Honey bees are on the move, honey bees are loose

This years honey crop was a bust.  Amber and I started this spring with essentially 4 hives. One carried over from last year and we were really hopeful this one would have the colony population to produce the honey.  Two hives where new nucleolus purchases this year. The fourth hive was a swarm I captured in The Villages and ordered an emergency hive body for.  

As it sits now we have two hives left.  The hive that carried over from last year all died in a sticky soupy mess inside the hive.  It almost looked like things overheated and melted.  I'm not sure if that is the case or if the bees died from another cause and the melted mess is what happens to an untended hive.  

The captured hive, despite my best efforts and capturing the swarm again, flew the coop.  They drew out comb on a few frames and then decided this wasn't the hive for them.

So interestingly enough the two hives that are still here both have mesh screen bottoms while the hive that died and abandoned had solid wood bottoms. Coincidence?  I can't be certain.  This is my first season with screen bottom hives so after this winter I will formulate my opinion.

All this being said the only two hives that survived are new this year.  I was trying to be optimistic that they would be able to produce a little surplus honey but they didn't.  I pulled a few frames from the hives only to realize that they were full of brood. Which is a good thing for future population growth but not for extracting honey.  I did keep one frame with an isolated patch of brood and manually extracted the honey. It was only enough to fill 3.5 cup sized mason jars. I also think there might be a small flavor or taste linked to honey around brood cells that I am not a fan of. 

Hopefully next year theses two hive will have maxed out their populations and I can throw on top boxes with a queen excluder and really get some pure delicious honey.

Abaco, Bahamas!

First of all what a hell of a trip!  They don't call it paradise for nothing.  Perfect weather, great company, awesome scenery.  It doesn't get any better.  Here's how it went.

We packed the night before. I worked until 2 on Friday when I met with Amber and we headed to the airport at 3.  Our luggage was put on while we settled in with Beam and cokes.  From take off to landing totaled 48 minutes. During the flight there was barely enough time to fill out customs forms (our first time using our passports by the way), take pictures of the islands, and enjoy our drinks.

We touch down in the little airport at Marsh Harbour and are greeted by the airport staff grabbing our luggage and ushering us into the customs office.  After an abbreviated version of what I assume would be regular customs clearing we are let through to the car waiting and running out back of the building.  Our friends and hosts have this vehicle there just for when they fly in. It was pretty mind blowing.  

Almost as much so as driving on the left side of the road!  If you have never done that it really messes with your mind, and I was only a passenger. We drove through the picturesque town of Marsh Harbour soaking everything in.  It was like living and episode of Anthony Bourdain's: No Reservations.  The Town was an eclectic mix of beautiful tropical scenery, quaint businesses, people working, people vacationing, multi-million dollar homes, and ghetto slums.  Cars, delivery vehicles, work vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians were scattered about the streets and sidewalks of this decidedly sleepy town.  

After passing through town the road continued on winding alongside the water of the Sea of Abaco presenting breathtaking views at every clearing. 

We arrived at our "chateau" for the weekend and toss everything in the room.  The house is a beautiful two story with a upper rear porch overlooking the channel between  us and Sugar Loaf Cay.  

It not long before we are changed into bathing suits, down on the dock, and into the water.  The water was beautiful, clear, and the perfect temperature. 

There is a reason they call this paradise.  We spent the rest of the day a delightful mix of overwhelmed and elated.  We snorkeled in the Sea of Abaco witnessing basketball sized starfish, a couple lounging stingray, and even a darting barracuda. Snorkeling was quickly followed up with pulling out the sails for the 13ft Hobie cat and taking it for a spin.  If you have never been on a Hobie cat before you must try one.  There is a reason Hobie's catamarans have been built and loved for over 50 years.  I thought it was interesting and sad that this is the first Hobie I had the pleasure to sail and Hobie passed away in March of this year.  His legend will surely live on in the boats, stand up paddle boards, and kayaks being built today.

