Bloom Where YOU Can

2020, Bee A Cheerleader

January 5, 2020 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in lifestyle

The calendar says it’s January…the time of year where I try and implement change in personal and professional ways to bee more efficient. I try! Like many others, I start off with a bang and then it steadily dwindles. Life challenges, schedule changes, and the usual hurdles seem to sideline me every year. Regardless, I am always anxious to evaluate and layout my plan to try again. I start with the destination (goal) and work backwards to map out my personal unique plan. Kind of like connecting the dots between point A and point B. So it may seem I have an ongoing life desire for organizing. Silly, right, but that’s me. I also aim to bee healthier, work on my weaknesses, challenge myself to learn something new. More or less I have the same ideas year after year and switch up my approach and arm myself with new or different techniques. Does anybody else keep a running list of random thoughts and ideas? I’ve done this since I was a teenager. After decades of a January “reset” I have learned I can do everything right – only to discover it was the wrong season in my life. Never give up.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

So whether it’s diet, health, finances, relationships, education, job or business goals I encourage you to bee a cheerleader not only for yourself but cheer on those around you!

Best wishes and supernatural kind of luck to my fellow January trend setters. May we all cross the finish line with goals that matter the most!

Note: Hence the spelling for all my ”bee” words is to bring awareness to honeybees – my version of spreading the buzz. May you feel the sting and do a little something to help the honeybees today. (Plant a flower, plant a garden, put out a dish of water, read about honeybees, visit a beekeeper)

Bee Boxes (Apis mellifera)

June 1, 2019June 1, 2019 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in Bees, encourgement, flowers, Garden and Flowers, Honey Bees, lifestyle, Plants, pollinators

Recent photos of a few honeybee hives (unedited). Different styles, colors, painted and decorated.

Portable Observation Hive – mounted to a rolling cart stocked with educational supplies. The frame in the window has a marked queen – this hive is used mainly for “show and tell” and the honeybees are only in this one temporarily.

Wow! Hickory nuts and acorns propolized between the frames, on the frames, and all around the frames. This came from an older unattended hive.

Cross comb shown on these frames.

Nate hive (built by Nate). This one is beautifully painted! The frame being held shows queen cups from grafting.

4 Section Queens Castle being painted.

Freshly painted swarm trap ready to be hung.

Top Bar hive.

Top Bar frame – bee gentle, no foundation.

Nucs are on the far left. Langstroth 10 frame deep – split into 3 sections – queen excluder – shim – medium box on top.

Honeycomb on a top slat off queens castle.

Pro Nuc (new) on the back side – brown with a yellow and made to be stackable.

Successful swarm traps.

Beeks taking a closer look for eggs and queens.

Langstroth 10 frame deep with a feeder and a medium box on top.

Back door observation hive. Holds 20 medium frames or 16 deep frames.

Someone got creative with the paint. Honey jar and flowers.

Top Bar hive divided into 2 sections. Mascot, Darrell is observing.

5 Page – teachable – 2 colony – Book hive – or new Leaf hive. Holds 20 deep frames or 25 medium frames.

Seek Your Talents

April 20, 2019 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in lifestyle

Bee Friendly Garden Apis mellifera, post 2

March 28, 2019 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in lifestyle

Bees Really Are Busy (Apis mellifera post 1)

March 14, 2019March 18, 2019 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in lifestyle

As I sit observing a colony of honey bees, watching their every move, I can’t help but notice unison and harmony. Busy, but yet so peaceful.

What lessons could we humans learn from this type of efficiency and perfected order?

“Busy as a bee” has a whole new meaning after watching the movements and actions of a healthy hive. They (the colony) run like a well-oiled machine.

The queen honey bee has a crucial responsibility to lay eggs in order to have a strong brood for her colony to continue on.

The male honey bee (drone) has the single purpose of mating with the queen (he doesn’t even have a stinger). Drones are harmless.

Baby bees help each other as they emerge. Real teamwork… Different days in the age of infancy they take on different roles. These worker bees are all females and labor together for the benefit of the colony.

