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The Tattler "Tales from the Farm"

July, 2002                           Vol. 2,  No. 7

Greetings Honey, Candles & Grape Enthusiasts!

That is the theme at Honeyflow Farm. In September, if you visit our farm roadside market, you can pick from more than 20 varieties of grapes! You can fill your containers with honey from a 55 gallon barrel! You can purchase candles made from pure beeswax! If you come to our farm & happen to see some guy standing around with a camera talking about bees, grapes, winemaking & candles - this would be me. If you purchase candles or honey from our website you will know that this is not like doing business with an impersonal major retailer.

This is not Walmart - This is a family farm!

This is the July 2002 issue of our monthly newsletter.
Through our web site you can purchase candles and honey products throughout the year.

To view past issues of our newsletter, please visit our Newsletter Archive.

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Honey Supers added, Comb Honey, July Honey Recipe!

We have just completed our first round of putting honey supers on all of the hives. The second round will be done in early July. This month we checked each hive to see if our new "splits" were sucessfull by checking for the presence of a queen (looking for eggs). More .....

We also pick one bee yard to use for comb honey. To produce comb honey you need very strong colonies. I first remove any extra honey supers from the colony, put on a queen excluder (a special frame that the worker bees can pass through but the queen cannot) and then 1 -2 comb honey supers. Comb honey supers are slightly different as the foundation (sheet of was that is used to start the frame) is much thinner since it is used only one time and then it is cut out for us to eat. Click here for more comb honey pictures.

July Honey Recipe - Hard Honey Cookies    click here for the recipe......

Bloom in the Vineyard, Weed Control, Soap Bars for Deer Control, July Grape Recipe!!

Bloom time in the vineyard. Grapes bloom differently than other flowers. Grape petals are greenish white, and instead of blooming they detach at the bottom, coming off the flower as a cap. To continue .......

Weed control is very important this time of the year. Each row below the vines is treated with roundup. Roundup is a very safe and effective herbicide, you probably have used it yourself.   The rest of the story ........

We have also been busy tying new shoots of young vines up to the wire with soap bars and twist ties. The soap helps to keep deer away from the new shoots.   The story ........

July Grape Recipe - Seedless Grape Coffee Cake click here for recipe ......

Another good website to look at is from the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council! (michiganwines.com) Lots of great information about Michigan Wines!!

New research clarifies red wine benefits.   Polyphenols protect against heart disease.   The story .....

Comments/Questions/Recipes From Our Readers

This is a new section for Comments/Questions/Recipes from our readers. Please read the comments & feel free to put your 2 cents worth in. We had some questions on wine & honey vinegar - are there any vinegar makers reading this? Click here to send me a message.

Field of Flowers Nunnery -Beeswax Soap, Creamed Honey Crystals, Dried Honey, 6 bushels of concord grapes, Beeswax Votive Scents  Click here to visit our "From our Readers" Page

Congratulations! July candle winner is  = kwest@tir.com