biking – Windtree Bee

June 1, 2023June 1, 2023

We’re bringing honeybees to the market this Saturday!

This Saturday, June 3^rd, we’re bringing an observation hive to the market.

What’s an observation hive?

It’s a specially made hive box that allows a queen and her attendant bees to be transported safely to an event, so that people can see what the bees look like up close. Everyone (especially kids) have a great time looking for the queen. The observation hive is sealed, so air can get in but bees can’t get out. There are two clear panels on either side of the top that give observers a chance to see what’s going on in the hive.

If observation hives are so neat, why don’t you bring one every week?

Moving a queen and her attendants from their regular hive box (the Langstroth box where they live year round) into a temporary observation hive is stressful to both the queen and the hive. In the past, we occasionally did it, because bringing live bees to an event always leads to some great interactions and discussions. But, because it was stressful for our bees, it was also stressful for us. Good news though! One of our beekeeper friends recently caught a swarm and loaned it to us for this summer. It’ll live in the observation hive until early fall and then we’ll return it, so that it can overwinter at our friend’s house in a winterized Langstroth box.

We’re excited to have an extra queen and hive just for observation purposes! Since this queen is going to be a celebrity, I’m naming her Scarlett after Scarlett Johansen, who dabbled in beekeeping. (This was a quick pick name – want something different? Stop by our table and you can suggest a different one!)

What else are we bringing to the market?

Honey! We have about two dozen jars left and then we’ll be out until we harvest again at the end of the summer.

Honey-sweetened strawberry jam: I’m excited about this batch because it was made with strawberries we grew and honey we harvested – neat, right? Because my strawberry patch is small, I supplemented it with some of Krista’s awesome berries. Foggy Bottom Berry Farm grows different varieties than we do, so the mix is delicious!

I also have a few jars left of my Spring Honey Rhubarb Jam and Chai Tea Blends (both caffeinated Assam and decaf Rooibos).

It’s biking season!

Since there was no market last weekend, Craig and I took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit Beekeeper Rebecca (Rebecca, a.k.a. Boudica II’s namesake). On Saturday, we hiked in McConnells Mill State Park. We toured the mill and then walked down to Eckert Bridge and back. It was a pretty hike and relatively easy. There are some other intriguing places like Hells Hollow and Breakneck Falls that we might explore next time.

On Sunday, we biked the ‘Burgh’s streets, bridges, and one tunnel during the city’s Open Streets.

If you’ve never been to Pittsburgh, you need to visit! It’s beautiful, has great food, Point State Park at Three Rivers, inclines, and tons of bridges and tunnels. A very fun weekend getaway / road trip destination!

That’s it for this week! I wish you happy hiking, biking, gardening, beekeeping, or whatever else you do that makes you happy. Craig, new Queen Scarlett, and I hope to see you this Saturday!

Hereford Farm Market at Hereford High School, 17301 York Road, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Saturday, June 3, 2023. Lots of parking! Easy to get to! Easy to walk around! Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table.

One of our honeybees on our garden’s clover

October 28, 2022

End of Season Sale: Suncatchers 20% off!

Our stained glass, one-of-a-kind, artisan suncatchers are 20% off!

I’m offering 20% off my remaining suncatchers this Saturday at Hereford Farm Market. We have maybe a half-dozen or so of them left. Each one is handmade by my niece and nephew’s grandmother, Mary Nolan. No two are alike. There are suncatchers with bee charms, honeybees made of glass, and guardian angels. I often refer to the angel as St. Gobnait, who was the patron saint of bees and beekeepers. They make an excellent, thoughtful, unique hostess or holiday gift for nature lovers and gardeners!

The market season is winding down…

This Saturday is the last day we’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market this year. It’s been a terrific season!! Thank you to each and every one of you who came to the market and supported us and the bees! I have a handful of jars left of most everything I brought last week: wildflower honey, mulled cider jelly, pumpkin-pie spiced pear jam, honey-maple cranberry sauce, smoky chipotle berry jam, and loose leaf chai tea. I’ll also be selling Mandi’s adorable knit pumpkins and pumpkin hats.

