to everything there is a season

Jan and Jordan Cannon, Charlotte,
Vermont, after the harvest, fall 2007

For a long time I have been curious about the bees. I was struck by their beauty and the way they worked so harmoniously and efficiently together. The great thing about being a filmmaker is that when you get interested in something, and want to learn more about it, you can make a film. I started filming in the spring of 2006 and am nearly finished. In the process of doing the film I have gotten four beehives of my own.

In getting to know the bees I have found that I have an emotional feeling for them, which surprised me. I hadn’t imagined that you could feel for an insect as you might a cat or dog. I really love the little creatures.

The bees have also helped me get closer to nature. I am always wondering how the heat or cold, or rain or dryness is affecting them. I am more aware of what is flowering and where the bees are going. I love to sit at the hive and watch the bees landing with their pollen filled baskets. I love their little navigational dances at the hive entrances, where they guide their sister bees to nectar and pollen sources. I have also observed that since getting bees we have gotten more green beans than ever before. We also saw a lot of bees on the raspberry flowers and had a great crop. The apple trees in the orchard across the street from our house are loaded with fruit. The trees were roaring with bees when they were in flower this spring. I don’t know if these increased yields are a consequence of the bees or just good weather conditions this summer but I am keeping my eye on it.

I have also learned a lot about the health benefits of bees and in addition to raw honey, pollen and propolis I have really benefited from bee stings! When I started my film I had tendonitis in my elbow and a sore shoulder. Since having been stung numerous times, on purpose or not, I am pain free.

My introduction to the bees has been rich beyond expectation and I thank Honey Gardens for their guidance along this path. I hope that through my film you too may feel some of what I have experienced.

Jan is interested in recording the voices of sustainable living. He observes that many people still do not understand that our earth’s resources are limited and that our over-consumption has seriously negative consequences.

the honey harvest, fall 2007

Native pollinators

I took this picture at about 4:00 p.m. on a rather cool day. The honey bees had gone home. Our native pollinator, the bumblebee, flies in cooler temperatures, so these two were still working the asters in the farm fields behind my house. from Nectar and Pollen Plants of the Champlain Valley, Vermont: A Field Report by Annie Watson


Fresh pollen is a source of energy and nutrition. Because of its tough shell, only 30% of the value may be utilized if pollen is eaten straight out of the bag. If you let it sit for 10 minutes in your oatmeal, orange juice, smoothie or other liquid, a much greater value may be gained.

We thank you for your support of the bees, plants and those who work in agriculture.

Nectar and Pollen Plants of the Champlain Valley, Vermont, a new blog

The incredible miracle of the bees' work

On a very hot summer day you can observe the worker bees at the hive entrance fanning their wings to keep the hive at the necessary temperature - 90-97 degrees Fahrenheit -- for raising brood, as well as to evaporate the water from the nectar to help turn it into honey. It is amazing to see how these tiny creatures brace themselves on their legs in a hunched-over position, remaining in position as they are jostled by other workers and drones coming and going, and even by would-be invaders such as yellow jackets and bumblebees. Single-minded in their devotion to their task, they leave it to the guard bees to chase away potential robbers.

Late Summer Gold

As I drive through western Vermont, my eyes feast on the goldenrod that is blooming wherever there is an unmowed piece of meadow or lawn.

This beautiful flower is the last major nectar and pollen source for Vermont's honey bees until next spring (save the purple asters that will bloom in early fall). As I walked through a neighboring farm field I saw the golden flowers covered with bees....You can smell the honey Thistle Hill's colonies are making from 3o feet away, it has been so strong the last few days.

Despite the persistence of the myth, goldenrod pollen doesn't cause hay fever. It's the concurrently-blooming ragweed that triggers allergic reactions. Goldenrod pollen is sticky and heavy; it falls to the ground. Ragweed pollen is lightweight and carried on the wind.

So, you can allow your goldenrod to bloom. If you leave your field and roadsides unmowed, then area bees can find food for their young in the form of pollen, and food for the approaching cold weather in the form of nectar that they will make into honey. If you don't have any goldenrod in your yard, you can plant some there or in your garden, for some wonderful fall color. For more about cultivars, see the Brooklyn Botanic Garden web site.

