* U.S. retail sales of candles are estimated at approximately $2 billion annually, excluding sales of candle accessories.

* There are more than 350 commercial, religious and institutional manufacturers of candles in the United States, as well as scores of small craft producers for local, non-commercial use.

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This is a good time to order our Medium Size (2.5 inch diameter) pillars.

On Sale 20% Off!   

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Spring Pruning 2008

The vines look pretty good this year. We had lots of snow cover and no really cold temperatures. The buds are starting to grow and we hope for a great crop. What we are now concerned with are late spring frosts in May that can severely damage the vines.

Our vines are pruned every year when the local high school is off for their spring break. This is usually the week before Easter or occasionally the week after. More on spring pruning .......

Marquis Seedless White Grape Planted

2 rows of a newer seedless variety were planted in the front of the vineyard where the Seneca used to be. The Seneca was removed since in most years they were not picked and the birds got most of them.

The Marquis grapes are fairly hardy and productive and should be very popular with our seedless grape customers.

We are always in the process of adding some new varieties and removing others.

This year we are also filling a lot of missing vines in our red wine rows with frontenac vines.

The "Magic" of Grape Growing and Wine Making.

I have a lot of friends that grow apples, grains, vegetable and other crops. I know they enjoy what they are doing, but there is NOTHING better to grow than grapes.

I walk down a row of recently pruned frontenac (image at left) and I can picture the sweet blue-black grapes and the delicious red wine that it will make. Try doing that with a bushel of corn.

I look at a row of Niagara and I can picture the golden yellow fruit, the aromatic smell of the Niagara rows when they are ripe and the delicious fruity white wine that it makes. At this point, after a lot of fresh air and work in the vineyard I really enjoy going inside for a cold glass of Niagara. Try doing that with a bushel of potatoes.

More ......

White Winemaking - The story continues!

More white winemaking notes - The St. Peppin has been bottled and partially consumed as we write this. When nice and cold it reminds us of a Pies Porter German style wine.

The rest of the story.....

Red Wine Compound May Fight Pancreatic Cancer

A compound found in the skin of red grapes and red wine may help induce pancreatic cancer cells to malfunction and die, a lab study has found.

The compound, called resveratrol, is produced by certain plants as part of their defense arsenal against pathogens. A handful of foods, including raspberries, blueberries and peanuts, contain resveratrol, but it is most abundant in the skin of red grapes and, therefore, red wine.
Continued on the Newsmax.com website ......

How is Rose' wine different from white or red wine?

The color in wine comes from contact with the grape skins. The longer the contact, the more body and color will develop in the wine. More ......

Spring 2008 at the Honey Farm

Beekeepers in our area are still losing lots of honeybee colonies over the winter. We lost about 50%, many other people have reported even heavier winter loss. I believe the large losses are varroa mite related. The varroa mites weakens the bees and encourages other virus and bacteria problems.

This year we are again making "splits", taking one strong colony and splitting it into two.
Click here for early season beekeeping pictures....

We also have "package bees" on order, which are shoe box size screened boxes with 2-3 lbs of honeybees and a queen.
Click here for a pictorial showing how we install package bees in the spring.

This year the bees are delayed but still coming. A Michigan beekeeper arranged for 1500 packages to be picked up from California, delivered by truck to Michigan and then distributed to other beekeepers (I only had 30 of them).

When the truck arrived, it did not have refrigeration like it was supposed to have and the bees were not loaded. The honeybees give off a tremendous amount of heat and without cooling, none would make it alive to Michigan. A week later different arrangements were made and the bees should be on their way soon.

Bandages with Honey for Wound Healing

More than 4,000 years after the ancient Egyptians applied honey to the wounds, Derma Sciences, Inc., a pharmaceutical company that manufactures products for the healing of wounds, began to sell the first dressing with honey after it's approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   More .......

How do you substitute honey for sugar?

To use honey in any of your favorite baked goods, follow these tips.

• Honey is one and a half times sweeter than sugar, so start by replacing up to half the sugar called for with honey. 
• For every cup of honey, reduce the total liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup.
• Because honey is acidic, add 1 tsp of baking soda for each cup of honey used.

Visit the Readers Comments page to view all the content of these messages. Here are samples of this month's e-mails:  

Purchasing honey at the farm  ••   Colony Colapse Dissorder questions  ••   Purchasing bulk honey  ••   Purchasing bee pollen  ••   Bad chemicals that can be released from parrafin wax  ••   Whitefly problems  ••   Growing grapevine questions  ••   Pasteurized honey  ••   Picking up bulk beeswax  ••   Grape vine questions from Texas  ••   Pillar weight questions  ••   Wants to become a 4-H leader in beekeeping  ••   Honeybee wax and mineral oil.

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Our list of previous candle w*nners.

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