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Actress Jessica Alba was recently spotted strolling on a sun-drenched summer day in New York City with her daughters Honor and Haven. We'd say it's a great pulled-together look for the city (or wherever this season's plans take you). Click through to nab the look!
1. Steal Her Style: Jessica Alba: Button Up
This classic sleeveless white button down will take you through the summer, whether dressed up or down.
Theory sleeveless white blouse, $190, cusp.com
2. Steal Her Style: Jessica Alba: Skirt
A skirt like this one is a cinch to throw on and will make you feel put together even on the steamiest of summer days.
The Limited tiered crinkle skirt, $48, thelimited.com
3. Steal Her Style: Jessica Alba: Sandals
Talk about a no-brainer summertime staple – these sandals are perfect for easy days and trips to the farmer's market.
These Dereon flat sandals, $49.95, endless.com
4. Steal Her Style: Jessica Alba: Sunglasses
With a twist on the classic, these super cool sunnies will keep those peepers protected.
Juicy Couture resin sunglasses, $98, endless.com
5. Steal Her Style: Jessica Alba: Purse
Keep your hands free for those trips to the farmer's market or for your precious little ones, with this bag.
Mango round messenger bag, $20, mango.com
6. Steal Her Style: Jessica Alba: Bra
An unexpected pop of color under a white shirt doesn't hurt if you are brave enough to go there. This bra will definitely add a pop.
Forever 21 bra, $7.80, forever21.com


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Attention to Jim Schwartz and Martin Mayhew, it's time to part ways with Titus Young.
The Detroit Lions wide receiver had a horrible 2012 season that ended with him being benched after trying to sabotage the team. Today, Young took to Twitter to air his concerns about not getting the ball enough.
Like I said I never been selfish but if I'm not going to get the football i don't want to play anymore
— Titus D Young Sr (@TitusDYoungSr) January 22, 2013
In 2012, Titus had 33 catches for 383 yards and four touchdowns. Young even found himself in the perfect situation, after an injury to number-two receiver Nate Burleson left an opportunity for the second-year player. Young did well for a while, and even had his first 100-yard game against the Seattle Seahawks. Eventually, Young went back to his old ways and got tired of Calvin Johnson getting the ball more than him.
In a NFC North rivalry game with the Green Bay Packers, Titus caught one of only six passes thrown his way. Titus dropped two key third down passes and appeared to laugh after one of them. Young would later be benched in the game, after it was learned he lined up incorrectly on purpose, drawing a penalty and confusion on the Lions offense.
After this game, Young was listed as inactive and was eventually put on season-ending injured reserve. Many Lions fans called for Young to be released and not return in 2013. Schwartz addressed Young to the media, saying he would not rule out Young returning in 2013.
The Lions took a gamble with drafting Young at 44th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, after he dropped in the draft due to character issues. Let's not forget that Young missed his sophomore season at Boise State due to a fight with a teammate. Lions defensive player Louis Delmas was also the victim of a sucker punch by Young in the preseason. If Young gets more catches next year, I hope it's not with the Lions.
Follow Chris Katje on Twitter and Google Plus

subset: commoncrawl


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BP issued a quick and emphatic denial Thursday after reports began circulating on the Internet about new leaks in its Macondo well, source of a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year. "None of this is true," the British oil giant said in a statement in response to reports it had deployed boats and containment boom to the well site. It noted the well was capped in July of last year, permanently sealed in September, and continues to be monitored.
BP also downplayed speculation that an oily sheen spotted elsewhere in the Gulf late last week was fed by leaks in two of its exploration wells, plugged years ago, in Green Canyon block 504 off the coast of central Louisiana.


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(Masterpieces of World Literature, Critical Edition)
Heine's relatively brief life span encompassed such crucial and formative events as the rise and fall of Napoleon I, the Congress of Vienna, and the failed revolutions of 1830 and 1848. In German literature, the currents during Heine's lifetime were Romanticism, the Junges Deutschland (Young Germany) movement (a journalistic, political, and polemical movement), and poetic realism. Heine described himself as the last of the Romantics and sat in judgment on German Romanticism in Die romantische Schule (1836; The Romantic School, 1876), published in 1836 mainly for the benefit of French readers. By virtue of his activism, Heine is widely considered as the leading and possibly only poetic (rather than merely journalistic and ephemeral) member of the group of young revolutionary firebrands, polemicists, and reformers of the Young Germany movement.
Heine grew up when German Jewry was taking its first, faltering steps "from the ghetto into Europe," to use Arthur Eloesser's phrase, a step that these Jews had been enabled to take by the work of two great men—Mendelssohn in the cultural sphere and Napoleon in the political and legal arena. German Jewry's struggle for emancipation is most strikingly symbolized in Heine, and his creative tension derives from the turbulence of his time. In him the Weltschmerz, the Romantic pessimism and sadness over the evils of the world and the precariousness of the human condition, mingled with his convoluted Jewishness. When Heine made his famous statement, "Der Riss der Zeit geht durch mein Herz," he meant that the maelstrom of conflicting religious, political, social, and cultural currents near the beginning of the German-Jewish symbiosis and the Industrial Age was producing a rift in his heart.
A remarkable blend of the Jewish and the German past may be found in Der Rabbi von Bacherach (1887; The Rabbi of Bacherach, 1891), a fragmentary prose work that Heine wrote in an effort to celebrate medieval Jewish life in the manner of Sir Walter Scott's depiction of medieval Scottish life. In the years following his conversion, Heine produced the great works that were to bring him worldwide fame and stature, variously, as the German Aristophanes, the German François Rabelais, the German Lord Byron, the German Voltaire, and the German Jonathan Swift. In 1826 and 1827, he published a volume of Reisebilder (1826-1831; Pictures of Travel, 1855), and 1827 saw the publication of Buch der Lieder (Book of Songs, 1856), the most popular poetry collection of the nineteenth century. Like its earlier and later companion volumes, this book contains poems that combine simplicity with sophistication and subtlety, poignance with eloquence, and epigrammatic concision with an expansive folk-song quality, in addition to presenting intentional dissonances and vulgarity in the manner of what has been termed romantic irony. In form, Heine's poems range from memorable epigrams of a few lines to brilliant ballads and extensive verse epics. Book of Songs contains such major cycles as "Junge Leiden" ("Youthful Sorrows"), "Lyrisches Intermezzo" ("Lyrical Intermezzo"), "Die Heimkehr" ("The Homecoming")—which includes "Lorelei" ("Loreley"), Heine's best-known poem and, in Friedrich Silcher's setting, widely regarded as a folk song—and "Die Nordsee" ("The North Sea"). Heine's poetry inspired musical settings by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, and other composers. In general, Heine's works are as much "fragments of a great confession" as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's are. "Out of my great pains I make little songs," Heine once wrote.
One of Heine's two tragedies is Almansor (1823; English translation, 1905), which explores the conflicts between Moors and Christians in medieval Spain and may be regarded as a parable of the situation of German Jewry in Heine's day. In it, the Moor Hassan's reply to Almansor's horrified remark about the burning of the Koran in the marketplace of Granada contains these words of chilling prescience: "That was only a prelude; where one burns books, one is going to wind up burning people, too."
Louis Untermeyer, an outstanding biographer and translator of Heine, has pointed out that the poet's ethnic inheritance is expressed in the flavor of his writings, which is not bittersweet, as it has often been characterized, but sweet and sour, the result of generations of cultural, as well as culinary, pungency. Heine's wry wit and comic stance have led another noted critic, S. S. Prawer, to discern a "reasonably straight" line from Heine to Philip Roth, Woody Allen, or Mel Brooks.
Germany: A Winter's Tale
First published: Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen, 1844 (English translation, 1892)
Type of work: Poetry
Based on his furtive trip to his native Germany from his Parisian exile, this work takes an irreverent look at many aspects of Germany's history, culture, and present conditions.
The title of Germany: A Winter's Tale is reminiscent of William Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale (pr. c. 1610-1611, pb. 1623), and the work shows Heine at the poetic peak of his radical phase. This frequently lighthearted but rarely lightweight verse epic is an impishly witty chronicle of the exiled writer's first visit to Germany in October, 1843. Heine's work was published as a supplement to his...
(The entire section is 2293 words.)


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Coventry Tickets Like Hot Cakes!
Wednesday are set to be backed by a large following as they travel to the Ricoh Arena to take on Micky Adams' Coventry City this Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
Wednesday fans have already snapped up the Sky Blues' initial allocation of 2,700 with a further 500 being allocated to the club on Monday afternoon - and the second batch were selling like hot cakes.
The away end at the Ricoh Arena is one of the largest in the Championship - so should the Owls sell out the next batch more are sure to be on their way, or be available on the gate.
Wednesday have pu together an impressive run of form following the departure of Paul Sturrock almost a month ago - with four wins and a draw prompting Wednesdayites to snap up away tickets for this Saturday's clash in the Midlands.
Fans can book their tickets for this Saturday's clash with the Sky Blues, along with other future matches by phoning the Owls ticket line on 0870 999 1867 or by clicking here to book online.


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by Ronnie Nathanielsz
"Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao's former strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune believes that if the stunning 6th round knockout suffered by Pacquiao at the hands of Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8 hasn't affected him, his fight against former world champion Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios should be easy.
Fortune told the BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard "If the knockout didn't affect Manny, he will destroy Rios." However, Fortune who runs his own gym in Los Angeles after a split with Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said "I really don't know" whether the knockout affected Pacquiao or not.
He said Rios "will come right on top of Manny and if Manny doesn't have room to punch he'll have a problem."
Fortune also claimed that Rios "is a dirty fighter who uses his elbows" and other unfair tactics in a fight and Pacquiao will have to watch out for this.
The trainer of Rios, Robert Garcia told us before our conversation with Fortune that Rios was "in the middle of training" in the Oxnard Gym when we contacted him.
Garcia said even though there are some three months to go before the November 24 showdown in Macau, Rios "is training very hard."