The hives at Thistle Hill



Annie Watson, creator of this blog, with her two colonies of honey bees and crop

Mission:

* to educate people about the importance of honey bees, and their relatives in the order Hymenoptera, for the pollination of food and flowers

* to support the understanding that the collective power of many people to plant for the bees will make a difference in the health of our land and communities

* to provide practical ideas on what may be planted for the bees, and to be a forum for exchanging these ideas with those in the Champlain Valley and beyond to help provide the bees and other pollinators with more nectar and pollen, food for their families and community



The flow is on

Here at Thistle Hill in New Haven, Vermont, we spent the weekend watching the bees' incredible activity as they worked the beginning of the bloom of the last big nectar and pollen plant of the season -- goldenrod. Huge gobs of bright orange pollen in their baskets as they came in for landings.... We lay on the ground next to the hive entrance and smelled the heavy aroma of goldenrod honey that wafted on the airflow caused by many bees fanning their wings on the landing board.

They're still driving drones out of the hives. I sat out near the hives and was visited by many drones as they made their last explorations of this earth.

On an early evening walk I spotted them on the interesting plant boneset -- gathering a light tan pollen -- as they did their major work on the goldenrod. Interestingly, I saw no bees on the joe-pye weed, a beautiful dull magenta-colored plant that lives in wetter areas.

Don't cut your burdock down!

I have observed the bees gathering nectar and pollen from the burdock flowers in the past 7 days. With the land so dry, the flowers are not producing as much nectar. The more flowers we leave growing, the more food the bees can make for their winter.


Preparing for the elderberry/sureau harvest

St.-Bernard de Lacolle, Quebec

“The birds have always been there. So we decided to share the sureau/elderberry; it is good food for them. We know that we lose 10 – 15% of the crop to them, around 3,000 lb. of elderberry.

They usually only take the top; they do not touch the rest. An average bush will have about 10 lb., and the birds will get around a pound, pound and a half. After we de-stem the elderberry, we take the stems and put them in the woods where the deer get them. To preserve the crop, we do not have a choice but to put up an electric fence for the deer; they would eat half the crop or more.

We were inspected one week ago, and they accepted our application for organic certification; we went though a three year trial and are now fully certified organic. The manure that is used to fertilized the elderberry is organic.

It is a good year; the elderberry are bending over and the branches touch the ground. I have to go and cut some branches so that the elderberries will come up. Near the ground, there is too much humidity and diseases.

Right now, the berries still have a week and a half to mature. Then we will begin the harvest in the first week of September.”

Sylvain Mercier

Elderberries are amazing. They are both delicious and a powerful remedy at the same time. Their purple color comes from anthocyanins.They are in the well known family of "antioxidants". Elderberries have been used for centuries for a lot of health issues. Among some of the most known and acknowledged medicinal properties, they are excellent against viral infections and they help stimulate the immune system . They are rich in Vitamin C, A and magnesium. Like most berries, they have anti cancer properties. Recent research also shows that elderberry syrup is beneficial for diabetic people because it helps increase insulin secretion which will improve sugar absorption. So it is a great tool in one's natural pharmacy. Good for the common cold, the flu, building the immune system and helps against diabetes.

Jacinthe Desmarais, Doctor of Chiropractic, Doctor of Osteopathic, Canada

from Apitherapy News:
Study: Propolis Extract May Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

Antiproliferation of Human Prostate Cancer Cells By Ethanolic Extracts Of Brazilian Propolis And Its Botanical Origin International Journal of Oncology, 2007 Sep;31(3):601-6

Propolis is a resinous substance collected by bees (Apis mellifera) from various tree buds which they then use to coat hive parts and to seal cracks and crevices in the hive. Propolis, a known ancient folk medicine, has been extensively used in diet to improve health and to prevent disease…

Our results indicate that the Brazilian propolis extracts show promise as chemotherapeutic agents as well as preventive agents against prostate cancer.

the new honey crop is in !

Wherever you go, the land tells a story.

The early honey is darker this year. Some feel it is because the bees did not get nectar from the basswood tree flowers, which would have made the honey lighter. This is a result of weather and timing of nature. Where there are bees and pollinating insects, more fruit was set from the pollination. Much of the fruit is smaller because of the weeks of drought.

The first of the new crop of honey
always feels like a miracle.
New Haven, Vermont July 2007

The bees made honey early this season, and then as the land and the plants dried up, the nectar also dried up for the last three or so weeks.

