Beehive Alchemy

Hubby checked on Saturday and the bees are still in their hives, apparently doing what bees do. At the very least they're making and capping honey...but one hive didn't seem to have any newly laid eggs. That'll have me holding my breath for a while, even though there seem to be indicators that they've hatched a new queen and taken care of  the problem themselves. 

Did I mention that we've got Hawaiian bees? Sort of... These latest hives have Kona Italian queens. I'm not sure if that means the actual bugs came from Hawaii or if they're descended from queens that did (because I wasn't paying enough attention to remember) but they're definitely gentle bees. No one has been stung at all this year, even though I was standing close enough to touch this frame and not wearing a suit.

Hubby made beeswax lip balm which I've been happily using up. He did cheat and buy a hunk of beeswax from the bee supply place, but who said it had to be from your own hive?

I'm hoping that our hives will produce enough extra stuff that we'll be able to get more adventurous. Netgalley sent me a review copy of Beehive Alchemy: Projects and recipes using honey, beeswax, propolis, and pollen to make your own soap, candles, creams, salves, and more by Petra Ahnert. We could spend years experimenting with the recipes from this book. There are the soaps and candles you'd expect, but there's also sealing wax and beard balm and solid lotion bars. And there's a whole chapter on dying your own batik fabric! No matter how the hives work out, I'm sure we'll come up with some extra wax that's suitable for playing with fabric. I'm also curious about the beeswax ice cream.