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Honey produced in Phoenixville, PA by Jaarsma Apiaries

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  • 12 December 201820 May 2019
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Look for our honey in the summer of 2019!

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Propolis. The sticky mix of tree resin, wax, poll Propolis. The sticky mix of tree resin, wax, pollen, and bee saliva that makes a super sticky glue to seal gaps and coat the inside of the hive boxes (and stain your beekeeping suit and gloves). In the peak of summer, it's sticky and gooey. In the winter it's as brittle as glass. There have been some studies done on its benefits, but the composition varies widely depending on what plants are available so no propolis is exactly like the next. Bees are opportunists, collecting whatever might be available and even recycle wax and foraged material inside the hive as needed. Pretty smart gals!
Bumper bees! . Slow motion bees are *still* my fav Bumper bees! . Slow motion bees are *still* my favorite. . #beekeeping #beecollision #slowmotionbees
This Friday, 5-8pm at the @weatherstonetc! The @c This Friday, 5-8pm at the @weatherstonetc! The @craftandmercantile market last month was absolutely magical, and I can't wait for Friday! We'll have our honey, beeswax candles, and hand printed tea towels (including a secret new color of 'seconds'). And, as always, all of your bee questions are answered free of charge! There are bunches of local artisans, crafters, and makers of all kinds, beer, food, and music too, so it's a full community event. Hope to see you there!
Mountain mint just started blooming and every poll Mountain mint just started blooming and every pollinator is having a party on the flowers! Mountain mint is a native plant and it's deer resistant, plus it's a great food source for bees when food gets a little scarce in July. It will bloom into early fall with clusters of tiny little flowers and it's really amazing to see the variety of bees, wasps, and bumblebees that come to visit. #beekeeping #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney #mountainmint
Welcome to the world, little bee! Welcome to the world, little bee!
The two bees just left of center have their heads The two bees just left of center have their heads stuffed into cells, feeding developing larvae. You can see larvae in the cells in the bottom of the photo. During the first three days, all larvae are fed royal jelly which is a substance secreted from glands in the heads of worker bees. After day 3, only developing queen larvae are fed royal jelly - worker bees are fed "bee bread" which is a mixture of nectar and pollen. The addition of pollen turns off the bits of DNA that make a female bee a queen. In some cases when a hive has been queenless for too long, a worker bee's ovaries can activate due to the lack of queen pheromone. The eggs a worker bee lays in that case are all unfertilized eggs, so they'd be drones. Without a beekeeper to try and intervene, the hive would eventually die out, and this is probably one of the toughest problems to fix for a beekeeper! #beekeeping #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
Stopped by the community garden in Phoenixville ea Stopped by the community garden in Phoenixville earlier this week and caught some bees working on the flowers in the pollinator garden. They were buzzing alongside bumblebees, sweat bees, butterflies, and a bunch of other insects on all kinds of flowers. The folks there do an amazing job keeping the gardens going, and I could stand there and watch the bees work for hours.
Market schedule for July is up! We're up to Batch Market schedule for July is up! We're up to Batch G already for that delicious spring and early summer honey which is SO great for a Bees Knees cocktail. The floral notes in spring honey definitely complement lemon and a good gin or make the drink a mocktail with kombucha or tonic water. It's a great way to cool down on a hot day, and making honey simple syrup is super easy! Warm up equal parts honey and water in a pan on the stove (you can also do 2:1 honey to water if you want a thicker syrup) just until the honey dissolves (use low heat, don't let it boil). Keeps in the fridge for at least a week! And, you can infuse your honey simple syrup with herbs like rosemary, lavender, or vanilla.
I don't think I ever really introduced myself on h I don't think I ever really introduced myself on here, so *deep breath* here goes. (I'm better at talking about bees then about myself!) . Hey there folks, I'm Melissa, the queen bee behind Phoenixville Honey. I'm the beekeeper, honey processor, candle maker, screen printer, and market stand gal for the business. My husband Doug helps out when he's home (when he's not out on a ship somewhere around the world), but it's mostly a one woman show over here. . When I don't have my head stuck in a beehive, and especially during the winter, I keep myself busy with all sorts of art and craft endeavors from knitting and sewing to photography and printmaking of all kinds (screen printing, kitchen litho, intaglio, block printing, etc). In fact, our little bee logo was created during a printmaking class long before the business was created! I'm passionate about local food and knowing your farmers and food producers. When we first moved to Phoenixville, we joined on with a One Local Summer challenge, making one meal a week using only local ingredients. After over 12 years of continuing the challenge, it's no longer a challenge and local food is the most important part of our meals. . I speak Italian (albeit not as fluently as I did 15 years ago). I love to travel. Yoga is a personal necessity. I will always want to pet your dog. Horror movies are my favorite. I occasionally write for the @atomicno26zine. There can never bee enough bee puns. I had a career in IT prior to beekeeping. Metal is my favorite music genre. I love swing dancing. Nothing beats a good whisky. . I think that's it? Of course, I always love answering bee questions and am deeply fascinated by all the new discoveries science keeps making about those neat little insects. . Many thanks to @campliphoto for this great candid photo in which I'm smiling (and *not* making a silly face), and @craftandmercantile for putting together an amazing market this month! Looking forward to all the July markets coming up, and we hope to bee seeing you all soon!