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transfer files between remote server and your Windows OS using putty's pscp
1. Download the pscp.exe from putty.org
2. Click the Start menu on Windows, type cmd in the search bar and enter
3. Assume the pscp.exe file is downloaded to C:\pscp.exe
4. Type the following inthe cmd window
cd C:\
5. As an example, to transfer a file text.txt from C:\text.txt to the the directory /tmp on remote server 127.0.0.123, and your user id on the remote server is tester. Type the following in the cmd window
pscp text.txt firstname.lastname@example.com:/tmp/
6. To transfer the file /tmp/text.txt on the remote server 127.0.0.123 to your current directory on windows C:\ , type the following in the cmd window.
pscp firstname.lastname@example.com:/tmp/text.txt ./
From step 5 and 6, after you typed the command to transfer the file, when you are asked for password, enter the password for the user id you are using on the remote server.
Search within Codexpedia
Search the entire web


text:
Hockey: Irish sweep to clinch 2nd
Sam Gans | Monday, March 4, 2013
No. 12 Notre Dame took care of business in its attempt to win the CCHA regular-season championship by sweeping visiting Bowling Green on Friday and Saturday in the final regular-season conference games of the season.
However, Miami's victory over Ohio State on Saturday clinched the regular-season title for the RedHawks, and the Irish finished in second place.
The Irish (21-12-3, 17-8-3-2 CCHA) entered the weekend in third place in the conference. Thanks to a 4-3 victory Friday and a 4-1 win Saturday over the Falcons (13-18-5, 10-15-3-1) and Western Michigan's loss Saturday to Michigan State, Notre Dame jumped the Broncos in the standings but could not catch Miami. The pair of wins stretched Notre Dame's unbeaten streak to five games, and the Irish have lost just once in their last nine contests.
"Obviously, first [place] would have been preferable, but for what happened to us in January, for us to rebound the way we have here in the last month is really good, because at least we go into the playoffs going in the right direction," Irish coach Jeff Jackson said.
Notre Dame scored 5:31 into the game Saturday when freshman forward Mario Lucia put away a shot near the top of the crease off a pass from sophomore defenseman Robbie Russo, who was behind the goal. Falcon junior forward Andrew Wallace responded later in the first to tie the score at one.
The Irish dominated play in the second period – outshooting the Falcons 13-4 – and scored the only goal of the period when junior center David Gerths intercepted an errant pass from Falcon senior goaltender Andrew Hammond and shot the puck past a scrambling Hammond.
"[Gerths has] been playing extremely well here for the last few months," Jackson said. "I think he's really elevated his game, which has made us a better team obviously. It gives us a little bit more scoring depth on our lines."
Junior center and captain Anders Lee added his team-leading 18th goal of the season early in the third period, and senior forward Nick Larson sealed the game for the Irish with 2:23 remaining.
All four seniors – Larson, forward Kevin Nugent, defenseman Sam Calabrese and goaltender Mike Johnson – started Saturday for the Irish. Johnson finished with 26 saves in just his seventh appearance of the season.
"The team played awesome in front of me all game, so it made my job a lot easier," Johnson said. "They're a tough team to play against. They get to the net and get pucks to the net, so our guys were able to clear the rebounds and keep their chances to a minimum, which really helped me out, and it was really nice to get the win tonight."
Like Saturday, the Irish had a 4-1 lead Friday, but the Falcons cut the deficit to 4-3 with two goals 1:01 apart late in the second period. Junior goaltender Steven Summerhays was able to shut the door in the third period, and Notre Dame held on for the win.
Junior center T.J. Tynan and Lucia each scored power play goals in the second period, ending a 0-for-17 skid that spanned more than four games.
"Our power play struggled a little bit, so especially getting my goal and then Lucia's goal is always a good thing," Tynan said after Friday's game. "We got some good bounces tonight."
With a top-four finish in the conference, Notre Dame clinched a first-round bye in the CCHA tournament and home ice advantage in the second round. The Irish will host a best-of-three series against the second-lowest seed that advances past the first round – either Michigan, Lake Superior State, Bowling Green or Northern Michigan – which Jackson said will be a difficult test.
"Our second round opponent is going to be an extremely good team regardless of who it is and it'll be challenging," Jackson said. "I think our whole conference is that way, but we'll have a tough second round and our goal is to get to Joe Louis [Arena for the CCHA semifinals and championship]. We reached our first objective, which was to finish in the top four of the league, and now our next objective is to get to Detroit."
Notre Dame is next in action when it hosts the first game of the second round of the CCHA tournament on March 15.
Contact Sam Gans at [email protected]


text: On Wed, Oct 17, 2001 at 05:23:35PM -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: > Just take a kernel from a snapshot and start with that. > You can unpack snapshots by hand pretty easily, btw. They're just tar > files. ok, but is there any way to compile and install current version successfully, without installing snapshot, having just a 1.5 release installed and current sources fetched? btw - is there any reason why this mailinglist's manager doesn't set the "reply-to" header? -- open your eyes...1984 is now.


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Shameless plugs
My most recent book, The 500 People You Meet In Hell, is on the National Bookstore bestseller list. Thanks to everyone who bought the book; do buy more copies. The 500 was designed and illustrated by Ige Ramos, whose culinary/consumerist column Bandehado will appear in Bandera Sundays starting March 4. On Sunday the aspiring Nigella answers the question: "Bakit hindi lumulobo ang fishball na nabibili sa supermarket di tulad ng fishball na nabibili sa kalye?"
Twisted volumes 1 to 7, Twisted Flicks, and Pinoy Elections are all available in softcover at National Bookstores and Powerbooks. My book publisher tells me that we have to keep the prices down, hence the newsprint. Something about my readers being predominantly students, etc. So kids, sorry about eating into your allowance; we'll keep the books under P200.
My columns appear Fridays in the Star and monthly in Metro. Manila Envelope 3 will launch in May. Also, I have a few dozen tapes of my old radio talk show Twisted on Sunday waiting to be converted into mp3s, but who has the time to do that? If you have the time (and the equipment), email me; we're talking a couple of years' worth of podcasts.


text:
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text: Now that 3.x has been released. Is r7 the last of the 2.2 tree or do you still upgrade 2.x even though 3.x is the latest stable? Thanks ===== ---------------------------------------- Steven Tardonia < http://www.stevet.org > "Like any adjective, secure is meaningless out of context." --Bruce Schneier ---------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com


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Last Christmas I purchased a medium Lady Dior in Jean Blue color <3 So this tag will be a quick review about this gorgeous bag.
This bag is made out of delicate lamb skin, meaning that you WILL need to take good care of it. Wearing jeans or dark clothing will transfer the color to the bag, so I tried my best to avoid this.
The bag is not patent so it is not easily scratched. Having said that, sharp long nails will potentially put a toll on the beauty if you are not careful!
The bag has a square shape. Normal iPad will not fit in, but mini iPad will (although you will struggle to take it out because the entry is very narrow. I can fit my long wallet in together with phone, keys, makeup pouch, and sunglasses so it is quite spacy. The leather at the entry will stretch out through usage, makes it easier to access
You can carry the bag in many ways, using the strap for a shoulder bag, or handles as a tote. It is beautiful and versatile <3 Below are some ideas:
For this outfit: top from Zeitgeist, shorts from Isla by Tallulah and shoes are Princess – Christian Louboutin
For this outfit: top and bottom both from Asos, shoes are Alexander Wang, sunnies from Miu Miu


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1-800-663-6022 • 250-804-4769 •
Sila Grow is a progressive service driven supplier of superior quality agricultural products specializing in Forage Storage. We are committed to complete integrity in our products and people. Based in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, our network of qualified sales people, dealers and office support staff make us the Silage Experts.


text:
Our All Things Blogging course is the only thing you need to get off the starting blocks with Blogging - or re-inspired if you've lost your way.
It will take you from What is Blogging all the way through to Posting and Sharing your Blogs.
You will leave the course with:
- A variety of blogging ideas and where to find content
- A Blogging Calendar
- A Blogging Template
- Knowing how an image can enhance your blog and where to get them
- Knowing where to share your blog and how often
- A comprehensive list of Types of Blogs
- Your very first blog (or maybe two)
- Knowing how to repurpose your blog to get maximum exposure
- A list of Tweets to promote your blog


text:
Create your own hockey jersey. Kidz sports ice hockey wii. Continental hockey league website.
Create Your Own Hockey Jersey
Hockey Jersey
I wasn't thrilled with the uneven lines on these. I think next time I will definitely ice the details on top of the white instead of doing the wet-on-wet technique. Ya live ya learn..hockey jersey
me in my new-at-the-time hockey jersey. i was trying to explain to sam that i look fantastic in the thing, but she says i look like everyone in canada.
ice cats girls hockey
leg exercises for hockey
finnish ice hockey league
olympics hockey tickets
where to buy hockey gear
franklin hockey
world hockey championships stats
hockey tournament in ontario
western native hockey