Awestruck as I observe sheer intelligence and diligence of each bee task: queen attendant bees, nurse bees, feeding bees, housekeeper bees, comb building bees, honey making bees, undertaker bees, guard bees, and the eldest of the workers are the foraging bees. The job description of each is specific and completed with perfection.

So much about the honey bee is misunderstood. They are a gentle species (Apis mellifera) and only sting when provoked, unlike other bees (most have had a painful unprovoked experience with a yellow jacket or wasp). Learn the difference in appearances so you can begin to recognize the honey bee from the other species.

The honey bee pollinates a lot of our common foods. Statistics say one-third of our food is pollinated by honey bees. What a restricted diet we would have if it wasn’t for the honey bee visiting crops for pollination. Just wow! Another wowzer is the lack of nutritious food if the honey bees didn’t pollinate fruits and veggies. How about you coffee lovers? Almond fans? You guessed it, honey bees pollinate the coffee beans and almonds.

Understandably not everyone is cut out to bee a back yard beekeeper, but everyone can do something to help. Plant flowers and gardens, put our water sources, and refrain from using pesticides. That’s worth repeating “don’t use pesticides” (please).

Different climates and regions as well as personal preferences vary when it comes time to plant, but don’t forget when the time is right, consider honey bees as friends and plant some flowers. Besides – planting and being outdoors is good for most of us. Experiencing nature is rewarding for our mind, body, and soul!

Spread the buzz and bloom where you can.

Soap Post

January 26, 2019 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in lifestyle

Dry skin? Rough skin? Damaged skin? Give milk and honey oatmeal soap a try. Sounds good enough to eat, but completely nutritious for your skin.

Honey has great healing properties known for it’s natural antioxidants and antibacterial uses. Proven to sooth and help prevent acne, decrease pimples and even slows signs of aging with its generous moisturizing properties. You may even glow.

Oatmeal is full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Helps soak up extra oils – loaded with natural compounds that make for a soothing exfoliator and cleanser.

Basic Ingredients:

-Goats Milk Soap Base

-Honey

-Oats

Optional – Essential oil, Vitamin E, Coconut oil, coloring if you prefer.

The three basic ingredients are my personal favorite…Nice and simple and oh so natural!

2019, a New Year

January 2, 2019 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in lifestyle

Welcome, 2019! Last year was a fast one, but they all seem to be getting faster. Simply put I recognize I’m getting older and my perspective is changing. 🙂 Last night as we toasted our glasses of orange juice and grape juice it symbolized in my mind a line to hit reset and look forward with freshness to embracing new opportunities and new friendships in the coming year.

Bloom where you can, when you can, and it’s okay where you can’t. Some say bloom where you are planted, but I say ”bloom where YOU can”. We each have a purpose – find it and use it!

Today marks a day I dig my heels in a little deeper than yesterday to be a little better than yesterday to work a little harder than yesterday. Aiming to be my best… #progressnotperfection

Family time, friend time, Lucy-Bun time, a little bee keeping, a little soap making, nature, flowers, garden, trying new recipes, learning to meal prep, gentle exercising, and taking in the beauty of God’s creations are a few things on my 2019 list to keep me blooming…

#BloomWhereYOUCan

#beelieve

#believe

#spreadthebuzz

TRASHY BEES 🐝

April 12, 2018April 12, 2018 by Bloom Where You Can, posted in Bees, encourgement, family, Fibromyalgia, flowers, Garden and Flowers, Honey Bees, Love, Mini Lop, moms, Plants, pollinators, Uncategorized

A normal afternoon turned quickly into carefully sifting through a large trash pile.

Scoping out the situation it appeared to be a swarm coming from a very near and very tall old tree.

The neighbors said the swarm initially was found clustering on a low branch behind the pile of discarded items. A young boy walking by picked up a stick and hit the ball of honeybees to knock them off, and that is what lead to their interest in the trash pile.

Entwined in and around broken children’s toys, curtains, spouting, styrofoam cups, aluminum cans, glass bottles, cardboard boxes, pieces of old electronics, car parts and so on… there were about four pounds of bees looking for a new home.

Just a few pictures to share…