The leaves of the corn are curling up, to protect the plant from losing more water on the hot, sunny, dry summer days.

The arrival of the new crop always feels like a miracle. We have all sizes of northern raw honey in the honey house, and we are also shipping raw wild Maine blueberry honey, which our friends’ bees made on the blueberry barrens of northern Maine in June. This honey is darker, reminiscent of the color of wild blueberries. It is rare for the bees to make “surplus” or honey for extraction as the flowers are smaller than the bees, and they use most of the nectar for feeding their own families in the hives while in the blueberry fields for the month. The bees fill their honey comb in the lower boxes first, where they rear their brood and store food for the year. Beekeepers only take the top boxes or “supers” when they are full.

We are seeing the honey bees in Vermont and New York State strong and independent of the CCD/Colony Collapse Disorder that is killing bees elsewhere in the country. Most of the beekeeping in our region is organic, and as chemicals are not used on the bees, they are stronger and healthier. Many beekeepers in this area have been raising queen bees from their survivors, and this is one of the most effective ways to help the bees organically.

It is encouraging to see many new beekeepers throughout the land. Annemie Curlin is taking care of her first colonies of honey bees this season. I think that the bees recognized her long support of their community, as one of her hives has made the most honey in the two states and one province in this region so far this season. Annemie blessed us with the landscape drawing on the Honey Gardens’ logo/labels years ago, and is now helping with the graphics on our honey wine labels.

We appreciate your support of the bees and plants

Todd

honey bee gathering nectar & pollen from chive flower,
Annemie Curlin with her first crop,
Charlotte, Vermont, late July 2007

“My first objective was to help pollinate the fruit trees.

Also, I wanted to enrich the animal and plant cycle; by introducing honey bees, I added an additional beneficial element to the garden and nature around here.

Another thought was the aesthetic and long cultural connections; beehives are ubiquitous in Europe where I grew up, not only in the landscape, but in the folklore, the stories, and cultural consciousness… bees and bee hives.

…. and finally there was a personal connection to my grandfather Alois Schuh, who had an orchard, rose trees, and bee hives. He knew how to do all of these things, to take care of them and to make them flourish. I see the bees among my flowers; I feel that it makes my garden richer and more alive.

A lot of my other interactions with animals are adversarial; I try and protect the fruit trees from deer, the plants from insects, it can be a battle; with bees, it is mutually beneficial, I am happy to see them. We help each other; I plant flowers, which they like, they flourish and then give honey.”

What do the plants teach us?

Plants are an endless source of wisdom. They are my most patient as well as most persistent teachers.

99% of all living organisms on this planet are plants! That number always astounds me, and I am reminded of our most basic relationship with the plant world. Our constant exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide ensures our survival on this planet. Outside the honey house now everything is a brilliant green, the color associated with our heart chakra. When this chakra is open, we are able to give and receive the gifts of love, gratitude and appreciation. It is interesting as well that out of the four elements (earth, air, fire & water), the one that corresponds with the heart chakra is air or breath. When out in nature among the plants, I am reminded that our breath and our hearts are intimately connected, as we are to the plant world. This helps me remember to slow down, have patience, and open my heart.

A well known and respected herbalist once told me that when she visits clients for a consultation, the first thing she does is take a walk around the property on which they live to see what plants are growing. And amazingly enough, nine times out ten these plants are exactly what the client needs. One of my overall examples of a teaching plant is the dandelion. Dandelions persistence is remarkable. No matter how much effort people put into trying to eradicate this little yellow flowers from their lawns and gardens, the dandelion pops up everywhere, in cities and suburbs, between flower beds and between sidewalk cracks. Dandelion perseveres. As well as being a tremendous source of nectar for the honey bee, this flower has extremely important medicinal use in our modern culture. Dandelion is one of the most effective detoxifying herbs we have, assisting our livers in processing the overwhelming levels of pollution and toxins that surround us everyday. The flower essence of dandelion has specific uses as well for people today; this is for those people constantly on the go, helping people slow down, release tension and find balance in their lives.

honey bee gathering nectar & pollen
from black raspberry flower,
New Haven, Vermont June 2, 2007
photo by Ann D. Watson, copyright 2007

