Two new bee hive configurations arrive

January 05, 2010

I'm not a complete new-bee when it comes to beekeeping. Growing up, my father kept bees for many years. When I was a teenager, I kept a hive for a year or two myself. Then, getting serious about school, girls and "life's vision" got in the way. The bees either swarmed or died.

I'm almost certain that my own interests, if not genetically, are somehow how linked to my dads. I find myself drawn to about all the things he was into. Gardening, grape-growing, winemaking, woodworking, blacksmithing and of course beekeeping. After a few rare Facebook comments about beekeeping surfaced, I decided that the beekeeping equipment that has been laying around for year, has sat long enough!

The most common beehive today is called the Langstroth, named after Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth (1810-1895). Langstroth discovered that if a space of 1 cm (3/8 inch) is left in the hive for the bees to move around in, the bees will neither build comb in the space nor cement it shut. This he called "bee space," and he revolutionized beekeeping by his discovery of it!

It only took one book to get me completely immersed in the thought of beekeeping. One only needs to read a book about honey bees to find the fascination. Hitting forums, I found other local beekeepers who I hope to catch up with at my first bee meeting at the end of January.

So, after such reading, I had two custom Langstroth hives built. An 8 frame hive and a 10 frame hive. Instead of the typical 2 deep boxes where the queen rears the brood, I went with ALL medium boxes in both hives. This offers optimum interchangeability of the frames. In addition, I am trying out the 8 frame hive for the thought of "lighter beekeeping". Keep in mind, a single box with 10 frames of honey can weight up to 90lbs!

Anyway, I plan to put together some more pictures of the hives just to keep you, my visitor, informed. I only have until spring when the bees arrive. In the meantime, here's a video.

Tags: beekeeping

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A Tuesday revelation in life, teambuilding and finding our place in the universe

December 08, 2009

True meaning.

Life has been pretty tough lately. I'm finding I've had no time for things I really need to make time for. I run a company, handle every facet of my dads affairs, including his loony girlfriend, and I have a long commute every day before getting home often times after my kids are in bed. I'm not complaining... I could be in Iraq.

As life gets me down, I try to find purpose in everything I do, especially if it takes a significant amount of time from my life. I have often asked myself why I run my own company when instead, I could be working for the man, getting off at 6pm and forgetting about everything until I arrive the next morning. I reasoned today that the answer is because I want to have a bright future and the closer I am to a position where I can directly affect it, the better. It takes a lot of extra effort, and time, but being an optimist, I still have some in me.

As this economy gets you down (and I'm speaking here towards other business owners and entrepreneurs) you have to be real about what is what. We are either engaged or disengaged in the things we do. To be engaged, we must see meaning and purpose in our daily work. When we are truly engaged, big things happen.

In the current economy, when there is not a lot of meaningful work to go around, then we become disengaged. We are now tasked to bring more meaning to our work.

At my company, we refine processes, pay closer attention to what ails the customer, revisit forgotten tasks, fix legacy problems and invent. Yes, invent! We think about ways to make our standard processes better and faster. We did this in 2001, so why wouldn't we do it now? We sturdy our foundations, and position ourselves for that sudden launch. All this with the optimism that when the days get brighter, the cream rises to the top.

Now as a business owner, it's easier to see this vision, and that's what keeps me going. But how do you get your small team to rally behind the vision? After all, the company is the sum of all its parts. Most of the answer, I think, is to help your team visualize their position in your organization. Show them where they can go from where they are now? Make clear what our goals as a company are. Doing this will enable them to see how they will achieve their own dreams and goals [what matters to them]. When they find the true purpose in their daily work, it will help them connect to the same vision you have.

Maybe it's theory... but consider this. If I myself do not see the meaning in a task, then why would I expect anyone else to? A health and fitness guru doesn't go through the motions for fun, they do it to see results and the thrill of controlling those results. If I took a job as a janitor, I may work diligently and be happy for a stint, but after a while, I'm bound to ask myself, "where where do I go from here?" Would I really ask myself each day, "what could I do today to help move the company closer to its goals?" There's no chance if there is no purpose or vision. It is our challenge as a leader to get our team asking themselves, "what can I do today to advance the company vision," or "what can I do today to make myself a better person?" Should the janitor expect to advance to a more senior janitorial position? The more likely scenario is that he'll take a similar job for better pay elsewhere. For many, like myself, we need to be able to visualize our next step upwards.

This is my Tuesday contribution to society. It's a dump of experiences from the day that came to a pointed culmination during my commute home. Happy holidays, and may all our futures be bright, and meaningful.

Tags: rants , web

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Canoing from the Triple Whipple, to Split Rock to Rabbit Hash, KY

November 24, 2009

A great group of friends went on an excursion down the Ohio River on a beautiful fall day. I might note, there was some pretty good food too.