It’s been an amazing biking season too!

I’ve been biking since March, trying to reach my mileage goal for this year. This week, I finally did — 1,000+ miles for 2022!! Most of those miles were logged on the NCR/Heritage Rail Trail, but I did a few organized rides too. Next week, I’ll take my bike down to the shop for a much needed tune up. 🙂

The Heritage Trail up near Seven Valleys, the Howard Tunnel, and an apropos pic of my bike on Home Road on my last day of biking this year.

Happy Halloween!!

After tomorrow, we hope to do one final event this year — a Christmas Bazaar down at the Federal Armored Museum on December 4th. I’ll keep everyone posted on that. In the meantime, we wish everyone a safe and wonderful Halloween and an amazing, gratitude-filled Thanksgiving! WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOU AND YOUR SUPPORT!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Our honey, hives, and a Kindness Rocks message Craig and I found on the trail

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon this Saturday. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.

September 22, 2022

Biking, Monarchs, and Gingerbread-Spiced Pear Drizzle

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market Saturday, September 24th, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. This week’s batch is gingerbread-spiced pear drizzle. It is pure pear awesomeness — little bits of cooked pears in a cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice syrup offered in tiny 4 oz jars. Perfect for drizzling on ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, French toast… or add it to a cheese board… or use it in a grown-up grilled cheese with baguette and brie.

I also tried to make a fig and pear jam that sounded absolutely delicious. It was a disaster. It’s the second time I’ve had bad luck trying to make a fig jam. The first time was with dried figs, these were fresh. Maybe third time’s the charm? We’ll see… It will be a while before I try again. Why am I telling you about my epic fails? Because (1) everyone makes mistakes; and (2) sometimes epic fails make for good stories. The fig fails were kind of boring, but click here if you want to read about a cherry fail and how I almost got arrested for bootlegging. 😉

Fall Biking

I’m still chasing my goal of 1,000 miles this season. Current mileage? 760 miles. I do a lot of riding on the NCR and Heritage Rail Trails, but I’ve also participated in a few organized rides this season. Last Sunday, I did the Yellow Breeches Ramble and the Kings Gap Climb as part of Harrisburg’s Bicycle Club’s Three Creek Century Ride. It was terrific! Beautiful routes, friendly SAG support (thankfully not needed, but their presence was appreciated), and an incredibly brutal 4-mile uphill slog (at least I thought it was brutal — hahaha — more experienced riders were blowing past me on the regular) to the Kings Gap Environmental Educational Center. But sooooo worth it! Gorgeous views and an incredible ride back down!!

Monarch sightings

I’ve spotted six so far this season (not a lot, frankly), most while biking, but one in our garden earlier this evening. Craig and I want to plant milkweed next year and truly give them a place of R&R in our yard. How about you? Any monarch sightings this year?

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon this Saturday. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.

July 8, 2022

Black Raspberry Jam, Birds, Bees & Biking

First things first… we’ll be at Hereford Farm Market tomorrow with a new jam flavor, Black Raspberry! I bought the berries from Krista at Foggy Bottom Farm in White Hall and the jam turned out perfect. It’s a small batch, so stop by our table early if you want a jar. If black raspberry is not your thing, I still have blueberry, berry ale, and honey-sweetened strawberry jams + mimosa jelly and smoky bbq applesauce. Unopened, the jars are shelf-stable for up to a year, so stock up!

This beautiful bee linen napkin was hand-stitched by Mandi at Rosie Posie Design Co.

Craig and I try to keep our yard neat and tidy, but sometimes there are areas that get neglected. When I find out that some small creature made a home in some wild part of our yard, it makes me feel better – like my failure to weed or rake leaves was intentional. Below is a nest we found in our shed’s old flower box. Not sure what kind of bird is making her home here. She’s raising chicks, which is why we didn’t approach the nest again. Godspeed, little ones!