Dandelion is not unique. The healing gifts of so many plants are amazing and endless. I was reading recently about a process called Phytoremediation, which according to the Wikipedia dictionary is the ability of plants to de-pollute contaminated soils, water or air by “containing, degrading or eliminating metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil and its derivatives, from the mediums that contain them.” I find this information fascinating. I am reminded again how amazing giving plants are to the planet itself, and I am inspired to give what I can back to her as well. I also realize that for those of us who are making efforts to live more sustainably and trying to help bring the earth back into balance; we are not alone, the whole plant world is here supporting us. The quote from Chief Seattle “Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself’” echoes in my mind, remind me that plants inherently live in a cohesive balance with all of life; it is time for us to do the same.

honey bee gathering nectar & pollen
from chive flower, New Haven, Vermont June 1, 2007
photo by Ann D. Watson, copyright 2007

Recently at our father’s service, I read some lines from Deuteronomy 32:13:

He nourished him with honey from the rock ….

In the early days, bees made their homes in rocky places, and sometimes the honey would ooze out when the rocks got hot. Out of the hard times, we are given sweetness.

I recall the 22 hour drives from Georgia to the north a few years ago when Tom was my driving partner, driving the bees though the night to keep them cool and living. His encouragement for many years will always be so clearly felt.

We hope you are having a good summer and appreciate your support of the bees and plants.

a profile in courage, Paul Cappy

December 2006
a profile in courage, Paul Cappy

It is always an honor to be around a person of courage.

Paul Cappy-Last Resort bee yard,
Monkton, Vermont

This week I spent three days with Paul Cappy as we gathered some of our colonies of honey bees in eight yards around and in Chittenden and Addison Country, Vermont; he is taking over the stewardship of these bees, bringing them to Florida for the winter to make an increase in the number of colonies and then back to Lake Ontario, New York for the pollination of apples in the Spring.

Paul has been with the bees for 48 years and started pollinating when he was 16 years old. Over these years he has managed his own commercial operation, inspected thousands of bee hives for the Department of Agriculture in New York, and been a faithful advocate for the honey bee.

Bravery is required to run a commercial bee operation in these times, and anyone like Paul who is willing to make the commitment, work the long hours and expose themselves to the risk of losing a large percent of their bees each season and fluctuations in the crop, deserves our deepest respect.

Paul lifts beehives onto the truck, to go on the road to Florida.

Farmers like Paul are some of the unsung heroes who support the operation and prosperity of our country. It is hard to understand the level of work required until you work with along side him.

This week, we gathered bees in the snow and wind, from early in the morning, until the evening when the light of the full moon allowed us to work. Nothing would stop Paul; when his truck and forklift would get stuck in the mud, I would pull him out with our truck. When the fields were too wet and the hills too step to get his truck in to the bees, he would carry them ¼ mile on his forklift to get them to our trucks, hour after hour. If they were not taken to Florida for the milder winter and early spring, when hives are split to increase the numbers and make up for losses, many of these colonies would pass on.

As Paul is a savior of the bees, he is typical of the men and women across this continent who are committed to honey bees. With almost 40% of we eat dependent on pollination by insects, much of this by honey bees, our food supply depends on these farmers taking care of the beautiful insects. Honey bees are the “canary in the coal mine”; their populations are crashing this winter because the water and air are not clean anymore. In the bees' weakened state, mites and viruses move in to decimate our honey bees.

The truth is that the average age of beekeepers is increasing. With fewer young people going into the field these days, less honey is being produced in North America. Correspondingly, there is more contaminated, dead honey from overseas filling the shelves of your market.

Thank you for supporting the beekeepers in the United States and Canada who take care of the bees and support their continued existence in our communities. If you have the patience and some of the courage of Paul Cappy, consider mentoring with a beekeeper and supporting these divine creatures. The bees are a gift and you will receive great satisfaction and health benefits by passing on this old culture.

Friday, Dec. 15, 6 pm: Beekeeping in Nigeria & Ghana- Free Slide Show & Talk by Apiculturist Keith Morris, Honey Gardens Apiaries at the new honey house, 2777 VT Route 7, Ferrisburgh, Based on Keith’s recent experience with FarmServe Africa, learn about alternative beekeeping techniques, “top-bar hives,” the role of bees in their native habitat, and ways these West African communities are developing mutually beneficial partnerships with this amazing insect. Our honey house is on the West/Lake Champlain side of VT Route 7, about a mile north of Vergennes and ½ hour south of Burlington, the old Marvins Carvins property.

honeybees in traditional communities, Ghana, Africa

November 2006

honeybees in traditional communities, Ghana, Africa

a field report from Keith Morris, part 1 of 2

Sankpala is a small rural village outside Tamale, in the Sahel (Sub-Saharan scrublands) of Northern Ghana. This community beekeeping collective and I made a beeswax based shea butter-ginger healing salve and a ginger-cayenne-raw honey home cough remedy. They may begin to produce salves for market.

