Oprah's Bee Giveaway

In other news, I gave some bottles of mead to Santa Claus for distribution so if the boys and girls reading this blog are very good, you may get a bottle.

I Heard Some Bees

I put my ear to the side of the hive and heard them inside murmuring to each other.

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Winter at the Hive

On thursday the 18th I went out to visit the hive and found a massacre or something had happened. there was an unusual amount of bee parts scattered on the landing board. Had they been raided?

As temps have been steadily dropping and its been rainy/windy I decided to close the opening of the upper box with a little plastic plug:

Saturday Nov 20 after a night of snow:

Maybe 25-30 dead bees on the landing board and in the snow around.

The mead is all bottled and mellowing in the wine cellar.  For thrift and convenience sake it was put into beer bottles of various sizes, 36 bottles in all.

Just 2 sample bottles were taken and the results are quite professional tasting imo. Left for a month or 2 in the cellar, the remaining bottles will only improve.
It is potent stuff!  I wish I had taken a hydrometer reading at the beginning to get an idea of the  %alcohol, but I didnt. Anyway its some pretty good stuff and will provide many opportunities to toast the bees. Thank you bees!
Jah bless them and keep em warm and safe through the winter.