Purple Bee Farm

03/03/2024

Hello everyone ,

A few of you missed the sign up for Hero’s to Hives so here is a workaround. This will need need to be sent in ASAP, Monday night…

Please email me a phone number and email to me at:

Clint Ward.VFW423@gmail.com

DM me if you gave questions but do it right away.
Kisses
Clint Ward

12/30/2023

Eat Honey on New Years Day and be Sweet All Year.
Please like: Historical Honeybee Articles - Beekeeping History

Historical Article: Beehive Banks as New Year’s Gifts. https://www.facebook.com/share/hUE1Ddh5C7heyDjf/?mibextid=K8Wfd2

Source:
Detroit Times, Detroit, Michigan
December 31, 1914

12/14/2023

Keep smiling even though you are really busy. Bee Merry

11/21/2023

❤️🐝❤️

11/21/2023

Bees aren’t the only important pollinators…

As Thanksgiving approaches, be sure to remember and thank the amazing animals that made most of your food possible through seed dispersal, pollination and insect control! 🧡

08/17/2023

06/27/2023

U.S. Honey Bee Losses

This chart shows the estimated share of bee keepers' colonies lost in the United States from 2016-17 to 2022-23.

To read on, go to: https://www.beeculture.com/u-s-honey-bee-losses/

06/22/2023

Happy Polinator’s Week!

Happy Pollinator Week!

Links:
Honey Bee Health Coalition : https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/
Farmers for Monarchs : https://farmersformonarchs.org/

To read on, go to: https://www.beeculture.com/happy-pollinator-week/

06/21/2023

Happy Solstice!

On the eve of Summer Solstice...
'Midsummer's eve ushers in the longest day and a season of growth, renewal and abundance that helps us keep heart, celebrate in the outdoors and enjoy the sweetness of the season.
Historically, Solstice is a time for garlands made of St. John's wort, mugwort, and lavender. Gardens offer up hollyhocks flower dolls, chive vinegar, yarrow and plantain salve, strawberry shortcake, elder-flower fritters and cordial, lavender wands and an abundance of summer greens and lush floral bouquets to share with friends and family.
The abundance of fragrant, colorful and styptic rose petals available would be distilled, infused, tinctured, and strewn on summer salads, floors and pathways.
May this Solstice carry the reminder that the wheel of life is much larger than us. Seasons roll on, and perhaps the best we can do is cultivate our own little patch of earth and leave our habitat a little better each year. Best wishes for a joyful and celebratory turning of the season! May your find unexpected magic in your own back yard! The Heirloom Gardener - John Forti
Artist Danielle Barlow

05/15/2023

Sounds like an interesting use for rhubarb. Anyone ever try this?

https://herewebee.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/hot-rhubarb/?fbclid=IwAR2FzB8C4P7g9jsMHzMs7ApoV8lwTrLGU--pj3q5DwF8a1b07X883RAn2Xo

Sometimes, help comes from the most unlikely directions. Of all the stressors bees now face, none is worse, or harder on the bees, than the Varroa destructor mite. Indeed, if you do not face up to …

03/19/2023

Happy Food and Ag Month! This week, we're celebrating everything about Michigan Asparagus!

02/11/2023

February 11th is Saint Gobnait’s Feast Day.
Patron Saint of Honeybees and Beekeepers.
Saint Gobnait probably lived during the 6th century. A miracle with honeybees is attributed to her.
Via: Historical Honeybee Articles - Beekeeping History

Image: St. Gobnait - Patron Saint of Honeybees and Beekeepers
By Patricia Banker.

The Quote on the Icon Reads:
'The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.' ~Saint John Chrysostom (See References)

In Ireland, St. Gobnait, who probably lived during the 6th century, is the patron saint of honeybees and beekeepers. Her connection to honey bees is complex, beginning with the angel telling her to find her “resurrection place,” where the soul leaves the body. In Celtic mythology, the soul was thought to depart the body as a bee or a butterfly. Bees have long held an important place in Irish culture, and ancient laws were called the Bech Bretha (“Bee Judgments”).

One of Gobnait’s attributed miracles has her rousting her bees from their hives in order to chase off evil-doers, including a band of cattle rustlers and a rich man who wanted to build a castle on Gobnat’s farm. Some accounts go even further, with the bees miraculously changing into soldiers and their hives transformed into bronze helmets.

Honey is well-known for its curative properties, and Gobnait was renowned for her care of the sick. She is said to have had a strong relationship with bees and used honey in the treatment of illness and healing of wounds.

February 11 is a “Pattern Day” in the parishes of Dún Chaoin and in Baile Bhúirne, and is regarded as both holiday and holy day. In one tradition, a medieval wooden carving of Gobnait, about two feet high, kept in a church drawer during the year, is brought out. Parishioners bring a ribbon to ”measure” the statue. This ribbon is then taken home to use when special blessings are needed.

February 11th is St. Gobnait’s feast day -the day her memorable life is celebrated. She is one of the few Irish saints that is not only remembered in her native region, but has been proclaimed by the Irish bishops to be a national saint. There are shrines and places of devotion to St. Gobnait in all the places she is believed to have stopped on her journey - including Inis Oírr. But Ballyvourney, where she carried out most of her ministry, is the place that draws the greatest number of pilgrims devoted to this saint.

A tall statue of St. Gobnait that was erected in the 1950s stands near the monastic site. She appears with a nun’s habit standing on a bee hive surrounded by bees. Gobnait is the patron saint of bee keepers, and there are several legends recalling Gobnait forcing invaders out of Ballyvourney by setting swarms of bees upon them. It’s probable that Gobnait had a close relationship with bees and used honey in healing efforts.

Source:
Patricia Banker.
http://www.patriartsgallery.com/collections/anachrons

St. Gobnait
Deborah, or Abigail
Patron of Honeybees and Beekeepers
http://saintspreserved.com/buzz/about-st-gobnait/

Thin Places
http://www.thinplace.net/2010/02/happy-st-gobnaits-day-february-11th.html

St. John Chrysostom:
St. John Chrysostom was born circa 347 in Antioch (then in Syria), Turkey. For 12 years, beginning in 386, he established himself as a great preacher, offering his listeners impressive sermons. In 398, St. John was requested, against his will, to serve as archbishop of Constantinople.
http://www.biography.com/people/st-john-chrysostom-9247793.

02/04/2023

11/13/2022

Bees are fascinating creatures! https://www.npr.org/2022/11/05/1134355887/bumblebees-can-play-does-it-mean-they-have-feelings-study-says-yes?utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR1sYbQRZwGu0A9bG_Cge0sjEyQC-O_gq5ZC9mIdgR652xmd4FZFK_Shbpc

Scientists wanted to learn whether bees, like humans and other mammals, had any interest in playing for fun's sake. They say they have evidence that bees do, and that could change how we view insects.

08/09/2022

We are hosting a praying mantis convention this week at Purple Bee Farm. Looking for a guest speaker, preferably male…

06/20/2022

Happy Pollinator Week!

To read on, go to: https://www.beeculture.com/pollinator-week-2/