The next day was a whirlwind of snorkeling, eating, drinking, and site seeing.

We loaded up the Albury Brothers 27ft center console and headed south. We snorkeled over some coral reefs by Sandy Cay and Cornish Cay and relished in the presence of tropical fish, a sea turtle, and a shark.  We hopped to a nearby beach and strolled in the powder white sand. In need of sustenance and libation we cruised over to what turned out to be our favorite restaurant of the whole trip; Cracker P's.  It overlooks the water from it's perch on a small hill.  The mahi sandwiches with Bahamian mac and cheese thoroughly impressed all of us as being delicious and simply elegant.


The next day was rather leisurely. A short bike ride into Marsh Harbour turned into a long one as Amber and I explored.  Our first stop was the grocery store. To our surprise it was pretty much the same as grocery stores in the states.  Some items we didn't recognize but most we did. Some items where more expensive but most were the same.  For instance we bought 3 apples and some drinks. The total surprised us being almost 19 dollars. We didn't realize the apples were going to run 13.77 for the three. They were really good apples though.  After stopping for some Cuban cigars, we meandered back to the house and relaxed before heading out on our next adventure.

Motoring over to Great Guana Cay we did the obligatory hop between Nippers and Grabbers. Both places were full of people and shenanigans. They are very party centric places and not necessarily the types of restaurants and bars that Amber and I gravitate towards but when you go to the Abaco's you have to go to say you did it.

The rest of the evening was spent back at the house simmering in an alcohol, sun burnt, and exhausted state of euphoria. Before we knew what happened the morning came, we were back on a plane, and three full days of paradise were forever locked into memory.

Crystal River Boatin'

Amber and I sometimes get delusional views about the way the world normally works.  Our normal day off will be on a Monday or Tuesday.  There is a very different scene when you go out on a Monday night verses a Saturday night like the rest of the world does.  For easy going people like us, however, Monday nights work just fine.  Try it sometime.

So we went out with some friends, Burt, Joey, and their son Harley, from work to Crystal River on a Saturday. We met them down there in the late morning and put their Polar flats boat in the water at Pete's Pier.  After a short mishap with a self bailing system on the back of the boat where we thought we would fill with water and sink, we idled south, went under King's Bay Drive and stopped right around the corner from the mouth of Magnolia Springs.  The water was shockingly cold compared to the blazing Florida sun but it did not take long to acclimate to the 72 degree water and enjoy floating around on my "safety noodle." Which I took with me every time I got in the water that day.  It was then that Amber and I really started to see how many people were out doing the same thing we were.  There were boats, kayaks, and stand up paddle boards (SUPs) everywhere.  And I mean everywhere. It was like traffic but on the water.  Anytime we take the Blue the sailboat or the jon boat out we are almost always the only people on the water. That's the difference between Monday and Saturday.  We clamored back in the boat and squeezed our way into traffic.  We spent a little time checking out some of the canals which is where our friends use to live and their son grew up.  We could see schools of darting mullet,  diving turtles, and a mother manatee with her baby sunning by the edge of the canal.   We then motored up to the "parking lot" at the entrance to Three Sister's Springs.

Not my picture but you get the point

Three Sister's is a group of three springs that is only accessible from the water.  There are walkways around the springs that are only accessible by land but you can't get from the walkways to the spring water.  Also the "parking lot" for boats at the entrance to the springs has large cement poles in the water to stop any traffic larger than a kayak, stand up paddle board, or swimmer from gaining access.  We caught a lucky break and coasted into a spot that was just abandoned by a fellow spring goer. Traffic was even more concentrate at this point with even more people swimming than in vehicles.  People had there boats anchored all along the edge of the water and were bailing out to swim to the mouth of the spring.  We had a few bites to eat and chatted with or boat neighbor before we all jumped out and followed suit with the rest of the crowd.  We had to merge in with swim traffic and inch our way against the current up to the spring.  It was a very surreal experience being among 50 other people enjoying the cool spring water and warm sun while floating above one of nature's beautiful and mysterious wonders.  We snorkeled above each of the three springs until we reached the point where the chill of the water outweighed the fun. We kicked lazily back to the boat and clamored back into the boat.

