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December in the Hive

 

Winter should be a quiet time for your bees. Take a look at our November In The Hive blog for any last-minute preparation you may be doing to prepare your bees for cold weather. You should avoid disturbing the beehive too much during this time, but occasional checks can help you identify issues early.

Keep your eyes out for signs of disease, pests or deceased bees in or around the hives entrance. If you can hear a quiet hum outside of your hive, that is a good sign that your bees are actively maintaining their temperature.

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DIY Beeswax Holiday Ornaments

 

As you get ready for the holiday season, you’re probably spending less time with your hives, which means more time decorating! Handmade beeswax ornaments can save you some expenses this year, and use up any extra beeswax you might have lying around. They also make for a great children’s craft!

To make beeswax ornaments, start by melting your beeswax over low heat on the stove. You can add essential oil or fragrances for extra holiday flair. If you have silicone molds, you can prep them with vegetable spray and pour the wax directly into the molds and leave to harden. You can also pour cold water onto a plate, place cookie cutters, and distribute the wax evenly. Then poke holes into the wax and add ornament holders, twine, fishing line, or ribbon to hang your ornaments on your Christmas tree or holiday garlands.

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Sweeten up your thanksgiving with these honey recipes!

 

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest days in the kitchen every year. Whether you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the first time or looking to experiment with classic Thanksgiving recipes, this honey glazed turkey and honey pumpkin pie are sure to be crowd pleasers.

 Honey Glazed Turkey:

  • Turkey
  • 1/2 cup Honey
  • 1/2 cup dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Tie the turkey’s drumsticks together and tuck the wings underneath. Place turkey in roasting pan breast side up and bake at 325 F for two hours. Mix honey, dijon mustard, dried rosemary, onion powder, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl and brush over turkey after first two hours of baking. Return to oven and continue to baste turkey with pan drippings until thermometer reads 180 F about two hours. Remove turkey and cover with tin foil for up to 15 minutes before carving. Serve with stuffing and gravy.

 Honey Pumpkin Pie:

  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream (half n half or whole milk will work in a pinch)
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 unbaked pie crust

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix the puree, honey, vanilla, salt, and spice together. Mix in the cream, then gently beat in the eggs. Carefully pour the mixture into the pie shell. Cover the edges of the crust with a pie shield or foil, and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove the shield/foil, and bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean. Let cool, and serve with a generous dollop of real whipped cream.

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November in the Hive

 

You should already be preparing your hives for colder weather by providing plenty of food for your bees and insulating the hive, but November means your bees may be entering dormancy.

A strong hive won’t need much help feeding during the winter. To know how much assistance your bees may need to keep their nutrition up, look at their stores of honey. If the honey has been recently depleted or the bees have simply not produced enough, it may be time to add sugar, fondant, or liquid feed to the mix before it gets too cold.

You can also prepare for the cold by providing wind-breaks, such as hay bales or scrap metal, to protect your hives from harsh wind. But be careful not to shade the hive, as the bees will be needing as much warmth and sunlight as they can get.

Now is the time to start preparing for next year! Take stock of what kind of equipment you’ll need, such as more hives, new foundations, or more specialized tools. We have a variety of bee equipment and hive tools available for purchase online at Great Lakes Bee Co.! You can also spend the extra time this winter not tending to your bees by studying up on bees and beekeeping. Check out this selection of books recommended by the Best Bees Company!

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October in the Hive

 

As we near the end of October, there are several things you should be keeping in mind as the weather continues to get colder.

Now is a great time to be checking on your queen bee. If she is no longer present in the hive, don’t wait to find a replacement. It’s best to find a new queen bee sooner rather than later so she will have time to settle into the hive and lay eggs. This would also be a good time to consolidate hives if you have multiple weak ones. Any hives with empty space should be restructured to allow enough room for the strongest bees.

Another aspect of preparing your hives for the colder winter months involves hives insulation. To insulate your hive, wrap it in black tar paper to absorb heat from the sun, remembering to leave the hive entrance and upper ventilation holes uncovered. You can also utilize a hive stand to protect your bees from the cold while preventing moisture problems. Moisture is one of the biggest things to look out for, as too much moisture could potentially freeze your bees. Wood chips or burlap in a quilt box can help keep condensation out of the hive.