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Archive - Dec 2006 - Story
December 2nd
Estate of Retired Librarian Includes Lost Fra Angelicos
Submitted by Milica on Sat, 2006-12-02 18:20
Several paintings of saints created by 15th century monk and artist Fra Angelico have been discovered in England and are scheduled to be auctioned. The sale is expected to bring nearly US$2 million.
Viking Longhouse to be Constructed in North Dorset
Submitted by Milica on Sat, 2006-12-02 14:42
Researchers in North Dorset, England have contracted to build a replica of a Viking longhouse. The building will be part of a living history museum.
Odescalchi Castle has Rich History
Submitted by Milica on Sat, 2006-12-02 10:27
Odescalchi Castle, the site of the November 18, 2006 nuptials of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, is a 15th century residence with a great deal of history including the family of Pope Innocent XI and a murderous noblewoman.
December 1st
Peers Created/Offered in Atenveldt
Submitted by Vallawulf on Fri, 2006-12-01 18:12
At Southern Crusades, in the Kingdom of Atenveldt, TRMs Phelan II & Elzbieta II elevated Carhoo of the Barony of Atenveldt to the position of Knight of the Society.
Royal University of the Midrealm (RUM) cancelled due to weather
Submitted by Justin on Fri, 2006-12-01 13:50
Due to severe winter weather, dangerous roads, and a power outage, the fall session of the Royal University of the Midrealm (RUM) has been cancelled.
Charlemagne Story Filming in Europe
Submitted by Milica on Fri, 2006-12-01 10:15
Love and Virtue, a film about Charlemagne based on The Song of Roland and Orlando Innamorato, will feature an all-star cast including John Malkovich, Peter O'Toole, Stephen Dillane and Darryl Hannah.
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text:
Dude, I don't know why somebody mashed up Full House and Evolution either, but here it is. Share it with everyone you've ever met.
Tonight on the With Leather WWE Raw Open Discussion Thread:
No doubt still feeling the effects of Kane's onslaught last week, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan has nevertheless affirmed he will be at this week's Raw, live in St. Louis. Will the "Yes!" Man suffer the wrath of his Extreme Rules opponent once again, or will Stephanie McMahon be able to rein in the demon she has unleashed?
Also on Raw, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" star Hugh Jackman drops in on the WWE Universe. What can Wolverine himself expect during his second visit to Monday night's hottest show? WWE.com offers five early thoughts on the final Raw before Extreme Rules. (via WWE.com)
Our five-point preview:
1. Somebody mash up the Family Matters theme and the Nation of Domination. Owen Hart can be Urkel!
2. I hope Hugh Jackman's second appearance on Raw is just him coming to the ring, being all "X-Men is in theaters soon" and Dolph Ziggler sneak-attack dropkicking him in the face for real. HERE'S YOUR RECEIPT, JEAN VALJEAN, NOW 'BRING HIM HOME' TO THE HOSPITAL.
Note: What're the chances Jackman is still a "Broski?" 0%, or <1%? You make the call.
3. Daniel Bryan should seriously just take the week off. I don't think any of us would complain. But man, if Kane tried something on him this week and Bryan just snapped and took out all his real-life rage it'd be the greatest, most emotional beatdown ever. Just kicking Kane in the chest until doctors pulled him away sobbing.
4. Barrett vs. Van Dam is your Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender Tournament finals, and WWE's preview advertises it as "Bad News meets rad dude." God is dead if there is one person in the world rooting for Rob Van Dam over Bad News Barrett. Get it together, humanity.
5. The Shield will be in action and will hopefully bring some of that awesome chaos from Smackdown over with them. Fun fact: Dean Ambrose's real name is "John Good." Second fun fact: Dean Ambrose's real name is a comment on a John Cena YouTube video.
Enjoy the show, everybody. Reply to your favorite comments with +1 and I'll include the 10 best in tomorrow's Best and Worst column. You know the drill.


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and really, there is no place like home, even when you are away, no matter how at home, you are made to feel......you always look forward to coming home.
"Home, where your love and affections are truly centered"
That was the base for my upcoming workshop at Memories on Main Street in Lambeth, we will be playing with Glubers, as well as playing with fluid acrylics, stamping with glimmer mist, stamping with acrylic paint, this is a 3.5 hr class and i know you will love all the details. be prepared to get your hands dirty :)
Workshop is scheduled:
Memories on Main Street,
Lambeth, Ontario
Thursday, June 9th
Please call Sue to book your seat :)
im giving three and a half hrs for this workshop.... just to be sure we cover all techniques.
You will need the following: old bath towel, water sprayer, distress inks in crushed olive, wild honey, stickles in yellow, foam adhesive, heat tool if you have one and again, be prepared to het your hands dirty, so please do not wear white :)


text:
A.S. Face 1527: Velvet Rominger
My name is Velvet Rominger, and I was just diagnosed with AS about 2 months ago.
I'm 43 years old, but I've had horrible back and hip issues since I was around 18 years old. I've spent my entire adult life undiagnosed, just being told by doctors to get some rest, take some pills, use ice/heat, and go to physical therapy. There were some days I would wake up unable to move without excruciating pain and had to be carried to a vehicle to get to the hospital. There were some days that I had to go to work completely hunched over because I just couldn't straighten my back, and I was in my early 20s! It amazes me that my doctors didn't think something was wrong.
Luckily, I've always been an active person, which I think has been my lifesaver. Even when it hurt, I would exercise almost every day – weight training, hiking, running, biking, something to keep my body moving, because I felt much worse if I didn't. I've even managed to run 2 marathons, although I suffered after finishing each one. But I think, for me, it was about proving I could still be "normal," even though I knew otherwise.
But then I turned 41 and my life really turned upside down. I started hurting other places. It first started with two of my fingers, which I assumed was a little arthritis, no big deal. After all, I was getting older! Then my wrists hurt horribly one day for no reason. Then my knees, my jaw, my shoulders, my Achilles tendons….then everything. I felt awful. I was so, so tired and all I wanted to do was stay in bed every morning. It was as if I had heavy dumbbells permanently attached to the ends of my arms and legs, like I had the flu all the time. Trying to exercise became a complete joke, which killed me.
Finally, I was seen my a rheumatologist, who listened to my story. Finally. I got a diagnosis. And what felt like a death sentence.
But I'm a fighter. I guess I've had to be to work through the pain I've always had. So, I have opted out of taking the Humira my doctor wants me to take and am instead trying a very different approach by simply changing my diet and continuing to exercise. Well, it hasn't exactly been simple. It's actually been quite hard! And I'm far from being 100% yet, but every week I'm getting better. I basically eat a very low starch, paleo diet. No cheating. Ever. At first I noticed an improvement in my energy level, but my joints and back still hurt very bad. Then around week 3 my joints started feeling a little better, and every week they improve a little more. My mood is lifting and I'm starting to have some hope again. I don't have to massage my jaw open in the morning to be able to eat and stairs are no longer my enemy! And I've quickly lost the weight I gained while I was unable to exercise.
I'm not sure if this is the answer for me, but I'm going to give this way of eating at least 6 months to see how I feel. I may, at some point, need to take biologics, but for now I'm hoping to put this beast in remission through a new approach that doesn't have scary side effects!
Thanks for listening to my story!
Montana, United States of America
3 Responses to "A.S. Face 1527: Velvet Rominger"
Check out the book by Amy Myers, MD. "The Autoimmune Solution" . Great information about how your diet affects autoimmune disease.


