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I’ll Bee Quick

May 7, 2019

Bishop Beekeeping, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle , , , , 3 Comments

The swarm I caught in my “Goo” friend John’s yard needed to be moved before his mother’s visit from Rhode Island. Bees make her very nervous and the visit will be more comfortable without a hive in the backyard. I had recently lost a hive at a nearby apiary so I had a perfect place to move them.

A small problem though, the move was less than two miles and sometimes a short move like that allows the bees to return to the old location. The rule of thumb is move them 6 feet or 6 miles. Six feet allows them to find the box in a short period of time and a 6 mile move creates disorientation relative to the sun. At 6 miles they will orient themselves to the new home relative to the sun. Two miles could be a problem…..

I locked the bees in the swarm box by closing the entrance with a wad of burlap. I left them locked up the best part of two days. I also covered the entrance with some leafy branches before releasing them forcing the bees to reorient themselves due to the confusion of the branches…it worked well. Now I wanted to move them into a full size box.

My usual assistant John, was out of town for a wedding. Luckily my daughter Ashleigh was visiting from Denver and had expressed interest in the bees. She was a good help and she decided to try a time lapse video of the installation process. It went very smooth, the bees were placid and I barely broke a sweat. The video worked well.

After finishing up here we stopped by a single hive I have in a friends backyard. This is a strong and busy hive. Ashleigh didn’t know it but she posed for a Bishop’s Bees And Honey promotional photo op. I caught her shooting a slomo of the bees coming and going.

I brought her back to the house, got her bags packed, put her on the plane and sent her back to Denver. It was a busy day. We had a great visit, just wish she could visit more often. Just gotta make the most of every visit!

TTFN

Bishop

How to get the Kitchen Floor Mopped?

March 19, 2019

Bishop berrries, Berry Preserves, Canning, craft beer, Gardening, jam and jelly, Recipe , , , 7 Comments

It is a given that my wife married a man that is just a little sloppy with his activities, and yes, his(my) activities include use of the kitchen for;

Honey bottling

Jam and jelly making

Making beeswax lip balms

Beer making & bottling

And obviously cut up, shredding and prepping meats for the grill and smoker.

And I am sure there are some unnamed transgressions.

Today was a little busier than usual! I finished cutting up and bagging around 15 pounds of strawberries…….. note – yesterday I ran off to Wood Duck Farms in the morning and picked 6 buckets of strawberries, returned home, cleaned and packaged half the haul and made it into the shower for an on time departure to see George Strait at the Houston Rodeo.( English majors and other grammar police….I kinda like run on sentences)

As I said – finished the berries but then decided to make strawberry jam! It is a pretty simple process. I have determined that a gallon freezer bag stuffed full is perfect for a batch. I follow the SureJell package instructions very closely. Critical are the boiling sequence and times. Add pectin and a 1/4 cup of sugar, on high heat, mash and stir at the same time. Once at a full rolling boil, add the remaining 3 – 3/4 cups of sugar and return to a full rolling boil….count slowly to 72 while it boils and remove from the heat. Oh yeah, toss in a tbsp of butter to reduce foaming…….I am not sure it helps but the directions suggest it.

Skim the foam, yes there will be foam. Waste not, want not. My wife loves the foam on top of here egg white and oatmeal frittata. Three tablespoons of quick oats in a small non stick pan, add enough egg white to cover and cook to done. Smear a little strawberry foam on it and enjoy. Remove a jar from the hot water bath and fill to 1/4 inch of the top. Snug up sanitized lids. The process took a little longer as I made 19, 55ml jars, cute little things, and 5 – 7 ounce hex jars. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath and then set aside.

This is not a full rolling boil. There is foam and a few boiling bubbles but not what you are looking for.

Getting close! If it is still bubbling and spattering, even while stirring, you are there.

Processing for 10 minutes.

The finished product ready for labeling. To the right is the yummy foam my wife uses for her frittata.

Next up was prepping two chickens to be cooked “Beer Butt” style on the grill. It takes 75 minutes or so while trying to keep the closed grill temperature at about 350 F.

The final result. In the beer cans was a nice oatmeal stout and a few crushed garlic cloves. I used A rub and garlic salt seasoning.

A quick dinner with a nice quinoa cold salad before heading off to the gym. When I returned I still had the beer to rack over with the reminders of the spots on the kitchen floor still fresh in my ears. Got the beer, a nice Wit beer, racked and the floor mopped – Hun!

It says priming tank but has been put into service as a fermenter due to leaks in my original fermenting bucket.

I think it is bed time now.

TTFN

Bishop

Getting Close to Home

November 19, 2012

Bishop California, Philosophical, Photography, Relationships , , 8 Comments

Getting close to home – in both locations.

I left my home in Kingwood Texas on November 4th, off to Bakersfield California to earn a few dollars. Bakersfield is my home town. I was able to share time with family and friends. The contracted work covered two different clients, both located in Bakersfield. During the second week I took my work buddy off to an iconic restaurant in east Bakersfield, Noriega’s. Basque food, good company, family style seating and less than 6 degrees of separation! In walks my sister’s father-in-law, earl. The seating is by group and Earl was seated next to me. Small world , eh?

Back to home again, I spent two days with my oldest daughter, and her family in Camarillo  – husband, grand-kids and my great-grand-son favored me with a few gentle kicks from the warmth of the womb! I am really enjoying being called grandpa…it has a nice sound to it and makes me feel so welcome. Then up the California coast to my mother’s home. I told her that I would arrive at 5:00 and she becomes a little anxious if I am late. Fortunately I made good time.

Fortunate, because as I checked my photographer’s ephemeral I saw that sunset was 4:55 for her location. The clouds along the coastal drive looked promising as a nice backdrop for a sunset. The clouds began to thin as I drove north and by the time I turned off toward Los Osos they were pretty much absent. I took a chance and headed to the bay. I was rewarded with a nice golden sunset and some nice folks to chat with as the sun dipped below the horizon before heading off to mom’s home.

The photo seems to have captured what the eye saw. The eye is still superior to the camera, but today they were well matched.

Mom and I head off to Houston and Kingwood tomorrow, to my other home. I get to share her with my family and friends, if only for a little while before she heads back home. I am so fortunate!

TTFN

Bishop

Nature and Sharing

August 18, 2012

Bishop Memories, Philosophical, Travel , , , , 3 Comments

I am sitting in my kayak about 400 yds offshore, big rollers sweeping by, sharing the morning with my oldest son……….Ben

Saturday August 11th my son Ben and I loaded up and headed down to the Galveston area for a day of fishing. Fishing wasn’t so good and we had quite an adventure “trying” to navigate the much heavier than usual surf getting back in.  Ben shot this photo in the early morning light….he caught the mood of the day – kind of solitary but shared with a fishing buddy and in this case, someone I love and care for.  We don’t normally have lots of conversation….he and I are sometimes pretty quiet. We share a lot quietly. He is back to school at LSU and we will quietly remember this day spent together. The photo perfectly captures my heart and emotiuons…Thanks Ben

On Sunday Ben drove me out to the airport to drop me off. He did more than drop me off though… he walked around to my side of the truck gave me a big hug, it didn’t need words… I felt the love. Thanks again Ben….. I love you too!