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is ride my bike. We have so many awesome rail trails in Maryland, especially the Torrey C. Brown Trail (a.k.a. the “NCR”). Because I live near it, I’ve biked it (and PA’s Heritage Trail) many, many times. I still love it, but was looking for a way to add interest to my rides, so I joined the Baltimore Bike Club. Last weekend, I rode with them down around North Point State Park and Fort Howard. The Bay is just as gorgeous as north Baltimore County, and it was neat riding in a different part of the county than I usually do.

The Bee Report

Boudica: Boudica I swarmed in the spring and we thought the remaining hive might not make it. But they did! Boudica II is doing a great job! No honey from this hive this year though because these survivors will need all their honey for winter.

Elizabeth II: Solid hive. Two supers. We might be able to harvest from this hive…

Cleopatra: Kinda meh… maybe we’ll get some honey from this hive…?

Pandora: Also suffered some early losses, possibly a swarm, but now it’s really strong. Fingers crossed, there’s potential here for a good harvest, but we’ll have to see…

Æthelflæd, the Undead: We thought she was dead, but She. Is. Alive!!!! She managed to somehow work her way back to health (along with her hive, who arrived sickly in the spring). That’s why we gave her the “Undead” epithet… because she refused to die. Long live Æthelflæd! 🙂

Buffy, the Varroa Mite Slayer: It’s Crazy Town in this hive! Had two queens for a while. How is that possible?! Because Buffy was reigning beneath a “queen excluder” and somehow one of her daughters decided to establish her own kingdom on top of the queen excluder. This was nuts! Never happened to any of our hives before. Craig took the second queen (Buffy’s daughter) to Oak Spring Farm, where she can establish her own hive in a healthier way.

Elphaba: this was our newest hive this spring — a captured swarm. We crowd-sourced the name, hahaha. ELPHABA IS BAD ASS!!! Boudica was our strongest queen this spring, but Elphaba has overtaken Boudica as the Queen of Queens. Her hive is always bustling and bearding. There are so many bees in it, it’s practically bursting. We’re wondering if she will swarm again, but hoping not.

Tempest: Killer! She is awesome and amazing!! She is nearly as badass as Elphaba. But there can only be one!!! So, currently, the Queen of Queens title stays with Elphaba. But who knows what will happen during the rest of the season?!

Gaia: Died. RIP Gaia. Craig took some queen cells from Tempest and gave them to Gaia’s hive. Hopefully, they will use them to requeen their hive. If so, Rocking Awesome Tempest and her daughter will be reigning side by side at Lisa’s.

The Secret Decoder Ring

Wondering about some of the terms I used to describe what was happening in the hives? Here’s the scoop:

Swarm: this happens when a hive reproduces itself. The queen takes the oldest bees and a lot of the honey and leaves. It can be sad but it’s also the sign of a healthy hive. Beekeepers love catching swarms!

Super: Special-sized box that is part of the hive “palace” that is used by the beekeeper to extract honey. Think of it as a pantry. You don’t live in your pantry, but you store your food there. When beekeepers harvest honey, they are basically raiding the bees’ pantry.

Varroa Mites: A terrible scourge. Vampires to bees. Invasive pests.

Queen excluder: A part of the hive palace that keeps the queen from laying eggs in the honey. (You wouldn’t want your baby nursery in your pantry, right? Well, sometimes queens get confused — they are overworked after all — so they need help knowing which rooms in their palace should be used for what.)

Bearding: when the bees come out of the hive in very hot weather. They do this when the hive is crowded and hot. They often turn their wings so that their collective wing gusts cool the hive.

Oak Spring Farm: a fantastic CSA Farm up here owned and operated by Lisa Duff.

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.

September 3, 2019April 2, 2020

Biking: A Tale of Two Trails in Western Maryland

Spent Labor Day weekend in Cumberland, biking sections of the C&O Canal Tow Path and the Great Allegheny Passage. It was awesome! Below are pics and a few details about my trip, including restaurant, lodging, and bike rental recommendations.

Midway Between Pittsburgh and D.C.

