New Apothecary Jar Candles!

Along with our other container type candles we now have 3 new apothecary style candles available. More info....

We have been very busy the last few months in the Candle Shop. We usually quickly run out of beeswax from our bees and have to purchase more from other Michigan beekeepers. We prefer the nice yellow golden beeswax as shown in the picture of one of our recent deliveries.

Candle Shipping Notes

We have had a few questions regarding our shipping methods. We either ship UPS Ground or USPS Priority mail.

Priority mail has worked very good for most orders under $8 to $10. They will also ship to a Post Office box.

UPS Ground is more economical for larger orders. All of our Free Shipping orders (orders over $150) are shipped UPS.

Both UPS & USPS will pick up packages directly from our farm, which is really nice during the busy season.

Regarding FedEx - FedEx has not been very cooperative with us. They refuse to pick up packages from our farm and their service is very poor. We have had at least 3 or 4 packages that were sent to us thrown in the ditch (we are off the road a bit), as they refused to deliver to the house. One time they just threw a package at some home in town a few miles away, luckily the homeowner called us and we picked it up.

I would not subject this kind of poor service on our candle customers.

Candle Wicks

Most consumers usually think of a candle's shape, color or fragrance as its most important element. Most candle manufacturers, though, would probably say it's the wick that makes the candle. Read article.....

New Invention

An inventor in Northern California (Fortuna) sent me an email about a device which captures the heat from a candle and radiates it into a room. He calls this the Kandle Heeter(tm) Candle Holder.

I have not tried one. If anyone does, please let me know, and I'll post the info in our newsletter.

More details are available at www.heatstick.com.

What causes a candle to smoke, and what can I do to correct it?
Is candle soot harmful?

A well-made candle will create virtually no smoke when burning properly. However, if the wick becomes too long, or an air current disturbs the flame's teardrop shape, small amounts of unburned carbon particles (soot) will escape from the flame as a visible wisp of smoke. Any candle will soot if the flame is disturbed. More...

Mild Winter in the Vineyard

We have had a relatively mild winter so far and I am not expecting any major winter damage.

We will start pruning the vines on March 27 and will work all week and into the weekend. We usually have a crew of local high school youths that are off of school on their spring break.

Pictures of last years pruning activites......

More vine pruning info from our "Year in the Vineyard" pictorial.....

Racking and Sweetening Wine

I just racked and sweetened 2 - 10 gallon batches of wines that I made last fall. A Buffalo/Steuben and a Country Concord. I sweetened with sugar and added cambden tablets and potassium sorbate to help prevent fermentation. Since I also used Cote's de blanc yeast last fall, which does not like to ferment to higher alcohols, I think the wines will be very stable and not start to ferment again. The Buffalo/Stueben is more of a Rose' wine and the Concord is a dark red. They are both very pleasant to drink.

We recently read an article on a local paper on the Grapevine School of Wine. They are a school that provides education for all levels of enthusiast, from those just starting to explore wine right through to the aspiring wine professional.
Visit their website for more details.......

How do you propagate grape vines?

Grape vines are propogated by taking dormant shoots pruned off during the spring. These 3 to 4 bud long cuttings are planted in garden soil and grown one year.  Finish the story .....

Winter Loss is Normal

I have just finished checking all of my honeybee colonies and have found normal winter loss (20%) compared to last season (about 60+%). The relatively mild winter, along with the fact that most varroa mite infected bee colonies died last year, and also using some new natural controls with essential oils, have reduced our losses. More....

The Hibernation Diet

We received this information recently about a new book.
Click here for info.....

Honey Crusted Salmon

This salmon recipe results in a very sweet crusted salmon fillet that our family has become addicted to.

Will bacteria survive in honey?

Honey has bacteria fighting properties! Honey soaks up water like a powerful sponge. Therefore, living organisms in honey tend to lose much of their life supporting moisture to the honey and their growth is effectively stopped. More ...

This is a section for comments/questions/recipes from our readers.

Please read the comments & feel free to put your 2 cents worth in.

Congratulations!

Early Spring candle winner:lynn@legacyofhope

Will this months w*nner,
plotsligt@comcast please contact us and so that I can ship your candles.

Our list of previous candle w*nners.

Click below for something silly to end this newsletter with.

See You Next Issue!