vineyard that grows grapes for a winery. My interest has always been in home winemaking, selling grapes to home winemakers and not being a commercial winery. Our 20 plus varieties of grapes gives our winemaking customers lots of room for experimentation - and thats what makes winemaking a craft.

We hope to have some inside stories of what Bernard and Sandy are doing at MSU in the next few issues of the newsletter. More details about the MSU program .....

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The following is an interesting site and the book may make a nice Christmas present.

Announcing "The Grape Grower".

Written from a combination of nearly 40 years of personal experience, university training, and information from growers worldwide, this is a long-overdue book on grape growing that is thorough, hands-on, with an organic approach, and covering more practical information than any other on the market today. It also covers more on table grapes than any book in many decades, though good wine grapes are included, too. It has the answers to how to grow grapes in conditions from the equator to the arctic and is ideal for home growers as well as commercial growers. There is even information on how to breed grapes. This is a book of use to beginners, Extension agents, commercial growers, nurseries, Master Gardeners, and more.

More details are on his website.

The Grape Grower is available in paperback or hardcover.
Cost is $35.00 for paperback, $49.00 for cloth cover.
Shipping is an additional $5.00

December Grape Recipe - Apricot Sorbet - Eva Braganini - Serving size 4
(Recipe is re-printed with permission from St. Julian's Website)

As dessert or an Italian "intermezzo" between a fish course and the second entree.

1 lb apricots, very ripe

Peel, pit and puree the apricots and place in a bowl. Add lemon juice, wine, sugar and whip with wire whisk.

Pour into plastic container and cover. Freeze until firm, beating at least 3 times, every 45 minutes. Before serving place in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Do you have a great grape recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.

Melting beeswax, Beekeeping supplies, Is the farm open to browse the items or is it just orders from the Internet, Any stores in the West Palm Beach? Yellow jackets, different qualities of 100% beeswax, Wine via internet?

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Honeyflow Farm
www.honeyflowfarm.com
4939 Mill Rd. PO Box 275
Dryden, Michigan 48428
(810) 796-2344 (Phone & Fax)

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	Our Baby Bear candle is an ideal stocking stuffer.
	The Holiday Votive Variety Pack contains 2 cinnamon scented candles, 2 bayberry, & 2 Christmas spruce.

	Our Embossed Forest Scene Pillar is also a new and popular item.

	The Cut Glass Pillar is on of my personal favorites.

Wasps, Hornets & Yellowjackets