Bangor Bees and Blooms

Bangor Bees and Blooms Backyard gardener with local produce and honey in Bangor, Maine

We went full circle this year! Home grown calendula flowers were dehydrated to make an oil infusion to make our own salv...
08/27/2023

We went full circle this year! Home grown calendula flowers were dehydrated to make an oil infusion to make our own salve with beeswax from the hives.

We’re still working on our preferred ratios of ingredients, but it smells fantastic, and feels good knowing we were able to source many of the components from right here on our 1 acre suburban plot.

Changes afoot in the bee yard this year! We were thrilled to realize we were wrong, and that three, not two, hives survi...
05/13/2023

Changes afoot in the bee yard this year! We were thrilled to realize we were wrong, and that three, not two, hives survived the winter! Unfortunately we lost 4 hives, but after much reflection and investigation, we know how we can improve. And improve we will! Credit to Vino Farms (check Jim’s page out!) for the concept of the Bee Barn, with a few adjustments to utilize equipment and materials we had on hand.

More to come in the next few weeks. Hoping to make a video of the install, but frankly I’m still working that part out.

It’s been dangerously cold outside and my time has been spent ensuring no pipes freeze for the past few days. It’s been ...
02/04/2023

It’s been dangerously cold outside and my time has been spent ensuring no pipes freeze for the past few days. It’s been lovely to reach for these lemon-ginger ice cubes in the freezer for some delightfully warming tea while we hunker down with good books in between loading up the wood stoves.

I simply juiced organic lemons and ginger and froze the juice in silicone ice cube trays. In retrospect theses cubes were far too big, but they won’t freeze solid so I’m able to easily cut off a piece for a cup of tea. Then I just add hot water, honey, and enjoy!

It’s been dropping into the 40’s the last few nights and threatening an end to the summer plants, so I picked many of th...
09/18/2022

It’s been dropping into the 40’s the last few nights and threatening an end to the summer plants, so I picked many of the remaining green tomatoes this morning. At the time I didn’t know what I would be doing with them, but I knew I would figure something out. I scanned through my preserving books and decided to try out Salsa Verde. I was struck by my rigid brain cells that previously thought salsa verde was made only with tomatillos. (Back story: we don’t like green, purple, or yellow tomatillos at all. However we grow quite a bit for the bumblebees who absolutely love the flowers). Anyway, green tomato salsa (aka salsa verde) is smashing and I’m thrilled! I made two batches; one with a little extra heat from the help of our surprising hot jalapeños this year.

Growing in the garden is so much more than plants, and food, and soil. I find that every discovery lends itself to more excitement, curiosity, and joy.

I’ve been putting my Presto Precise digital pressure canner to work this year and I couldn’t be happier. I bought it on a whim a few years ago not fully understanding the canning process yet. I’ve learned a lot over the years about food preservation, and I really enjoy incorporating it

Can you spot the swarm? We didn’t until late in the afternoon, and we didn’t have a way to get to them about 60 feet up ...
09/03/2022

Can you spot the swarm? We didn’t until late in the afternoon, and we didn’t have a way to get to them about 60 feet up this tree. The next day we brought a lift home, but they were gone.

This large clump of bees was likely a result of cast off swarms with multiple virgin queen bees. One of my biggest hives started the swarming process and I hadn’t noticed. This same day I went into the hive and found 25 hatched queen cells! I wish I could have caught this swarm, but they had different plans. The remaining hive is still bustling and has a little piping queen running about ready to go out on a mating flight. 🤞 I hope she makes it back!

The season of bounty! These are our favorite home grown melons. They’re small, fast maturing, and do well in zone 5. The...
08/23/2022

The season of bounty! These are our favorite home grown melons. They’re small, fast maturing, and do well in zone 5. They’re Minnesota Midget Melons and taste similar to cantelopes. I’m saving seeds from this year because they did so well compared to years past. Two vines produced 7 melons which is fantastic for this small vine.

Every year it feels like it takes forever to get the first of the summer produce from the garden, and then one day, and ...
08/07/2022

Every year it feels like it takes forever to get the first of the summer produce from the garden, and then one day, and every day after that, I regret ever having that feeling!

It’s a hot and humid day anyway so what’s a little extra heat making sweet cucumber relish? We go through so much of this, that I don’t both canning/water bathing it, and that has worked out for us in the past.

Sunshine produce! The garden is starting to rev up with the summer goods, and the squash plants are really loving this h...
07/26/2022

Sunshine produce! The garden is starting to rev up with the summer goods, and the squash plants are really loving this heat a lot more than I am.

Put to use some scrap wood we had at the house and built six raised beds to go in the orchard area. I much prefer the di...
07/18/2022

Put to use some scrap wood we had at the house and built six raised beds to go in the orchard area. I much prefer the dirt and plant work, but I was able to make them all level-ish and straight-ish.

This space doesn’t get enough sun for more fruit trees, but it certainly does for flowers and herbs that like some shade in the hot afternoons.

Lavender. Oh, lavender. I have wanted to grow lavender for many years, and for years I have been unsuccessful. It wouldn...
06/23/2022

Lavender. Oh, lavender. I have wanted to grow lavender for many years, and for years I have been unsuccessful. It wouldn’t just not bloom, it would wither and die completely. I must have tried too hard to make the growing conditions too perfect because this year, I’m getting blooms all along the border of this flower bed. The soil is dense clay and compacted, it doesn’t get full sun, and it gets all the run off from the roof after rainstorms. And yet, it’s blooming! I can’t stop looking at it, and running my hands along the stems. The smell! The smell is mesmerizing. An absolutely stunning smell that lingers on the hands, and begs you to touch it again. I’ll say I planted it for the bees, but that’s not the whole truth.

Here is one of my plastic foundation frames that the bees recently drew out with honeycomb. This is great way to be able...
06/20/2022

Here is one of my plastic foundation frames that the bees recently drew out with honeycomb. This is great way to be able to clearly see all the different stages of baby bees because of the color contrast from the black foundation at the bottom and the light colored wax. Brand new wax is white, but then darkens over time to a dark brown. In the middle you can see healthy little white “C” shaped larvae, and on the right there are tiny little rice like eggs. When the eggs are standing up right they were very recently laid by the queen. The eggs fall over just when they about to hatch into larvae.

A friend gifted us a very old Rhubarb plant that had outgrown its location. Well they weren’t kidding, it’s a behemoth! ...
06/08/2022

A friend gifted us a very old Rhubarb plant that had outgrown its location. Well they weren’t kidding, it’s a behemoth! The first photo is the day we dug it up and clumsily plopped it into the ground. A few of the roots were 3 inches in diameter, and we had to cut through them to get it out of the ground. Well, the plant didn’t seem to mind. We didn’t harvest any this year thinking it would need time to establish again after transplant. First photo April 28, second photo June 6

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