At this point we were all starting to get a little hungry so we decided to motor down to The Plantation.  On the way we ran through 10 or so sailboat hooked to mooring balls, most of them for sale. Joey whipped us in next to the ones for sale so that Amber and I could check them out and dream.  We decided since this trip that we are going to go back in our sailboat soon and get some numbers from the boats and make some calls.  We would probably find a better deal on a boat there than online.


We continued down to The Plantation and docked
in the canal.  They have a great bar by the pool and canal that us guys lounged at while the girls relaxed in the pool.  We had a few drinks and a very decent crab cake before hoping back in the boat.

We hit a couple more spots along King's Bay including a roped off swimming area above a spring at Banana Island but the water was too dark to see anything. Also Twin Rivers Marina about halfway up to channel to the gulf to see some of their friend's boats docked there.

At this point It was getting late. We were all pretty worn out and ready to eat and call it a day.  We loaded up the boat and drove down to The Freezer in Homosassa.  We had an amazing meal of delicious snow crab legs, some of the freshest shrimp you can get, and probably the best clam chowder in a bread bowl I have ever had.  It was the perfect way to end the day

The Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World!

In the summer of 2013 we were treated to an absolutely amazing vacation.  We were put up for for 3 days in the gorgeous Grand Floridian Hotel at Walt Disney World.  Now Disney is only an hour away from where we live and between my Mom's friend who gave me tickets every year for Christmas, and my sister who worked there for several years, I have been to Disney more times than I can count. But I had never experienced Disney like this.

When we first got to the hotel we opted against the valet parking, primarily to save money to spend on important things.  So we park across the street and drag our luggage to the front door.  We are greeted before we make it to the front door by a very sharply dressed and warmly welcoming young maitre d wielding a tablet.  He goes through his programmed, yet genuine sounding, spiel as he leads us through the door.  What an imposing and breathtaking view the lobby is.  We ooed and aahed as we soaked in the realization that this was our home for the next 3 days.  The young man then asked our name.   After punching it into his tablet he says "oh, wait here i'll get your key cards."  His surprise, albeit slight, was kind of worrisome.  We looked at each other with puzzled expressions for the two minutes it took to grab our key cards and a cart for our luggage.  He could see our confusion.  "We are heading to the upper floors." he said matter-of-factly and our luggage was placed on a cart by another man. "Follow me," he continued and strode off towards the elevators.  He passed out our cards in the elevator and explained more.  "In order to get to the 3rd floor where your room is you have to first swipe your card on this sensor here and then push the number 3, or else it won't let you up."  We were blown away.  Not only were we in this amazing hotel but we were on the private floors! We were way out of our element but loving every second.

When we step off the elevator we are greeted by a man introduced to us as our concierge.  He smiled warmly, motioned to the desks, and informed us that if we needed anything at all to see them and to not go downstairs with the rif-raf.  We got a good laugh out of this the whole trip. He was calling the people that had to stay on the two downstairs floors rif-raf. and we couldn't even afford to stay down below if we wanted to.  We were taken to our room and our luggage was placed lovingly around. The maitre d had gave us a rundown on everything else involved, like navigating to the parks and information on the restaurants, and then left us to get settled in.  

We had park hopper passes, we had paid for meal plans, and we had spending money.  The rest of the trip was really a blur. We did anything and everything. We made sure to go to magic kingdom, animal kingdom, epcot, and blizzard beach specifically. Where we had a blast at each one. We even had fun lounging around at the hotel and its gorgeous pool late at night.  We ate a lot of really great food including the highlight at Narcoossee's in the Grand Floridian itself were we could see the Epcot fireworks from our tables window.

It was truly and amazing and unforgettable experience that I think we will all treasure forever.