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On a beautiful Sunday in November, a bunch of us grabbed some boats and put in at the Triple Whipple bridge in Rising Sun, IN and canoed down to the Ohio River. First, the Triple Whipple bridge in worth noting...

It is among the most important historic bridges in the country. The Triple Whipple Bridge was built in 1878, and on that alone it is significant, but it is actually the only remaining example utilizing a triple intersection Pratt system.

Not only is this bridge old, it is large! Any 300 foot span dating to before 1900 is very noteworthy. It is not known how many were built in the United States, but the total cannot have been large. The Laughery Creek bridge, therefore, is not only a rare survivor, it is a rare type to begin with.

We canoed from the bridge, down to the Ohio... then across to explore "Split Rock." We took a lunch break and realized that among us, we had some Pinot Noir and another white wine, several cheeses, pineapple/mango chutney on triscuits, crackers with chocolate and chunky peanut butter, hummus and sesame seaweed crackers, fine-assed coffee... and all this before the famed Rabbit Hash BBQ. It was a total river culinary experience. Thanks to Melissa, who made a recent trip to Finlay Market, for providing the most interesting stuff to eat :)

We jumped back in the boats and did a final 7 miles or so into the wind down to Rabbit Hash, KY. The blazing sun and wind in my face got me some chapped lips for the day. At Rabbit Hash, we heard some good music in the General Store, ate some BBQ and headed back across the river. Thank you God... for another great day on earth, with friends!

Tags: canoe , friends , trips , nature

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Correcting oxidized wine

November 22, 2009

If you are diligent in tending your wine, you may never experience ozidation. However, if you are like me and tend to experiment a lot, you might have more wine going than you can sometimes keep track of. Don't get me wrong--it's not at all that I put it off... I just have way more obligations than one man should have. As such, while wine generally takes care of itself, sometimes I may check in on it a little later than I should. Meanwhile, perhaps the S02 levels may drop while I'm not looking. But let me be clear, I definitely won't neglect my prize batches.

The reality of the situation is, I keep a cellar that is like a big test tube of experimentation. Tehy say a good winemaker has a lifetime of experience. I believe that. My goal is to pack in more experience in less time to produce a better wine, sooner. So I experiment a lot and log everything.

I have experienced oxidation a time or two. The best way to describe oxidation is to cut up an apple and watch within seconds while it turns brown. There are several facotrs that can contribute to oxidized wine. The two most common are too much headspace in your carboy, or too low of S02 levels in your wine. Be sure to mind these two things, and you may never experience oxidation.

Many people think when a wine has oxidized, its bad. Really, oxidation can be reduced, and in some cases eliminated by the use of powdered skim milk. Mind you, it won't win any awards, but it can become a good, drinkable wine again, reminicent of the base you fermented. That is better than dumping it down a drain.  Try this before you dump it.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Calculate the amount of wine to be treated, in litres, and for each litre of wine measure out 0.5 gm of powdered skim milk into five (5) mL of cold water. Stir into a solution making sure all the skim milk is dissolved. NOTE: It is important that you use powdered skim milk, not de-creamed whole milk or malted milk/
2. Now bring the SO2 level of the wine up to the required amount with respect to the pH.
3. Stir the wine vigorously and while it is swirling, add the skim milk solution by making sure that it enters well below the surface of the wine. There may be a bit of foaming, but it will dissipate. Continue to stir the wine to ensure all the skim milk is well distributed. It is important that the skim milk solution enters well below the surface. If you pour it on the surface, little, or nothing, will happen. Once the skim milk is fully distributed, brown curds will develop in the wine and will ultimately settle out.
4. Replace the airlock and allow the wine to settle for 2-3 days. Meanwhile, prepare a fining agent for fining the wine.
5. After 2-3 days, rack the wine off the oxidase curds into a clean carboy and stir in the fining agent. Allow this to settle for about 10 days, then rack the wine off the lees. Add an airlock. Filter and bottle.

Tags: wine , how-to

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Make apple wine, a beginners guide to winemaking

November 01, 2009

A lot of people ask me questions about wine making and it frustrates me that I can't give them a specific answer. The reason is because the answers are not always the same.

Example, "how many apples or how much grapes does it take to make wine?" Or, "how much sugar do I add to my wine?" "What all equipment do I need to make wine?"

I use the leftover apple cider from our cider smash to make 3 gallons of apple/pear wine and at the same time, attempt to answer some of these questions. I also talk a little about acidity in wine, fermenting fruit and how the hydrometer can tell you how much sugar to add to your wine (must).

Tags: wine , how-to , cellar

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