Lastly, make sure your bees have enough food before winter. If you were keeping them healthy throughout the summer and early fall, ensuring they had a productive queen, you shouldn’t have to worry much. But if your hive doesn’t have 60 to 100 pounds of stored honey, October will be your last chance to feed them with liquid feed. You can also use fondant or sugar bricks. Pollen and pollen substitute is not recommended at this time, as the reduction in pollen flow signals the bees to finish rearing winter bees as they prepare for winter.

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Warm up with an oatmilk honey latte!

 

With fall rolling in and the nights getting cooler, you may find yourself wanting to warm up with something hot and delicious. The early-risers among our bee keepers will enjoy this simple and easy to make oatmilk honey latte! All you need is:

  • Your favorite coffee (you can use caffeinated OR decaf!)
  • ¾ cup Oatmilk
  • 1-2 tablespoons Honey (or however sweet you prefer!)
  • A pinch of salt
  • Cinnamon

Heat up your honey, oatmilk, and salt in a jar in the microwave. Shake until foamy, and pour over your coffee. Dust with cinnamon, then enjoy!

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A Brief History of Beekeeping

 

In honor of National Honey Month, let’s take a look back on the history of beekeeping, and how honey harvesting has evolved!

Beekeepers have played an essential role in honey production for at least 10,000 years! All around the world, archaeologists have found ancient methods for beekeeping and honey production, including hives made of straw and unbaked clay. Ancient Egyptians were some of the earliest pioneers of beekeeping, where honey was not just a delicacy, but a symbol of wealth and power. In fact, when King Tut’s tomb was discovered, pots of honey, often used to coat and cure berries, were alongside the ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s mummy. Even thousands of years later, the honey and berries remained preserved, reportedly still holding onto their sweet scent.

In medieval times, beekeeping was most often performed by the church and aristocracy. Beeswax served as an important aspect in producing candles, while fermented honey was a key ingredient in mead, a popular drink in regions where grapes could not be grown for wine.

Using varying methods including hollowed-out trees and skeps (a similar practice to the Egyptians, using baskets woven from twigs and straw, coated in mud), monks and clergy-members were in charge of tending to bees and their hives. For many of these religious beekeepers, their bees came to be seen as role models. For instance, monks often imagined a “chastity” in their worker bees that they took upon themselves to devote themselves fully to the good of the community.

During the 18th century, beekeeping transitioned into a science methodology. European natural philosophers, including an entomologist who specialized in honey bees named François Huber, were among the first to observe bees within their habitat. Although he developed blindness in his early adulthood, Huber continued studying bee colonies with the help of his wife, Marie, and assistant François Burnens. With his companions, Huber was an early creator of what we now recognize as a bee hive: building a box where each comb had glass sides to observe the bees at work. Some of Huber’s most famous scientific studies include confirming that a colony consists of one queen who is the mother of all workers and drones in the hive, and proving that bees use their antennae to communicate. Huber is widely regarded as “the father of modern bee science,” and his publication, “New Observations on Bees,” contains many of the basic scientific truths of the biology of honeybees.

Our bees may be the reason we have honey, but it’s because of beekeepers around the world and throughout history that we get to enjoy the sweet savory treat.

For more information on the history of beekeeping, visit:

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Great Lakes Bee Co. celebrates grand opening and 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey

 

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, Great Lakes Bee Company hosted a grand opening at its new storefront in Old Rink Plaza in Fremont in celebration of Honey Harvest Month this September and the 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey.

In recent years, backyard beekeeping has been on the rise, not just in Michigan, but nationwide. Great Lakes Bee Company in Fremont has been on the forefront of promoting the importance of beekeeping in the region and how it benefits Michigan’s economy and agriculture. Each May, bees from GLBC return home to Fremont, Michigan, after pollinating almond crops in California and rebuilding of hives in Georgia. When they’re back home, they forage on Newaygo County’s basswood, alfalfa, star thistle, and West Michigan flowers to create 150,000 pounds of Michigan’s Hasselman’s Honey.