Hey beekeepers, do you mark your queens? I never Hey beekeepers, do you mark your queens? I never did till this year, but it makes it so much easier to find the queen on a busy frame of bees. It only takes a few minutes but saves me SO much time during weekly inspections (and for the beekeepers, when shuffling frames for the demaree). It doesn't bother the queen or bees at all, and it helps me get my work done and close up the hive more quickly which also makes the bees happier. #beekeeping #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
The bees are making honey incredibly quickly this The bees are making honey incredibly quickly this year, so we're already up to batch E rolling off the hives. This batch is a collaboration with the folks at @camphillsoltane, and we're excited to continue working with them again this year! The hives help to pollinate their orchards and gardens, and the bees produce this gorgeous honey that helps support their mission. For more info, check out their Instagram or website (camphillsoltane.org). . This batch is already online and available for local delivery Friday or pre-order for the @growingrootsfarmersmarkets Downingtown market on Saturday (9a-noon)! It's mostly a lighter, sweeter spring honey, but a little honey left in the frames from the fall snuck into this batch, so along with those delicate spring floral notes, you might find some hints of that malty, molasses fall honey too. #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
Bee eggs! In just 3 weeks, each of those eggs wil Bee eggs! In just 3 weeks, each of those eggs will emerge from a cell as an adult, female worker bee. She'll then spend the first 22 days doing house chores and will eventually graduate to forager for the last 3 weeks of her life. . A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to the market last night! Had a great time talking bee nerd to everyone, and it was just a perfect evening. 💛 . In other news, I'll be doing a presentation with the @phxville_library on bees and native pollinators on Monday! It's via zoom, so all are welcome to join. Sign up is on the library webpage and I'll pop a link in my profile to the event listing. Bring all your bee questions for a Q&A at the end! #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
We'll be at this market tomorrow! Check out @craf We'll be at this market tomorrow! Check out @craftandmercantile and @weatherstonetc for all the details. There are going to be lots of amazing artists, crafters, and makers of all kinds, plus food trucks and music, and I'm so excited for this event!
When checking in on a beehive, this is exactly wha When checking in on a beehive, this is exactly what I want to see! A beautiful, even laying pattern from the queen. All those cells capped with brown wax are developing worker bee larvae with just a few drone cells in there on the bottom too. In the top corners (which are on the right side of the frame the way it's oriented here) are capped honey and in the border between the brood and honey is an arc of pollen. It just doesn't get much better than this! #beekeeping #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
June's market dates! More details on the website June's market dates! More details on the website (link in profile). Hope to see you out at a market! As always, happily answering all of your bee questions and glad to talk bee nerd alllll day long at markets, no purchase necessary 😁
2021 Batch B is available on the website along wit 2021 Batch B is available on the website along with Batch A for local delivery on Friday! June market schedule will be posted tomorrow, and probably one more batch of honey will be available this week. The bees have been cranking out honey pretty early this Spring thanks to a long run of warm, dry weather, but we're glad to have seen the rain this weekend finally! #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
Our first batch of 2021 honey is bottled and ready Our first batch of 2021 honey is bottled and ready to go to the Downingtown Farmers Market on Saturday, 9a-noon. Hope to see you there! #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
SO many gorgeous frames of honey coming off the hi SO many gorgeous frames of honey coming off the hives this week! One batch is already extracted and will be available at the Downingtown Farmers Market on Saturday (9a-noon) and maybe one additional batch as well if I can get it extracted and bottled before Saturday. . We extract in fairly small 4-5 gallon batches to show off the small differences in the honey from location to location and as the season slowly shifts towards darker honey. This early honey is going to be very light and very sweet, and probably primarily Black Locust honey. We don't make a true varietal since the bees collect from whatever is available, so technically all of our honey is wildflower honey, but our biggest source of nectar this time of year is definitely those black locust trees! Can't wait to bring our first honey of the year to market this week! #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney #beekeeping @growingrootsfarmersmarkets
These ladies just wanted to wish you a Happy World These ladies just wanted to wish you a Happy World Bee Day! . Of course I spent my afternoon with the bees after an incredible week of black locust bloom. They all worked tremendously hard bringing home nectar and curing it down into honey. . So, on World Bee Day, what can we do to help honey bees and other pollinators? Let the dandelions and clover grow, and mow less frequently! Plant native, flowering plants. Convince your neighbor or HOA that paying someone to turn their yard into a toxic desert that requires constant maintenance isn't worth it. Get involved in changing your town's code to let people turn that useless strip of grass between the sidewalk and road into a pollinator highway, filled with clover and native wildflowers. And that's just a few of so many things you can do to help the bees! #worldbeeday #worldbeeday2021 #beekeeping #phoenixvillepa #phoenixville #phoenixvillehoney
The bees in their new home this morning at the Pho The bees in their new home this morning at the Phoenixville Community Garden! The install went smoothly and I'm so lucky to be able to have bees at such a pretty location. Looking forward to meeting the gardeners and putting these ladies to work pollinating all the herbs, flowers, and vegetables grown here! #phoenixville #phoenixvillepa #phoenixvillehoney
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