Cumberland’s heyday was pre-WWII, but the city is working to reinvent itself as a regional tourist destination. Much of its history and appeal center on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the Great Allegheny Passage.

The Canal

Construction began Independence Day 1828, but the entire DC-to-Cumberland route wasn’t finished until 1850. By then, railroads had taken over. The canal’s barges, which were pulled by mules over 184 mountainous miles and through 74 locks, couldn’t compete. Ingenious in design, industrious in its making, but nearly obsolete from the start, the canal was used to ship mostly coal and timber for 100 years or so. In the 1970s, it was made into a National Park.

When you bike the trail today, you bike on the path the mules used while pulling the barges. The locks are still there, in various states of disrepair. Many are full of still water, some of it black and malignant looking. But others are full of duck weed and turtles. Some are dry. Some old gates are still in place, as well as lock houses and plenty of signs explaining the history of the canal, park, and trail.

The GAP

The Great Allegheny Passage is a 150 mile rail trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland. We started just north of the Eastern Continental Divide. It was raining, so it was fun to think about the fact that rain drops on one side were falling into the Gulf of Mexico watershed while raindrops on the other were falling into our beloved Chesapeake Bay watershed. Because the divide is the highest point of the trail, it was literally all downhill from there. The easiest, fastest, most beautiful miles I’ve ever biked.

There were three tunnels, which were neat. I’ve biked the NCR’s Howard Tunnel a few times, but these were longer and darker. Two had lights, although some of them were out. Still, no need for a headlamp or phone flashlight. We crossed the Mason-Dixon line, chuckling a bit about how much fanfare the trail gives this border crossing. (We live about 8 miles from it farther east and cross the line multiple times a day, nearly every day.)

Bone Cave, a few miles west of Cumberland, was creepy. I’m used to using “medieval” as an adjective for “old” or “ancient.” This cave made medieval seem as modern as an iMac. It was discovered in the early 1900s when the railroad was being built. Fossils and bones from 200,000 years ago have been found inside, including cave bears and saber-toothed cats. Rock fall and a fence blocks the entrance… but I had no intention of venturing in!

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is still in operation. You can ride from Cumberland to Frostburg and back — or take your bike on the train and ride the GAP back. We stopped to watch the train turn around on the turntable and left before it did, so we were able to lay pennies on the track to take home as souvenirs.

Where to Stay, Eat, and Drink; Who to Rent Bikes From

We stayed at the Inn on Decatur Street. The owner offers a nice package for bikers, which she calls the “Tale of Two Trails.” You get two nights, two hot breakfasts, packed lunch for the trail, and van support for two days of riding. Riders usually do a portion of the C&O Canal one day and the GAP the next.

(When I first booked the trip, I mistakenly told Craig the package was called “A Taste of Two Trails” and he thought there would be rest stops with wine and beer tastings. Ha! Not exactly…)

We went with another couple and had dinner Saturday night at Ristorante Ottaviani, which was lovely and charming. We ate in their outdoor patio area, which is an alley strung with white lights. They had live music, great food and wine, and a server who’s thinking about getting into beekeeping. It was fun chatting with her!

My friends rented bikes from the same people who provided our van support, the Cumberland Trail Connection. The shop also happens to have beer brewing experts on staff. Some of them work for Cumberland’s new craft beer place, Dig Deep Brewery, which is renovating the first floor of the historic Footer’s Dye Works Building. We swung by to see the space and taste a sample. Can’t wait to go back. Beer and biking – what could be better? 😉

Cumberland: Recommended for…

Bikers!
Outdoor enthusiasts
Fans of small mountain towns
Anyone interested in American history
Cat lovers! (Cats per capita, Cumberland rivals Rome and Istanbul!)

More information

For summer 2019, Jill’s goal was to bike 750 miles. During her Cumberland weekend, she biked nearly 50 miles, allowing her to blow past her goal and hit 772+ for the season. She mostly rides rail trails and has given talks at her local library and senior center on the history of Maryland’s Northern Central Railroad, its towns, and rail trail. One day, she’d love to bike from Pittsburgh to D.C.