Honey & Beeswax
How to Make Beeswax Food Wraps
It’s easy and inexpensive to make beeswax wraps, and they make a great addition to your homestead kitchen. If you’re a backyard beekeeper, you’re likely on the hunt for beeswax uses and you already have everything you need to get started.
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How to Decrystallize Honey
Every so often someone asks me how to decrystallize honey. Now, they don’t use those exact words. Usually, the conversation goes something like this. “Um, I’m not sure what happened …
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How to Talk to Vegans About Honey & Bees
I have yet to meet a beekeeper—commercial or hobbyist—who doesn’t adore his or her bees. There is a beauty and a romance to beekeeping that begins with the sun, and, if you are lucky, ends in a bonanza of the best tasting honey you have ever known.
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Make Your Own Beeswax Wraps
By Amanda Paul – As we are all aware, plastic is everywhere — in our households, landfills, and even in the deepest depths of the ocean. Beeswax wraps (alternatively referred …
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Propolis: Bee Glue that Heals
Honeybee propolis is a brown or reddish resinous substance made by bees to protect the hive against animal and bacterial invaders. The word “propolis” is a compound of the Greek words “pro” and “polis” and translates to, “Before the city.” Bees use propolis as a building material to fill gaps and crevices, varnish combs and shape entrances, sometimes creating fantastic gobs that supposedly aid ventilation in the hive.
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It’s Harvest Time
Extracting, or the honey harvest, is going to befall almost every beekeeper if their efforts are successful and the site of those activities can vary from a garage or the family kitchen to large facilities specifically designed and built for handling the harvest. Many of the new hobbyists may quickly find that harvesting honey in the kitchen can be a test of spousal relations.
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Candles Are One Way To Use That Extra Beeswax
By Tom Theobald Traditionally winter was a quiet time for beekeepers. It was a time to visit friends, for northern beekeepers maybe a time to head for warmer climes to …
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Setting Honey Prices, Labeling, and Marketing Homestead Honey
When we first started keeping bees, many friends and family wanted to buy honey from us. In the beginning, we didn’t have any extra, but after a while, we had more than our family could use and we decided to sell some. But we needed to make sure we were selling the honey legally and had a competitive honey price.
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Judging the Best Honey in the World
Marissa Ames – Where does the best honey in the world come from? And how is it determined “best?” That question has no definitive answer, since every honey-producing region may …
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How to Make Beeswax Candles
Story and Photos By Laura Tyler, Colorado – Beeswax comes in a range of colors, from lemon-yellow to warm, grizzly brown — depending on its age and what part of the colony …
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