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The Tattler "Tales from the Farm"
January, 2003 Vol.3, No.1
Happy New Year
| Our family, Bill, Pat, Mary & Elizabeth, along with Andrea, Jeff, Maggie & Hannah (In St. Louis) sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas and the very best in this new year 2003. |
Our monthly newsletter will keep you up to date on all farm activities.
Although the U-Pick part of our farm is only open September to Mid October -- our website is open all year! At our Candle Shop you can purchase candles and honey products any time you wish.
To view past issues of our newsletter, please visit our Newsletter Archive.
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In the spirit of an exciting new year please take a few minutes and fill out our survey about what you think of our newsletter and what changes you would like to see. Thank you in advance.
For
the past 20 years we have been making hand dipped beeswax candles.
We have made them in many different sizes and have put them in most of the gift
boxes that we have sold. We have made the 9 1/2 inch size many years before
the economical 6 inch or the 12 inch deluxe version were added.
Beeswax candles are started by stringing a frame with candle wicking. Each frame starts by holding 6 pairs of candles. The frames are dipped into 175 degrees beeswax, cooled, and then the procedure is repeated. After the candle is about 1/2 size, the frame is split apart into two frames. The dipping procedure is continued until the candle is finished. Click here for more pictures .....
We have had questions about the "burn" time of our candles. It is difficult to get a real accurate burn time and we do not like to give out misleading information. There are lots of variables that influence how long a candle will last such as: the size of the wick, drafts, the weight of the candle and if the candle is burned all at one time or not. If you want to compare our pillars to beeswax pillars at other sites you should look at the size or wax weight.
Many of our candles are even more decorative in nature and most people will not burn them at all (Nativity Figurines, etc.)
January at the honey farm, wrapping honeybee colonies, changes in honey prices, the wedding ritual, january honey recipe.
January at the Honey Farm
The final thing that we do to the honeybee hives in very late fall is to wrap them with some insulation to help them survive the winter. When we took the honey off last fall we left a 16 x 20 inch piece of 1/2 inch insulation on top of the bees, below the outer cover. Now I finally get around to finishing the job of applying a special black plastic insulating wrap around each colony in about 1/2 of our bee yards. This job really should have been done last month but we ran out of time. This gives the bees just a little more protection in case we have a really cold winter.
The picture in the center shows the beehive with the top and inner cover off. You can see the very top of the winter cluster. (The white stuff is a wintergreen/grease/sugar mixture used to reduce varroa mites) Picture the winter cluster as a round ball with just the top of it showing. The picture at the right is a close up of the same bees.
Many people ask me if the honeybees "hibernate" in the winter. THEY DO NOT! The bees will create a "cluster" inside the hive and keep warm with their body hear by consuming honey. The air on the outside of the cluster may be very cold but in the center it may be 80 degrees.
Wrapping our colonies is usually the last thing that I do to the bees this season. At this point the honeybees are healthy and warm, our crop is harvested, stored in barrels in the barn, and our family is busy with the Christmas Season and preparing for an exciting new year!
"Year in the Bee Yards" page.
Very Volatile Prices in 2003
There has been some very dramatic changes in honey pricing during the last year. A large part of the honey consumed in the USA is imported from other countries (China, Mexico, Canada etc.)
Last year the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they have discovered bulk imports of Chinese honey that were contaminated with low levels of chloramphenicol (CAP), a potentially harmful antibiotic and unapproved food additive. The contaminated honey was detected during an investigation into a widespread scheme to evade payment of U.S. anti-dumping duties on bulk imports of Chinese honey.
This tainted imported honey has been refused by most honey packing companies and along with some drought conditions in the western part of the country which has caused some very poor crops, the cost of honey has sky rocketed. The price paid for truckloads (barrels or tankers) of honey has gone from about .60 to .70 per pound a few years ago to as much as $1.50 to $1.75 per pound over the summer. Although these prices will fluctuate greatly next year the retail price of honey will go up a lot.
It is now more important than ever to purchase honey locally. A small producer (like us) can even tell you which counties our honey came from.
Further reading: Dirty Chinese Honey doesn't get past U.S. Customs
(A bit of wisdom)
The Wedding Ritual: The Honeymoon
In ancient times, couples would marry beneath a full moon, then drink honey wine for 3 days - hence came the name "Honeymoon".
January Honey Recipe - Oven-Baked Orange Chicken
Makes 6 servings.
6 chicken breast halves,(4 to 6 oz. each) skinned if desired
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 can (6 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. SaltBrush chicken breasts with butter. Combine undiluted orange juice and honey in shallow dish. Mix bread crumbs, flour, paprika, thyme and salt. Roll chicken in honey mixture, then in bread crumb mix. Place chicken in a large greased baking pan and drizzle with any remaining butter or honey mixture. Bake at 375° F for 45 to 50 minutes or until tender and no longer pink.From the National Honey Board
Do you have a great honey recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.
January in the vineyard, MSU course in viticulture, january grape recipe.January in the Vineyard
MSU Course in Viticulture & Enology
This program was brought to our attention last year when a MSU student, Bernard Call, who is taking this course, purchased some grapes at our farm and was carefully 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 about the course. Sandy Paetz, our Friday Sales Stand Associate, had also enrolled in the MSU program. When the two of them found out that they both were taking the courses, the conversations became very stimulating and they agreed to forward some of their program notes to us for our newsletter. We hope to have some inside stories of what Bernard and Sandy are doing at MSU in the next few issues of the newsletter.
Here is one of Sandy's first papers and his last paper which I though would make a good introduction. (editor) Wine Judging Part I - "Introduction" MSU HRT333 Wine Judging / November 18, 2002 / W.C. Paetz Introduction: Do you really think this class is about wine judging? Anyone who might believe this has a very myopic and narrow perspective of the inherent underlying philosophy being unwittingly prosethelytised each week in HRT333. There is a much more profound and valuable body of knowledge being disseminated. This class is not about hedonistic gratification or becoming a bon vivant, although if that is your goal this class is de rigeur. If you desire to possess savoir faire, or sophistication, HRT333 can fill in some of the gaps. These are all valid expectations yet fail to capture the essence of what can be gained by exposure to the real elements of HRT333. This life-changing event is so much more. In this paper I will share my experiences regarding Wine Judging HRT 333 and its life implications. To continue this story ........ More details about the MSU program .....
January Grape Recipe - Chicken Salad
Cook chicken untill done, skin and bone, cut into small pieces. Let cool. Cook rice till done. Mix everything together, then use enough mayonnaise for mixing.
Helen Schneider, Oakland, Michigan
Do you have a great grape recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.
This is a 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? Please send me your comments..
This months comments: Free votives, 2003 beekeeper calendars, growing grape vines, fast service, burn times of candles, Thank you for making this experience possible, My dad will love his Michigan honey.
Congratulations! January candle w*nner is, selzer@kermantel.net
Please send us your address so that I can ship your candles.Click here for a silly thing to end this newsletter with.
See You Next Month!