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#1 Ranked Children's Hospital by U.S. News & World Report
MyPatients provides referring primary care providers with secure access to their patients' information.
Boston Children's has launched the world's 1st program dedicated to offering hand transplants to children who qualify.
Innovation insider is a semi-monthly e-newsletter analyzes innovations at Boston Children's, other academic medical centers and from industry.
Read the latest blog by a Boston Children's doctor, clinician or staff member.
There are many ways you can help children and their families get the care they need.
Play Video
Watch more videos from Boston Children's
Learn more about our ranking as the top pediatric hospital here.
Treatment for a cleft lip/cleft palate usually involves reconstructive surgery and several key support services.
Here at Boston Children's Hospital, our Cleft Lip and Palate Program uses a multidisciplinary team approach—not only to repair the child's specific defect, but also to address any and all related complications.
While your child's treatment plan will depend on his individual circumstances—as well as your family's preferences—here are the basics of treating cleft lip/cleft palate:
What is a "lip-nasal adhesion" procedure? Does my child need one before his cleft lip repair?
For some children with a unilateral cleft lip, the first operation they need is a lip-nasal adhesion. This operation is performed at about 3 months of age, and involves:
How and when is an incomplete cleft lip typically repaired?
An incomplete cleft lip, either unilateral or bilateral, is usually repaired with one operation when the child is between 3 and 5 months of age. During this operation, the baby's nasal asymmetry (unevenness in the shape of the nose) is also corrected.
During the repair procedure, a plastic surgeon uses the existing muscle and tissues of the child's lip and nose to close the cleft. Repair of a unilateral cleft lip is typically performed in the operating room under general anesthesia. The child will stay in the hospital for one to two nights after the operation.
How and when is a complete cleft lip typically repaired?
A child with a complete cleft lip typically needs two operations. The second operation is a more comprehensive repair of the cleft lip and correction of the nose. This procedure usually takes place at 5 to 6 months of age.
How will my child look after his cleft lip is repaired?
After the operation, your child's lip, nose and face will be swollen for a few days. His scar may be red for several weeks. It will take 6 to 12 months for the scar to soften and fade.
Although it will never completely disappear, in time, the scar will become difficult to see. Your child's lip and nose will be nearly normal in appearance after the swelling and scar have subsided.
As my child gets older, will he need another operation on his lip or nose?
Although some children need to have another procedure on their lips and/or nose before they begin school, or as they enter adolescence, other children never need further surgeries.
Children whose cleft lips involve the alveolus, or gum line, typically need another operation to help their permanent teeth come in and to make it easier for orthodontic treatments to improve their bite and jaw function. This operation is called an alveolar bone graft, and is usually performed when the child is 8 to 10 years old. You can read more about this surgery in the "Managing dental and orthodontic issues" section of this page.
How is a cleft palate usually repaired?
A plastic surgeon brings together the separated muscles and tissue from the two halves of the palate to close the opening. This procedure is performed in the operating room under general anesthesia. Your child will be in the hospital anywhere from one to three nights after the operation.
When will my child's cleft palate be repaired?
A cleft palate is typically closed between the ages of 8 and 11 months, before a baby makes his first attempt to speak. Your child's plastic surgeon will discuss the best repair plan for his needs and circumstances.
What precautions do I need to take after my child's cleft palate repair?
You should give your child soft foods, using the side of a soft-tipped baby spoon. After each feeding, be sure to rinse your child's mouth with water. Rinsing is very important, especially for the first 10 to 14 days after surgery. Ask your nurse about using a special syringe for rinsing.
Will my child experience any side effects after the surgical repair?
Your child may regurgitate some food and liquid through her nose for up to three months after the operation. This is normal. It takes time for the swelling to diminish and for the muscles in the palate to begin working properly. You'll be given further post-operative instructions when your child is discharged.
As my child gets older, will he need another operation on his palate?
Approximately 5 to 15 percent of all children who have undergone a cleft palate repair will need a second operation to correct "nasal"-sounding speech. The most common procedure used to fix this problem is called a pharyngeal flap, which is performed when the child is about 5 years old. You can read more about this surgery in the "Managing speech and language issues" section of this page.
How do I feed my newborn with a cleft lip/cleft palate?
Your baby's ability to feed, whether by breast or bottle, is determined by the extent or severity of her cleft lip/cleft palate. Right after birth, your cleft team nurse will determine the type of feeding method that's best for you and your baby.
How much milk does my baby need?
Your cleft team nurse will help you determine the total volume of milk your infant needs to consume over a 24-hour period.
How do I keep my baby sucking sufficiently?
Is there a positioning technique for bottle feeding?
Yes: Wrap your infant, enclosing the hands, in a blanket. This is called "swaddling."
What should my baby and I do right after feeding?
How can I adjust the feeding process if my baby is not gaining sufficient weight?
If your baby is gaining less than one ounce per day, calories in the formula or breast milk need to be increased. This can be accomplished by concentrating the formula or adding powdered milk to your breast milk. Your pediatrician and cleft team nurse will help you with these steps.
If a particular feeding device is not working for you or for your infant, your cleft team nurse will give you alternative feeders to try. If your baby's weight gain is insufficient even after increasing the calories per volume, you may need to consult with a pediatric gastrointestinal/nutrition specialist.
Are there ways to supplement or replace oral feeding?
When oral feedings are not sufficient for your baby, there are other methods that can be used to deliver the needed calories:
How do I feed my child in preparation for her cleft palate repair?
Some—but not all—babies are introduced to cup feeding before surgical repair of their cleft palate. It will take several months for your baby to get used to cup feeding, so it's good to start early (around 6 months of age).
How do I feed my child after her cleft palate repair?
Your cleft team nurse will review feeding instructions at the time of your baby's cleft palate repair.
Ten days after surgery, you can begin to give your child soft foods with the side of a soft-tipped baby spoon. After each feeding, be sure to rinse your child's mouth with a small amount of water from a cup or special syringe.
How do I ensure that my baby is nurtured as well as nourished?
It's important to remember that your infant is a normal baby who just happens to have an anatomic defect that can be surgically corrected. Once you feel comfortable with the feeding method your cleft team nurse teaches you, you will be more at ease with nurturing. You will see your baby thriving, smiling and responding to your touch.
It is very important that at least three people you trust with supporting and assisting you in feeding your baby learn and feel comfortable with the chosen feeding method, too. Your infant can sense when someone is confident with feedings, and will be more relaxed as a result.
Will my child have difficulty hearing?
Many—but not all—children born with a cleft palate experience temporary hearing loss because of fluid in the middle ear and recurring ear infections. This hearing loss may last for a short time, or it can go on for a number of months.
e speech and language development are influenced by a child's ability to hear well, any hearing problems he has can also cause speech difficulties. Learn more about treating these complications in the "Managing speech and language issues" section of this page.
How and when will my child's hearing be tested?
Your child will have his first hearing test early in life, and again prior to surgery to repair his cleft palate. His age and developmental level will determine which hearing test method will be used:
Your child's audiologist (hearing specialist) will assess his hearing every 6 to 12 months, and will work closely with an otorhinolaryngologist (ORL)—an ear/nose/throat specialist. Before his cleft palate repair, your child will be seen by the ORL specialist to discuss his ear function and any special care he may need.
How is persistent middle ear fluid and associated hearing loss treated?
Because the tube that connects the middle ear to the throat (called the Eustachian tube) does not drain normally in an infant with a cleft palate, fluid collects in the baby's middle ear space. This fluid—also known as effusion—is present in virtually every baby with an unrepaired cleft palate who is younger than 1 year of age. The accompanying hearing loss can cause difficulties with speech, language and cognitive development as the child grows.
Persistent fluid in the middle ear is also associated with a recurring infection called otitis media. Infants with a cleft palate, middle ear effusion and hearing loss will require an operation to remove the fluid and to insert a ventilation tube. This operation is performed under general anesthesia, usually at the same time as the cleft palate repair.
The ventilation tubes will stay in place for 9 to 12 months, and your child's ORL specialist will check them every 6 months. The tubes usually fall out on their own, and do not require another surgery for removal.
As many as half of all infants who undergo cleft palate repair will need a repeat insertion of ventilation tubes. Although they unfortunately carry a risk of eardrum scarring and perforation, the tubes are necessary to ensure normal long-term hearing, and are crucial to healthy speech and language development.
How does the palate affect speech?
The hard and soft palate separate the mouth from the nose. When we breathe, the air flows in and out of our lungs through the nose and throat. When we talk, the muscles in the soft palate move the palate to the back of the throat to seal off the nose (this is called the velopharyngeal valve). This sealing allows air to flow through the mouth alone when we speak; there are only three speech sounds in the English language ("m," "n" and "ng") that are made through the nose instead.
Will my child experience difficulty speaking?
A cleft lip alone does not cause speech problems. A child born with a cleft palate, however, is unable to make normal speech sounds—other than those three nasal sounds rendered through the nose—until the defect is repaired. Some children with a cleft palate experience both speech and language delays. These may be related to the temporary hearing loss associated with the cleft palate and middle ear fluid (see the "Managing hearing difficulties" section of this page for more information). Children may also exhibit difficulty with speech if their palate is not effectively closing off the nose from the mouth while they are speaking.
The good news is that most children will acquire speech and language skills at a normal pace after their cleft palates are repaired, and once middle ear tubes are placed for drainage.
How will my child's speech change after repair of his cleft palate?
Right after his cleft palate repair, your child's sounds may decrease in frequency and variety. It can take up to 6 weeks for him to resume his normal vocalization.
A speech pathologist will work with you to design home activities that can help your child build and maintain normal speech and language capabilities. For example, you should encourage him to make "lip" sounds ("p" and "b") and "front of the tongue" sounds ("t", "r" and "d.") You can do this with playful "lip-popping" games—like mimicking a fish—and tongue-clicking games—like mimicking a horse's trot. One of our former patients even reports practicing with peanut butter in his mouth!
Sounds made in the throat, such as "uh oh," and animal roaring sounds should be discouraged, as they can lead to poor speech habits in a child recovering from cleft palate repair.
Will my child need speech therapy?
Speech therapy teaches children to make and express sounds in a normal manner. The speech pathologist on your child's cleft treatment team will determine whether she needs this type of therapy. If so, the pathologist will usually recommend treatment in either an early speech intervention program or a community school program.
Can my child have her adenoids or tonsils removed if she needs to?
The adenoids—clumps of tissue located at the rear of the nasal cavity—naturally assist a child in sealing off her nose during speech. While many children have their adenoids removed at some point, a child with a cleft palate should only undergo adenoid removal after consultation with her cleft treatment team.
By contrast, the tonsils do not play a role in sealing off the nose from the mouth, and can be removed without issue if there is a medical need to do so.
What is a pharyngeal flap, and how can it address speech problems related to a cleft palate?
Between 5 and 15 percent of children who undergo cleft palate repair remain unable to sufficiently seal off the nose during speech. As a result, their speech sounds overly nasal—this is also known as velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI).
A child with this condition can benefit from another operation, called a pharyngeal flap, which repositions some tissue from the soft palate at the back of the throat in order to stop some of the escaping air. This surgery is performed when the child is about 5 years old, after a thorough evaluation by a speech pathologist, otolaryngologist and plastic surgeon.
How often should my child's speech capabilities be evaluated?
Your child's speech should be evaluated every 6 months until the age of 3, and on a yearly basis thereafter. You are encouraged to contact your team's speech pathologist at any time if you have questions or concerns.
Will my child's cleft lip/cleft palate affect his teeth?
Your child's first tooth (usually the lower incisor) may appear between 4 and 14 months of age. By age 3, all children usually have their primary (baby) teeth.
A child with cleft lip and/or cleft palate may have poorly formed enamel (outer tooth layer) on some of his teeth, especially those near the cleft. Teeth in this region may also be out of alignment, partially erupted and, therefore, difficult to clean. All of these factors make children with a cleft lip/cleft palate more susceptible to developing cavities.
How should I take care of my child's teeth?
When should my child see the dentist for the first time?
If your child has a complete cleft lip/cleft palate and has needed a dental appliance, you probably have already met our dental team! Your child should visit a pediatric dentist between the ages of 12 and 18 months, or earlier if you have any questions or concerns.
What dental issues should I expect as my child gets older?
As your child grows and his teeth and bite develop, your pediatric dentist and orthodontist will periodically evaluate the need for treatment.
Will my child need orthodontic therapy?
Since a cleft palate almost always affects a child's bite, most children with the condition will need at least one phase of orthodontic treatment. The decision to receive orthodontic care should be made by your child's pediatric dentist, or by an orthodontist who has specialized expertise in treating children with cleft lip/cleft palate.
Phase I orthodontics
Phase I orthodontics are used when the child still has some of his "baby teeth" (typically between the ages of 7 and 10). During Phase I for a child with a cleft lip/cleft palate, an orthodontist uses an appliance to widen the palate in preparation for the alveolar bone graft procedure.
Alveolar bone graft procedure
The alveolar bone graft procedure is usually performed between the ages of 8 and 10.
During the procedure, the bone is harvested from the child's hip region; it is then used to connect the soft tissue and bony gap in the upper jaw. The bone graft heals and solidifies to provide support for the surrounding teeth and/or a dental implant. Most children can resume full physical activity, including sports, within two to three months.
Minor revisions of the lip and nose also can be done during the bone graft operation.
Phase II orthodontics
A second phase of orthodontics uses braces to properly align the permanent teeth. Braces are usually worn during the early teen years, and help to:
Some children may also be fitted with a reverse-pull headgearat this time. This device corrects an underbite(abnormal protrusion of the lower jaw, crossing over some of the top teeth), which is a fairly common complication in children with a cleft palate.
Phase III orthodontics
Some patients may need to continue wearing braces and/or a headgear throughout late adolescence and into early adulthood.
Long-term monitoring and follow-up
The follow-up care your child will need depends on the extent of his cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Here in our Cleft Lip and Palate Program, we see patients as frequently as every six months to once a year, from infancy all the way through adolescence.
Your treatment team will develop a follow-up schedule that works best for you, your child and your family.
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text:
INDIAN HEAD PARK, Ill. — Hours after coming home to find her 14-year-old daughter on the kitchen floor near the knife that had been used to stab the girl to death, a suburban Chicago woman started receiving taunting text messages from the teen's cellphone.
Prosecutors say they were sent by the convicted felon charged Friday in the slaying.
Officials who announced first-degree murder and burglary charges against John Wilson Jr., 38, refused to detail the text messages sent to the mother of Kelli O'Laughlin, who authorities say was killed after coming home from school and interrupting a burglary. But they talked about being parents themselves and struggled to explain the cruelty.
"Even the most experienced investigators and prosecutors have been brought to tears by the very facts of this case and the chilling nature of this case," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said moments after a judge ordered Wilson held without bond.
"A horrific crime was committed (and) then to have the mother of the victim being subjected to taunts from the person who did this, words cannot describe that," Sheriff Tom Dart said.
Nearby, in the small, wooded town about 15 miles southwest of Chicago where the girl lived, hundreds of trees were adorned with white ribbons in her memory.
Authorities say Wilson sneaked up to the back of the family's house Oct. 27, put a rock inside a knit cap and used the rock to break a dining room window. When the teen came home from school while he was still inside, Alvarez said, Wilson grabbed a carving knife and stabbed her repeatedly.