Throughout this past summer I’ve had the honor of working in West Africa as a volunteer apiculture specialist with FarmServe Africa. I met with small family farmers, youth groups, a variety of co-ops, women’s collectives, ‘resettlement communities’, university students and professors, as well as agricultural specialists and extension agents in Nigeria and Ghana, all excited about the power of the honeybee and its medicines.

The art of beekeeping is anything but new to Africa, the original home of the honeybee. As long as people and these creatures have coexisted, there have been ‘honey hunters’, and legends and rituals surrounding this magical insect. The world’s first master beekeepers were the Egyptians, who saw honey as tears of the sun god Ra, and moved hives up and down the Nile on rafts to pollinate crops. Kings and queens were prepared for the journey to the afterlife with giant pots of raw honey, and their bodies were mummified with secret recipes made with the antibiotic and preservative properties of propolis.

A wild hive in the Botanical Gardens, East Legon, Ghana. Note how propolized the hole in the tree is. This is not only a testament to this hives great age, but also protects the opening in the tree from infection and termites. Yet another mutually beneficial relationship by the bees!!

In Africa today, the legacies of missionaries and colonialism as well as contemporary corruption and destructive economic development continue to erode agricultural traditions, especially traditions of healing with plants and products of the beehive. The intention of apicultural training programs are primarily economic: to create additional income to alleviate poverty, and to diversify and add value to farms’ products; but the benefits of a partnership between people and these insects are far greater in scope.

The vast majority of people in Africa have little or no access to formalized healthcare, yet are still subject to a dominant cultural perspective that their traditional means of healing are ‘primitive’ and ‘backward’. This has resulted in a tremendous loss of knowledge about medicinal plants and their uses, and a perceived dependence on manufactured ‘medicines’. As I came to realize the magnitude of this loss, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my community of growers and herbalists at home, and appreciated further the importance of the mission of Honey Gardens. I found new esteem for those who are working to preserve traditions and learn more about healing plants, and these people became some of my greatest allies and teachers in Ghana and Nigeria.

Honey, beeswax, and propolis extracts are ideal mediums for many of the vast diversity of medicinal plants in West Africa; they preserve them and make them more palatable, protect and disinfect wounds, and offer their own important healing and nutritive benefits.

By bringing the beehive directly into the agricultural landscape, we bring in one of nature’s greatest teachers about cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships; the makers of the world’s only imperishable food; greater pollination for crops and higher germination rates in saved seeds; wax for light, preserving wood, batik, and healing salves; the potent and diverse nutrients of pollen and larvae; and the powerful medicine of propolis. These things not only offer potential for an endless variety of products to be made for sale, but most importantly, provide people the increased ability to generate medicines and healing practices for their own communities.

"If we do not do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable." Murray Bookchin (1921-2006)

seeing interdependence of nature and people

harvest 2006 newsletter

seeing interdependence of nature and people

The gathering of elderberries will continue for several weeks as the luscious umbels of purple berries ripen at a different pace throughout the fields.

Frederique Keller harvesting elderberries, Hinesburg

Walking through the plants we can see that the deer have been here and left their mark. There are chunks missing from leaves on one side of the land.

After growing for three years, these elderberry are able to weather the grazing of the deer. Now that they are seven feet tall, there is a natural pruning taking place each season. The deer jump over the fence wires, no longer electrified as the charger and battery have been taken to a bee yard along a bear highway where it is needed.

When the elderberry are younger, being a meal to a deer means a passing in life. Now there is a balance in nature here, a dynamic equilibrium of the wild.

a purple umbel of elderberry, ready for harvest,
for plant medicine, jam, wine, or a coloring agent

We see the interdependence of nature and people everyday. This web is delicate, and yet it is so strong. There is enough here to feed the 4 legged deer and the 2 legged people. In the flexibility of life, all are provided for, all is interdependent.

thank you for your interest in and support of plant medicine,