“For us, it all started in 1974 with Larry Hasselman and his hobby for beekeeping,” said Great Lakes Bee Company owner Genji Leclair. “Larry founded Hasselman’s Honey after growing his passion and curiosity for bees, creating a distinctively delicious tasting honey. Since establishing Great Lakes Bee Company in 2016, it has been my mission to maintain Larry’s honey legacy and preserve the sources and processes that he has used since the 1970s, while also striving to produce only the best honey for our customers.”

During the event, Larry Hasselman shared how his honey business “accidently happened” with a Christmas gift of beekeeping items from his parents and the with bees would come later that spring. That spring Hasselman received two packages of bees and within a a couple months a majority of the bees in his two hives were dead.

“From then on, I called it the hobby that got out of hand,” laughed Hasselman.

From there, Hasselman grew his beekeeping hobby to 500 hives and began shipping “Hasselman’s Honey” throughout Michigan and Chicago.

“I was at the right place at the right time with the right people,” he said.

In addition to honey production, bees from Newaygo County also pollinate various crops including: almonds (January); apricots, sweet cherries, peaches and plums (April); tart cherries, pears, blueberries and apples (May).

“Bees play a significant role in our region’s and nation’s agriculture,” said Leclair. “By pollinating many crops used for animal feed, bees contribute to a third of the world’s food production. They are also essential in helping to maintain biodiversity and preserving our ecosystem that we depend on to survive. At Great Lakes Bee Company, we help educate the public about the irreplaceable value of honey bees to our environment.”

In addition to Hasselman’s Honey and supplying bees to beekeepers, GLBC sells beekeeping equipment and products made from their beeswax including candles and raw wax.

During the grand opening event, GLBC owner Genji Leclair and local representatives from the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and River Country Chamber of Commerce of Newaygo County hosted  a ribbon cutting signifying the opening of the new store. Additionally, Fremont City Manager Todd Blake, presented us with a City Council resolution;  while Kelly Lively from Sen. Gary Peters’ office and District Staff Assistant William Campbell from Congressman John Moolenaar’s office each presented a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition to GLBC and Hasselman’s Honey.  Also in attendance were Jodi Gruner from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, State Rep. Joseph Fox; and Mary Judnich from Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s office.

“September is National Honey Harvest Month so it’s an exciting time for us in the bee business,” said Leclair. “We are excited to welcome the public to our new store, where you can learn more about bees, beekeeping and buy our own beekeeping supplies and honey-related products.”

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September in the Hive

 

This September is extra sweet … not only is it National Honey Month, but we’re also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey!

Initiated by the National Honey Board in the U.S. in 1989, National Honey Month is a time to celebrate bees, honey, and beekeepers – just in time for harvest. People throughout the world depend on honey bees and their role in pollinating the ecosystem. Did you know about one-third of the average person’s diet in the United States is derived from insect-pollinated plants, and honey bees are responsible for about 80 percent of that process? It’s true! Without honey bees, we wouldn’t have apples, cabbage, lemons, onions, or watermelon, and other fresh crops.

Because of beekeepers, honey production continues to thrive. Rounding out the harvest season this September, there’s plenty for beekeepers to pay attention to in their hives, and some might start thinking ahead to the winter months.

If you’re harvesting honey, we recommend extracting your supers as soon as possible to avoid wax moth and small hive beetle larva, which can damage your hives. Beekeepers should also monitor for extra space in your supers, as any that are light with nectar will create more space for wax moths and small hive beetles to invade. Getting your supers extracted also lets you set them up back outside as a community feeder to both let bees build their stores, and get your combs cleaned out for winter storage. You should put these far away from the hives, or freeze them to reintroduce to the hives when needed.

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer with your bees! Thanks to you and your bees, beekeepers help make the world a sweeter place. Join us during Fremont’s Harvest Festival Parade on Sept. 26 as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey and Fremont’s OG Beekeeper, Larry Hasselman!

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Honey Lemonade: Simple and Refreshing!

 

August isn’t just the hottest part of summer— it also marks some of the last honey harvesting before winter! If you’re looking to beat the heat and make the most out of the honey you’ve collected this summer, this lemonade recipe is for you! And It’s not just refreshing— it’s sugar free!

  • 1 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup honey (can be adjusted for more sweetness!)
  • 5 cups cold water

Mix your honey and lemon juice in a pitcher until thoroughly combined, then add cold water and stir. Keep chilled and serve over ice. Add sliced lemons for extra flavor and flare!