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Archives: May - June 2009
June 30th, 2009
12:30 PM - Surprise, surprise it's raining again! This is really getting depressing...but I'm sure all the mold and algae out there is happy with all the rain.
I was able to get quite a bit of wood cut over the weekend, but if the ground doesn't dry up there is no way I can get up into the woods to haul the wood out. For now I just have a bunch a big piles that need to be brought down to be split and stacked. I can get up to where I'm cutting with the 4-wheeler but I sure couldn't get out with a heavy load of wood.
The bees are just as unhappy about the weather as the rest of us. I went up this morning to get a couple of queens to ship out and I'm glad that I put on my bee suit as the bees did not offer me a very warm welcome. As soon as I opened the hive there were coming out to let me know that they weren't happy. I did get stung 3 times but if I hadn't taken the smoker with me I would have gotten a lot more.
2:30 PM - The sun is trying to come out...I hope it stays for awhile! We have been very busy with shipped orders. I need to cut 360 pieces of cut comb honey for an order but I just haven't had time to get it done. The cut comb honey that we have in stock comes from Florida right in the super. Using a cookie cutter like device, I cut the comb right out of the frame into 4 equally sized pieces and place them into a plastic box. It is a very sticky job! When I get around to doing it I will take some pictures.
We just had a local beekeeper bring in some round comb honey that was produced last year, so we now have them for sale again. Here is a little secret that you may not be aware of: If you store honey in the freezer it will never crystallize. The comb honey we received today was stored that way and has not crystallized at all.
4:20 PM - Well the sun didn't hang around very long and it's raining again...ohhh joy!
June 27th, 2009
I got the driveways repaired yesterday and what a mess it was. On the township road there was a foot deep hole by our mailbox, I did my best to fill it in but they sure need to get up here with the grader.
I continue to hear from beekeepers with queen bee problems. The main problem seems to be that the queen that was installed with the package bees started out great, with a full brood pattern, but then just stopped laying eggs. We have had this same problem ourselves in some of the package bees that we installed. I would guess that it is caused by the fact that the queen was not properly bred because of the poor weather conditions all spring. We have had to requeen quite a few hives ourselves and Bill will be going out again this next week to check the hives and make sure they all have good queens. This year has been very challenging to say the least. With all that said we are still trying to be optimistic and are hoping for a good honey flow late in the summer and into the fall. That is when we make the majority of our honey mostly Goldenrod blended with Knapweed, Aster, Clover, Bamboo...etc. It would be nice to get some Basswood honey this year, it typically blooms in July so it won't be long.
I just got a call from one of our previous landowners. Years ago we had bee hives on his property but when we reduced our hive numbers we arranged for a former employee to put some of his hives on that location. He called to inform us that some of the hives got blown over by the high winds that came in with the thunderstorm. I called and left a message with the the guy that owns the hives. I sure hope he can get over there and stand the hives back up. Being exposed to the weather for too long can kill the bees.
After work today I plan on cutting wood, it's just to wet to work in the garden or yard after that storm yesterday. I like being out in the woods cutting, it's a lot of work but it's good exercise and good for the woods to keep the dead wood cut back.
I'll "bee" back next Tuesday to continue blogging! Have a Great Weekend!
June 26th, 2009
2:00 PM - We are having a major thunderstorm with hail and heavy rain right now. Looks like I will be fixing the washed out driveways again. I'm hoping that the hail isn't totally destroying my garden. It has been a bad year so far for the bees and gardeners.
Good news...I saw the queen in the observation hive laying eggs this morning. I hope to open the hive up and mark her sometime next week, that is if we get any nice weather.
June 25th, 2009
Wow! It's hot out there today! 11:55 AM - I just came in from trimming back the multi-flower rose bushes along the driveway with a power hedge trimmer and I think I will have to jump in the pool during my lunch break. I hope this heat helps to dry up all the water that is still in my yard.
We have been working on shipped orders this morning but the phones have been somewhat quite. Which has been nice because we are getting a new printer tomorrow and I am trying to use up all the toner in our old one before it comes in; by printing instruction sheets, coloring books, labels, etc. The ink for the new printer only costs $ 16.00 per color where the toner for our old printer costs $ 130.00 per color. I'm hoping the new printer works as good as they claim.
3:00 PM - Well I didn't get to go swimming...instead I had to clean the pool filter...yeah...not!
I just finished up giving a tour and dang the bees are grouchy! I took the group out behind the building to see one of the bee trees. I stayed away from the one grouchy bee tree but got stung in the arm by a bee out of the other bee tree. I'm glad that the people I was showing around didn't get stung! Below are pictures of the 2 bee tree hives that we have out behind the building.
I was watching the new queen in the one observation hive today. She was just walking around the hive and occasionally looking in a cell, but I never saw her lay an egg. If she doesn't start soon I will have to eliminate her and put in a new queen.
June 24th, 2009
Another nice day out there and it is warm enough that the kids are in the swimming pool right now - 2:50 PM.
The bees are out working the clover but are somewhat "grouchy" today. Bill and I have both been stung, for no apparent reason, by the same hive that stung my daughter last week. The hive of bees in question is in an old log that we have on display. If they were in a normal bee hive we would probably requeen them but since they are in a log there isn't much we can do. If they don't calm down we may have to split the log open and remove the bees.
We have finished our mite treatment for the year and upon checking our bee hives, that we have here at the business, it looks like it was successful. Bill couldn't find a single mite in the hives. We put on some herbal mite treatment that can be used all season without affecting the honey yet it still eliminates the mites.
We have sold 3 observation hives this week. 2 of them have been shipped by U.P.S. and the 3rd our driver is delivering to the customer this week. The observation hives seem to always sell in groups, we may go for 2 or 3 months without selling one but then - BANG - 3 go out all within 4 days.
I will be mowing the grass tonight. Mowing is one of those chores that you can never finish and this year we have had to mow at least twice a week. I replaced the spark plug in my push mower at lunch today. It was running rough and changing the plug made a big difference.
June 23rd, 2009
I have finally found enough time to post on the blog...although I do not have much time as it is already after 5:00 PM and I have things to do at home.
We have got some decent weather here in Northern Pennsylvania and it's about time - Happy Summer!
I have found the new queens in both observation hives today. I hope to be able to do some work on the observation hives later this week. At that time I will mark the queens, clean the beeswax off the glass and maybe put in some new frames.
While getting queens out of the "queen bank" today I decided to check the hive and for some strange reason the hive itself is queenless. I didn't have time to do anything about it at the time. Bill is up there right now moving some frames of brood over from another hive to get them going again. This has not been a good year for new queens, we and many other beekeepers have lost a lot of queens this spring.
Well I need to get going. I should have time to post more tomorrow...see you then!
June 19th, 2009
First thing...my daughter is fine and has been prescribed an Epipen by her doctor. Hopefully she will never have to use it...but better safe then sorry.
The sun is peeking out a little right now...I hope it I can get the yard mowed tonight.
Today has been a label printing day. I have had lots of orders for custom printed labels come in yesterday and today. So far I have been able to get them all printed and shipped. I have only had 2 walk in customers today so it has been easier to keep up with things.
The economy sure isn't looking any better...we got a letter today informing us that Senco Co. is filling for bankruptcy. Another one bites the dust. We have sold and used products for years. I figured something was up because I have had some repair parts on order for over 2 weeks now and they still haven't shown up...now I know why.
Al finished up mowing around all of our bee hives and delivering honey to the landowners where we have are bee hives today. It's a big job but we like to keep the beesites looking nice.
June 18th, 2009
I thought today would be a calmer day as Thursdays usually are, but it seems things just happen when everyone is on vacation. Things were moving along at a good pace until just after 12:00 when I started getting orders in from people that all wanted their orders shipped today, so I was busy trying to get orders done when we had a walk in customer come in that wanted to look around. My daughter was showing them around and for some reason she got stung on the neck, which is a bad spot to get stung, and she had a anaphylactic reaction over her whole body but fortunately it didn't effect her breathing, but her ears and face got really red and her eyes were watering. I sent her home to get some liquid Benadryl and by the time she got up there she was getting hives all over her body. My wife gave her the Benadryl and she got into a cool tub of water to help the itching associated with the hives. She is doing better now but man it's not a good thing to have someone in the family that is sensitive to bee stings! She has been stung many times before but never had a reaction like this. We are going to get her a Epipen just in case.
I still haven't been able to find either of the new queens in the observation hives...little stinkers are hiding in there somewhere...I'll find them one of these days and then they will get their bright marking and won't be able to hide anymore.
June 17th, 2009
Well it's raining again...how depressing!
We have been very buzy again today with a lot of walk in customers. The phones haven't been ringing as much today, but the calls I have gotten have taken up lot of my time. I received a lot of calls with questions but not so many orders, however that's what we try to do here, provide a place where people can get their beekeeping and bee product questions answered.
