Cold Weather Markets

Farmers markets are popular social meeting places. People gather not only for the fresh food, but also for renewing friendships. Most of the regular markets have closed for the year, but there are a number of seasonal markets throughout the month of December. Many of these markets bring in artists with a wide variety of creative products. Peace Bee Farm is participating in a number of these markets, selling our honey and bee hive products. Honey sells exceptionally well on cold days. Folks think of enjoying honey on hot buttered biscuits or pancakes. A cup of hot tea with honey and lemon first warms the hands and then the entire body. People purchase 100 percent beeswax candles and beeswax soaps, hand creams, body balms, and lip glosses either for themselves or as gifts for friends.

We ran into many of our friends at the Memphis Farmers Market’s one-day December market day. Large numbers of people passed among the booths of farmers and artisans. They were eagerly purchasing the cool-weather produce, which included a number of varieties of greens, turnips, and potatoes. Jams, jellies, and preserves were popular items as were many baked goods: pies, cakes, and breads of every description. I photographed Rita and Jill Forrester of Whitton Flowers and Produce on the frosty morning at the outdoor farmers market. That’s Jill wearing the blue and green knit hat. Peace Bee Farm maintains a bee yard at Whitton, Arkansas at Jill and Keith Forrester’s Whitton Farms. Our bees pollinate the Forrester’s crops and produce cotton, soybean, and wildflower honey from surrounding fields. You can visit their web site at http://whittonfarms.com/. Meanwhile, bee yard activity is reduced to a walk around inspection of the bee hives in cold weather, mainly checking that hive covers, weighted down by bricks, are in place. Hive entrances are reduced to a very small opening. It’s best to not open the hive and chill the bees when the temperature is below 50 degrees.
--Richard

Endless Feast

The Endless Feast is an attempt to showcase locally grown foods and the farmers that produce them. The Endless Feast promotes family farms, organic farms, sustainable agriculture, healthful eating, nutrition, and appreciation of the efforts required to bring food to the table. The Endless Feast shows how the food is produced by visiting the farms where the ingredients are grown, interviewing the farmers, and watching them go about their daily farming endeavors. After being introduced to the farms and the farmers, a group of one hundred is served a gourmet sit-down dinner served outdoors at one of the farms. The Endless Feast is preparing a meal to be served at Whitton Farms, the flower and produce farm owned by Jill and Keith Forrester. Chef Lisa Godsey of Godsey’s in Jonesboro, Arkansas is preparing the meal from foods produced locally in the Arkansas Delta. Peace Bee Farm will be supplying late summer cotton and wildflower honey to be used in a pumpkin soup.

In the photo, I am being interviewed at Peace Bee Farm by New York wellness instructor, Ebeth Johnson, for an upcoming segment of Endless Feast, which will be broadcast on PBS. The film crew is from Film Garden Entertainment of Van Nuys, California. Rita Underhill and Jill Forrester are on the left, both wearing red vests. I showed our guests around one of our bee yards. Today’s sunny skies and pleasant weather, a break from days of rain, brought the bees out of the hives and allowed us to move in for a close look. Next, we went into the honey house to see how we extract the honey. Jill and Ebeth got to taste some comb honey from our bee hives that are located at Jill’s Whitton, Arkansas farm. Jill was delighted that the honey tasted as great as the appearance of her flowers that supplied nectar that the bees used to produce this honey. Ebeth wanted some hot biscuits to go with her Delta honey. You can find her at http://www.consciouscravers.com/.
--Richard

Corn Produces Pollen

Honey bees are attracted to the flowering plants, and they collect nectar and pollen from them. The attraction of the bees is part of a mutually beneficial relationship that the flowering plants and the bees share. The bees gain food, and the flowering plants are pollinated, a necessary step in their reproduction. The bees are generally not attracted to the grasses, though. The grasses reproduce by wind pollination and do not need insects to carry the pollen. One grass does attract honey bees at times, and the plant is corn. Honey bees may be seen flying down rows of corn. As the bees fly, their hairy bodies take on an electrostatic charge. Flying among the tassels of corn plants, the pollen jumps onto the hairs of the bees’ bodies. Back at the hive, the corn pollen, along with other pollens, is mixed with honey to make bee bread to be feed to the brood. A diverse diet of pollens makes for good nutrition for the developing bees. Pollen contains protein, vitamins, minerals, and fats, or lipids. While the honey bees bring some corn pollen into the hive, corn produces no nectar; so there is no honey made from corn.

In the photo we can see broom corn being grown as produce at Whitton Farms in the foreground. In the distance, beyond the Peace Bee Farm bee hives that pollinate the Whitton produce and flowers, you can see a large field of corn. This variety of corn seen in the distance is most likely to produce grain to be converted into ethanol for fuel. To see more about the activity at Whitton Farms, visit their web site, http://whittonfarms.com/.
--Richard

Sunflowers in Bloom

Sunflowers in bloom are a sure sign of summer. The sunflowers are a member of the important family of bee plants, the composites. The composite family, also called the sunflower family, is among the largest families of flowering plants. Worldwide, composites make up one tenth of the 250 thousand flowering plants. They exist on all continents except Antarctica. We recognize many of the composites: coneflower, dandelion, coreopsis, marigold, asters, and zinnias. Many composites are placed in landscape plantings and in parks for the beauty of their flowers. Composites are producers of nectar and pollen, making them excellent bee plants.

In the photo, you can see sunflowers growing near our bee yard at Whitton Flowers and Produce in Whitton, Arkansas. Jill and Keith Forrester grow cut flowers and fresh produce on their family farm. At this time of the year, Jill’s sunflowers are prized for their bright appearance in flower arrangements. Once the sunflower has been pollinated by a honey bee, the plant produces the distinctive black seeds in the center of the flower. The sunflowers are of particular value to the honey bee for their pollen. Many of the sunflowers, however, produce so much pollen that they were not in demand for table arrangements. The flowers simply spill their abundant pollen onto the table cloth. Horticulturists have developed sunflowers in recent years specifically for floral use that produce little pollen. One variety of sunflowers often grown for bird seed, the black oil sunflower, is not favored by the honey bee. There are many other varieties of sunflower which are very attractive to honey bees and native pollinators. Visit the Forresters’ web site at http://whittonfarms.com/.
--Richard

Brussels Sprouts in Bloom

The Brussels sprouts are members of the important bee plant family of mustards. This family is made up of various greens, cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower. We are familiar with the Brussels sprouts; the buds that we eat look like small cabbages. Here, we see the plant flowering. The mustards, when left undisturbed, bloom in the spring and attract honey bees with a reward of pollen and nectar. The honey bee pollinates the plant, and seed is produced.

I took this photo at Whitton Flowers and Produce, in Whitton, Arkansas, where we have one of our bee yards. Keith and Jill Forrester grow flowers and produce at their Arkansas delta farm. Be sure to visit their web site at http://whittonfarms.com/. They recognize the importance of protecting the soil’s tilth and nutrients as well as the air, water, plants, earthworms, and pollinators. The Forresters work mighty hard at Whitton producing beautiful flowers and delicious fruits and vegetables. The honey bees provide pollination for the flowering plants. From the flowers on their farm and surrounding delta fields, our bees produce a mild tasting and fragrant light amber honey.
--Richard