The queens have finally hatched out in both observation hives, however we have not been able to find them yet. The new virgin queen is small and can be hard to find. I know they hatched because I can see one queen cell that is open at the bottom and the worker bees are now destroying the other queen cells. The new queens will be going out for their mating flight soon and when they return to the hive they should be easier to find. Once they start laying eggs the queens get larger and don't run around as much as they did after they first hatched out, making it easier to find them. I will let you know when I spot one.
Here's a bee joke for you:
What does a bee say before she stings you - "This is going to hurt me way more then it hurts you!"
June 16th, 2009
8:30 AM - I'm sorry that I didn't get time to post yesterday...we had one heck of a day. With everyone on vacation I was so busy that I ended up working 11 hours straight and I started this morning at 5:45 AM. Yesterday we had a surprising amount of walk in customers and one of them even purchased a brand new observation hive. My daughter did come down to help me and I'm glad she did or I would have never gotten all of the queen bees shipped out. She answered phones while I went up and got the queens and then I had her tape the queens into their shipping boxes and apply the shipping labels. We had a good system going and were able to get all the queens that were ordered finished in time to be shipped out.
The weather was great yesterday and it looks like today will be the same, unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy it at all yesterday and I doubt I will today either, but the bees are certainly liking this nicer weather, they were all over the clover yesterday.
No queens have hatched in either observation hive yet...at least I don't think so, sometimes they have a queen cell hidden away that you just can't see. I will keep my eye on them and let you know when I see something.
I had to mark some queens today and took a picture of a Carniolan queen just after I marked her. It is a delicate operation, I have to be very gentle but yet I can't let her fly away. I always end up painting my fingers as I mark the queen. Once she is marked I put her back into the cage by herself for a few minutes while the paint dries. I will then add 7 worker bees to the cage to take care of the queen during shipping.
It's been a good day. Everything was spaced out nicely so that we didn't get overloaded with tons of customers or orders that had to be shipped all at once. We certainly didn't have any down time and have been very busy but everything went very smoothly today.
One thing that really did bother me today is my allergy to the multi-flower rose bushes that are in full bloom. I started out this morning with a runny nose, itchy eyes and lots of sneezing, in fact, I got into a sneezing fit and pulled a muscle in my neck. I finally had to break down and take a Benadryl, that helped my runny nose but my neck was still hurting so I went out a got a honeybee and stung the back of my neck...it already feels better...thank you honeybee!
June 13th, 2009
We are seeing some Sun today and the bees are happy to be out working.
I have had customers in here non stop all day long, which makes the day go by fast but I sure didn't get anything else done and with everyone on vacation next week I can see myself working on Sunday to try to get some things done before the official work week starts up on Monday. My daughter is coming down on Monday to help me out so I should be able to get some orders done if she can answer the phones.
No queens in the observation hives yet. A new queen should be hatching out any day now. I counted the total queen cells in both hives and there are a total of 16 sealed queen cells. The bees are going a little overboard on the queen production, but they should be guaranteed a new queen with that many cells in there.
It's 12:55 PM right now so I need to finish up so I can head home and do chores...yeah!
June 11th, 2009
It's another gloomy day out there, it seems that we are getting more then our fair share of bad weather this year.
I've spent most of my time today divided between printing custom labels for our beekeeping customers and talking on the phone. I've printed 2750 custom labels today and shipped them to Iowa, Maryland and as far as Washington State. Most of the phone calls today have been from beekeepers that have had questions or from our wholesale customers in and around the Philadelphia area that need honey. We will be making deliveries down that way next week.
I won't be working tomorrow because Bill & Bonnie are going on vacation next week. I will be working a 6 day week with no lunch breaks and lots of stress and I need to get a few things done before next week, so I am hoping to get those things done tomorrow. I'll be back on Saturday to continue bloging.
June 10th, 2009
It's been another busy day. I just finished up giving a tour to a couple from Philadelphia, PA. Queen bees as well as honey and bee supplies continue to ship out and those orders are keeping us very busy.
Bill had a little problem on Monday that I just found out about, he had a queen escape her little cage while he was attempting to mark her and she just disappeared. Bonnie found her this morning dead by the observation hive...the poor thing. Sometimes trying to catch them can be a challenge. I haven't lost any this year yet but I did lose one last year. I was marking her with a paint pen when a worker bee stung my hand, I just opened my hand in reaction to the sting and away went the queen. That's the money I could have saved by switching to Geico...no wait that's wrong...that's the money I should have in my pocket if I had just held on to her. Those Geico commercials are odd but they work because here I am thinking about it.
We had a visitor today, an Eastern Milk Snake stopped in to say hi!
I spotted the snake right by one of our bee hives, I don't think it was after the bees but a frog that was a couple of feet away. I'd have to say that it was about 2 1/2 feet long at least. Some may find them scary but they eat rodents so as long as they aren't in the house they won't have a problem with me chasing them around with a shovel.
June 9th, 2009
Hope everyone had a good weekend! It is warm and humid out there today and we are expecting thunderstorms this afternoon.
Yesterday, while I wasn't here, the other observation hive decided to swarm. They guys were able to catch the swarm and hive it. Now both of our observation hives have swarmed within the last week and both are without queens at this time. I just checked the queen cells in both hives and none have hatched out yet, it shouldn't be too much longer before we have a queen hatch. Once the new queens go out and get mated I will have to open up the observation hives and catch the queens and mark them, well at least the one in the observation hive that I take with me to schools and the lectures that I go to regularly. It is easier to find the queen when she is marked.
The overall size of the blog page was getting rather large so I decided to archive some of the blog and will do so every 2 months or so. There is a link to the archived files at the bottom of the page.
I had a busy weekend working in the garden. I unfortunately had to replant nearly half of our corn. Right after I got it planted last time we had a dozy of a rain that wash up a lot of the corn seeds. I'm hoping it doesn't happen again because I don't have enough seeds left to reseed. Our potatoes are doing great, the weather has been just right for them. Now we just have to come up with a good way to store them over the winter as we don't have a root cellar. I think we will can some of them and make French fries out of some and freeze them, maybe we will be able to store the rest under the stairs in the basement.
My wife and I finally opened the swimming pool today during my lunch break. It just hasn't been warm enough to swim, but the sun is now pretty warm during the day so the solar heater should get the water warmed up quickly.
June 5th, 2009
A little cloudy out there today and we are expecting some showers.
The swarm I collected yesterday stayed in the nuc box that I put them in. Sometimes we have swarms that just aren't read to settle down and take flight again. I took some time and got a closer look at the observation hive that they left from and there are 2 sealed queen cells, we expect a new queen to hatch any time now. I hope to be fortunate enough to see at least one of them hatch out. The observation hive that swarmed is the one that I have the Bee Cam on. There are a lot less bees in that hive now, I would have to say that at least 2/3rds of the bees left with the swarm. There is a large amount of brood ready to hatch so the number of bees in the hive will increase rapidly, they may even swarm again by next month.
Today was the last day of school for our local kids and we wish them all a safe and fun summer break!
June 4th, 2009
It's been an exciting day! We have been very busy with walk in customers. We had one beekeeper bring in a super of honey to be extracted. I think this is the earliest that we have ever extracted honey for someone. Also one of the observation hives swarmed this afternoon. Below are some pictures. Click on the image for a large view.
The bees landed right on the trunk of a partially dead bush. This kind of makes it hard to get them. I like it better when they are just hanging on a branch... but they had to be difficult. What I decided to do was cut that section of the bush right out.
A close up of the swarm before I disturbed them.
Ahhh... there's a bee on my face! I love getting swarms they are so gentle.
This is the 5 frame nuc box that I shook them into. This sized box is perfect for catching and transporting most swarms.
A close up of the bees on the top of the nuc box. I must have gotten the queen because if you look close you can see the workers have there bee-hinds up in the air and are fanning. What they are doing is fanning the queen's scent up into the air to tell the workers that are flying around "Hey the queen is down here!".
Now we have to watch the observation hive that the swarm came from, to make sure that a new queen hatches out, gets mated and starts laying eggs.
It is a beautiful out there today, it's about time! The bees are happy and so am I!
June 3rd, 2009
I got my lecture done today at the senior center in Mansfield, PA and now hope to get some things done around here, although I have received orders for over 2500 custom printed labels which will keep me busy tomorrow. Bill is out checking the hives that he had requeened last week to make sure the queens got out ok. He is also checking to see if any of the hives need honey supers. The bees are bringing in the Autumn Olive honey like crazy right now. It was raining earlier today but the sun is out right now... hope it warms up!
June 2nd, 2009
We had another tour of kids in today, we took some pictures and posted them in our picture section. We have been very busy this year with tours as well as I have to go and give another lecture tomorrow in Mansfield, PA. Tomorrows lecture is the last thing I have scheduled for the month of June, unless of course someone calls in and wants to schedule something, I may though have to turn them down for awhile anyway. There are a lot of things that we need to get done around here. We will once again be busy in July as we have a lot scheduled for that month plus I will be taking a weeks vacation. I was able to get caught up on my label orders this afternoon and I even had time to replace a broken electrical outlet that has needed to be done for the last month.
The bees are looking good but things could be better if the weather would improve. We had to cover the garden because of a possible frost on June 1st, it seems to be an unusual year as far as the weather is concerned. We haven't even opened the pool yet.
My son and I spent yesterday building a tree house. He has always wanted one, but I wanted to wait until he was old enough to help build it. It's much nicer then anything I built as a kid. It is 8 x 9 and is perfectly level! We always had to tie ourselves down on the ones we built as kids so we won't fall off... lol!
May 29th, 2009
We had a large tour of kids in today, we took some pictures and posted them in our picture section. The tour went great and the kids were well behaved. They were lucky and got to see some package bees that came in today via the post office. We don't do tours when we have package bees in here, so unless you are a beekeeper, most people don't get to see the bees all packed up, but since we had them I saved a package out to show the kids. There were impressed that there was nearly 10,000 bees in the little package.
We had a lot of rain last night and this morning, not sure how many inches we got but our driveway was washed out in many places. I will be out after work fixing it, if it doesn't rain that is.
The bees are in a major honey flow right now mainly from the Autumn Olive Bush.
May 28th, 2009
I came in at 7:00 AM this morning to try to get some things done before the phones started ringing, unfortunately I wasn't able to get things caught up, particularly the custom printed label orders and to those customers that are waiting for their labels I apologize, we have just been overwhelmed with... well everything. I had to spend most of my afternoon getting ready for the big tour of kids coming in here tomorrow. We are expecting 150 kids at least + the teachers and any parents that tag along. So that means that I won't be doing anything tomorrow, except the tour, so if you want to talk with me you will have to wait until next week... sorry!
I have to leave here today at 5:00 PM because my daughter is getting some awards at her high school tonight and I don't want to miss out and look it is 5:00 now - I'll let you know how the tour went tomorrow!
May 27th, 2009
Just got back from doing a show at the local elementary school. I did take a few pictures, you can see them in our picture section. My daughter went with me and was a huge help! I let her read the bee stories to the kids and talk about the observation hive... she did a great job! I hope that she will be able to take over all the school shows for me soon, not that I don't enjoy doing them, it's just that I have so much to do that it is getting hard to be away from the office for very long, things seem to pile up fast. The queen cooperated most of the time so most of the kids were able to see her. Some of the kids have been to our place in the past and remembered at lot of the information, which is great because it means that they were listening!
May 26th, 2009
I hope everyone had a fun Memorial Day weekend! It was a perfect day for it here in PA. It is raining here now and it looks like we are going to have a few days of it.
It has been crazy around here today again. Over the long weekend we got in orders for over 40 queens to be shipped. This morning I rushed out, trying to beat the incoming rain, to get queens ready. I have to mark 16 of them and put attendant bees in with each queen. It took a while to get all that done and I did get stung 4 times, but we were able to get all the queens shipped out today. We hope to have some more queens in here tomorrow or Thursday.
I have to go and give an all day talk at the local elementary school tomorrow. I may take the camera and get some pictures. I plan on taking our glass observation hive with me so the kids can see the honeybees up close. Since it's an all day event I am going to need to take some bee pollen to give me some energy! The kids just seem to suck the energy right out of you.
My son and I did get our corn planted this weekend. We planted every seed by hand and it really wasn't too hard, we just planted 322 seeds... but if we can get 644 ears of corn that should last our family all through the winter. We are obviously hoping for good weather all summer, not only for the garden but for the bees as well.
May 22nd, 2009
Today I have been able to get some things done. Bill finished the spring management on our hives yesterday so he has been here all day. I was able to get the 2500 custom labels printed and shipped out today. I then did a label inventory and had to order a bunch of labels for stock. I updated some things on the website. I also serviced our "bee" truck and delivery van. We have had plenty of customers in today getting various items like honey, burn barrels, queen bees and beekeeping supplies.
The weather is great today, but the frost we got the other night really damaged a lot of the plants that the bees like including the black locust trees, sumac and bamboo. I was really excited about the black locust blossoms, the trees on my property were loaded with little buds and the frost just destroyed them. Because of the frost we may not have any of the Acacia honey (black locust) this year... bummer!
I plan on planting the corn in my garden tonight and, if I have time, mow the grass. I had put a black tarp over the soil where we are going to plant the corn 2 days ago to help heat up the soil to help with germination and today at lunch I checked it and it was nice and warm. I just hope we don't get another frost!
May 21st, 2009
It has been another one of those days... you know the ones that you would like NOT to have very often. Bill was out working bees and everyone else had some kind of appointment or something going on and I have been here by myself. To say today was stressful is an understatement! I never was able to get all the U.P.S. orders shipped out like I had hoped. I did get all the queen orders out. I was really surprised to get so many orders for queens this late in the week, we don't like to ship queens unless they can arrive before the weekend and all of today's orders are within the next day delivery range and the customers all wanted their queens before the weekend. I had to have my 14 year old son come down 3 times and just sit in the office to watch over things while I went up and got queens out of the "queen bank" hive. I also had to clip the wings on 4 of the queens. This is done to keep the queens from flying away. Clipping the wings doesn't hurt the queen but it does take some time to do correctly. It will not though stop a hive from swarming and is really just for the beekeeper that is afraid the queen will fly out during installation. The phones just never stopped ringing today, I had a few walk in customers and the emails were coming in one right after another. I have orders for over 2500 custom printed labels that I just haven't been able to get to. I need to order office supplies and complete an order we've started with a clothing manufacturer in India - they make some customized bee suits for us. There just isn't enough time in the day! When I get home today, I have to get ready to go to a concert that my daughter has a solo part in, that I don't want to miss, I just hope that I don't fall asleep in the auditorium!
May 20th, 2009
It is beautiful out today and I wish I was out working the bees or even mowing the yard! We have been getting swarm calls all day and I have had to pass on getting the swarms because we are so busy. I had back to back tours this morning of school kids and I was talking, loudly, for 4 hours straight and now I can barely talk. As soon as we were done with the tours I had to get queens ready for shipment and do some U.P.S. orders. We are so busy that I didn't even take a lunch break today. I'm definitely ready to go home and take a nap! There are no more tours this week, so we should be able to get some other things done tomorrow and Friday.
Our driver just got back with some Buckwheat honey from southeastern PA, that we badly needed, and some lids for our honey jars. It's nice that we are able to have our driver pick up items on his way home from making deliveries, by doing this we save a lot of money on shipping costs.
May 19th, 2009
What a crazy weekend! We had tornados locally and then record low temperatures in the span of 3 days. We continue to be busy shipping queens and regular honey orders. Our driver is delivering honey in and around Philadelphia, PA this week. We also have been checking our hives and adding honey supers were needed. The first spring honey flow is happening now with the Russian Olive, Mustard and Dandelions in bloom.
Both observation hives are doing great, in fact I will have to be in them soon to prevent them from swarming or I may just let them swarm and hope to catch them before they decide to move into the walls of my house. They tried to do that a few years ago and what I pain that was!
We had to cover all the garden plants last night because it dipped down into the 20's last night. I don't see us opening the pool anytime soon.
May 16th, 2009
1:30 PM - Just about done with the package bees, we have a few beekeepers that are still on their way here to get their packages. We hope to be out of here before 5:00 PM so we can install the left over packages, although it looks like it might rain which will My wife was nice enough to bring us some pizza for lunch today, which was great!
I need to get my lawn mowed soon or I'm going to have to hay it!
2:30 PM - I'm amazed at the amount of local people that show up after regular business hours. We normally close at 1:00 PM on Saturday but because we have the package bees here we are open until the packages are all gone. We have had at least a dozen people in here after 1:00 PM that were not after package bees. Makes me wonder if we should be open all day on Saturday too, we may be missing out on some sales by going home at 1:00 PM.
3:00 PM - We are waiting on just one guy now to show up for his package bees. I think we will just put a note on the door and go home. We are all really worn out from the last week and are looking forward to getting back to normal operations.
4:25 PM - Our last beekeeper has just left with his bees and I'm going home... be back next week!
May 15th, 2009
It's 1:10 PM right now and we have been so busy that I haven't had anything to eat yet today and am about ready to fall over. I guess I will have to eat a couple of honeystixs to get me through. We are getting a lot of people in today who want to talk, which is great, but it is hard to get anything else done. It's a beautiful day out and perfect for installing package bees.
4:55 PM - I'm ready to go home...what a day! My throat is getting soar because of all the talking I've done today. We still have another day of package bee pick up to go through. I'll be happy when we are all done!
May 14th, 2009
It's 5:45 PM and I'm still here, my last customer just left. We got another load of package bees in this morning and people have been coming in to pick them up. I can't spend too much time blogging today because my wife has just called me and ordered me to get home... she is the queen bee after all... so I'm going home as ordered!
May 13th, 2009
What a great day! I love it when we are busy! We had a batch of 100 queens come in today and we sent 25 of them right back out to customers all of the country. I don't expect the ones that are left to be here very long this time of year. Below is a picture of how they arrive to us via U.P.S. Next Day Air from our supplier in California. I have to catch the workers and insert them in the queen cage one at a time before we ship them out, as the queens are all alone in the cage and we don't want them to be lonely... really it's because the workers we put in the cage feed and care for the queen during the shipping time. Believe it or not I didn't get stung once even though I had to catch 175 workers to fill the 25 queen orders that we shipped out today. I didn't even were a veil, the bees were very calm today.
We just got a call for the first swarm of the year and it happens to be a swarm from one of our own hives, so I had to load up the truck to go out to collect the swarm and do some more spring hive management before we get any more swarming.
May 12th, 2009
I'm on my own today as everyone else is either making deliveries or picking up package bees in Georgia. The guys will be picking up the package bees tomorrow, driving straight home and should be in Thursday afternoon. I have so much to do that I just can't see any possible way, short of staying all night, of getting it all done. We have sold over 100 queens in just the last week and are now sold out until the next batch comes in this sometime in the next couple of days...we hope!
There is a frost warning out for tonight which means I'm going to have to go out and cover some of the garden plants...GREAT...NOT! It is such a pain having to cover stuff up!
My wife and I went up yesterday to check on the raccoons and the good news is that Mom did come back and move them, hopefully to a safe location.
May 10th, 2009
Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!
I had to come in to work to get a queen bee for a customer that is driving by this afternoon and he asked if he could pick it, so I thought I would make a quick post because something interesting just happened... I was up in the woods cutting down some old trees for firewood. I felled a large beach tree that was mostly dead, upon walking the length of the tree after it was down I happened to see something moving... it was a baby raccoon and then I saw another and then another, for a total of 3 raccoons. Needless to say I felt bad for cutting down their home... but they sure are cute!
I put them back into their nest.
After I took the above photo, I put some leaves around them and then covered the opening with a couple of logs and some brush. I sure hope mom comes back and finds them. It would be nice if she moves them to a new location, but if not I will just leave the tree there until they move out. I'll check on them tomorrow.
May 9th, 2009
Another "Buzzy" day! I have had people in and out all day, some beekeepers and some just getting honey. I'm glad that they didn't all come at one time, that makes it hard to deal with them on a more personal level. Today all the customers were spaced out nicely, as I was just finishing up with one - another would walk in the door. I wasn't able to find time to pack any U.P.S. orders which means Monday is really going to be crazy! I have a tour of Boy Scouts coming in today at 2:00 PM... so if it rains this afternoon here I may stay and get some orders done instead of mowing the grass. I am now on Facebook too for those of you that use it.
3:14 PM - I just finished up with the Boy Scout tour and unfortunately it's raining. I guess I will just stay here and do some U.P.S. orders and forget mowing until tomorrow. I sure hope I can get it mowed soon, I don't know why I do it... but I fertilized and limed my yard and it seems that the grass grows 2 inches every day.
6:50 PM - I'm still here... ZZZZZZZZ. I finally got all the U.P.S. orders done except for the queen and royal jelly orders that will have to be done on Monday. The sun is still shining out there... so I think I'll try to mow the yard now. I should sleep good tonight! Have a nice weekend everyone!
May 8th, 2009
The program at the high school went well, the only thing I don't like is the fact that I had to repeat everything 4 times. I would have one group for 30 minutes and then another and so on. The problem I have is that by the time I got to the 3rd group I wasn't sure if I was saying the same thing to them twice or not. I would rather have a large group and just do the presentation once.
Upon my return to work the phones were ringing, customers were in the office, a stack of papers was on my desk and poor Bonnie was all alone because my father was out working the bees. He is making spring splits of the hives that survived the winter to replace the hives that didn't make it through the winter. We lost almost 40% of our bees over the winter which is much better then 2 years ago when we lost almost 70%. Hopefully we will be able to replace most if not all of our winter losses with splits.
It's 5:15 PM now and I still have to go and check out the van to make sure it is ready to head to Georgia to pick up the second load of package bees this next week. The driver will be leaving Sunday afternoon so I have to get it ready tonight because I won't have time tomorrow. I have a tour coming after hours tomorrow and then we have some things at home that I have to get finished up.
An update on our garden; the potatoes, carrots, and peas are coming up as well as some unwanted weeds... darn those weeds! I just wish the garden plants grew as fast and as abundantly as the weeds!
May 7th, 2009
What a day! This time of year is crazy! The phones have been out of control today - I answer the phone - I help someone with their bee problem, I get off the phone, I try to get up to work on a shipped order but then the phone rings again... it's another order... great but I never got the first order done... and this continued all day.
It is now 5:35 PM and I am trying to get my stuff around to take to an all day "Career Awareness Event" at a local high school tomorrow. They asked if I would come over and talk to the kids about other jobs that are out there that need to be done besides computer related careers. They said there will be 400 students there. I plan on talking about beekeeping... maybe not as a primary career but as a secondary one. We certainly need more beekeepers out there and you can make good money on the side by having a few bee hives. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow when I get back.
May 6th, 2009
Since we are now stocking queens we have been overwhelmed with orders for queen bees. We must have sent 30 queens out today via U.P.S., plus all of the regular honey and supply orders. It's good to "bee" busy!
I did have just enough time this afternoon to work on the observation hive again. I wanted to replace the last 2 frames that were in the hive all winter with new ones. Now all of the frames in the hive are brand new and they look great. The main reason I wanted to get this done is because I have a lecture this Friday in Elkland, PA and I plan on taking the bees with me. We also have a bunch of tours coming in in May and I like the observation hive to looks its best!
It's already after 5:00 PM and I have lots to do at home, so talk to you all tomorrow!
May 5th, 2009
It's cool out today which is actually nice for the shipping of package bees and queens. We got in 100 queen bees today... 50 Italian and 50 Carniolan. We shipped a lot of them right back out to customers all over the country, the rest got put in the "queen bank". The queen bank is a very strong colony of bees that we put the individually queens in on a specially made frame, each queen is in her own little cage. The worker bees in the queen bank will take care of all the queens until we have an order for one. When we get an order we will just go up to the queen bank and remove one queen and ship her out.
We have a Hemlock log out back that has had bees in it for a few years now, but there hasn't been much activity in the last couple of weeks thus they may have died out. The queens that came in today come in a bulk box with lose bees around the queen cages. We decided to add those bees and a new queen to the log. We did it just because it is a neat thing to show tours groups what a wild hive may be like.
Below is a picture of the bees on their way in to the log from the box. We released the queen first into the log... the worker bees were happy to follow her in. Hopefully they will get established and do good this year.
I got my Blueberry, Raspberry and Blackberry plants in today by U.P.S. I was able to get the Blueberries planted during my lunch break. The Raspberries and Blackberries came in as bare root stock so I've got them soaking in water and will plant them tonight after work. Now if I can only keep the rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, grubs, moles, bugs, dogs and kids away from them, we may get something sweet to eat!
May 2nd, 2009
It's been a perfect day for package bees! We have had a lot of people in today getting their bees and we have had a few that could not make it, so we are installing their bees in new hives right here at our place. They can then pick them up anytime in the future.
Below we have removed the top and are lifting out the can full of syrup that is used to feed the bees during transport. We have removed 5 frames from the hive below in preparation to install the bees. We also pulled the queen out and set her aside, she is in her own little cage.
below we are shacking the bees into the hive.
and below we are releasing the queen at the entrance. Normally we would remove the cork from the candy side of the queen cage and insert her, still inside her cage, down between the frames and then let the bees eat the candy out to release the queen. However, this queen has been with the package of bees for 3 days now so we feel that we can safely release her now.
It's now just after 2:00 PM and we still have another 40 packages here waiting to be picked up. I expect we are going to have a rush of people very soon. Overall things have gone very smoothly today. One of the things I like best about package bee day is that we always get jelly filled donuts for the customers and for us too. All I can say is that there sure are good and it's a good thing that we don't do this too often! I have already had 4 or 5 today, it will probably be closer to 10 by the end of the day... I may need to loosen my belt!
May 1st, 2009
The Bees Are Here!
The guys pulled in around 1:00 PM. Below are some pictures of the bees arrival.
We bring the bees up in one of our delivery vans. We used to bring them up 1000 packages at a time on our truck, but we don't sell as many as we used to. There are 270 packages of bees on the van, that almost 3 million honeybees! It's a good idea to drive careful when you have a load of 3 million honeybees in the van with you, because if you have an accident I don't think you would get much help!
We unload the bees on to pallets and wait for the local beekeepers to show up. We have already had 20 or so packages picked up. We expect 150 or so more beekeepers to get their bees between 8:00 and 5:00 tomorrow.
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