I’m looking to book my flight to Boca this summer for another adventurous three weeks in hot steamy Florida. Two moms, five kids, we sure fit in a lot of fun. Here are some snaps of last year’s vacation, in no particular order.
Remember the hive we removed from the eaves of a shed? We used a couple gallons of it to start our first 5-gallon carboy of MEAD. It will take 1-2 years to be ready – so perhaps by summer 2015?
We carved spoons out of the native Florida tree, gumbo limbo, while we binge-watched Masters of Sex.
Veil-less Sierra showing a frame of bees. C was a smarty-pants and knew all the answers to her bee questions, much to the entertainment of the crowd.
Sierra’ first bee yard! How sweet and small. Humble beginnings. This pic was taken on her her visit to her first bee yard in summer 2014. She has 100+ hives now – less than a year later.
Polishing the ends of what will become my steel bracelet that we made in Joe’s metal shop with Joe’s instruction (Sierra’s neighbor).
Harvesting starfruit from a neighbor’s tree to make jam. Very mild.
Hanging at the lagoon in Jupiter. The water was amazingly clear and the shore was bounded by mangrove trees.
Smoking a freshly caught swarm before moving it into a proper hive. Bees can be moved 12 inches or 12 miles – so the box was taken to Sierra’s bee yard and swapped out for another swarm. This box caught a second swarm the following week.
Fishing off the sea wall (another neighbor’s backyard – across the street from Adam Sandler’s vacation home!). C caught a mangrove snapper
A rescued sea turtle – no pics of our first night when we watched a wild mama sea turtle lay eggs on the beach. This poor guy has a fish hook in his mouth.
In the background of all our activity we were constantly tending the borrowed solar beeswax melter. Sierra had piles of old comb to go through.
Food was an important part our visit; we made Korean BBQ twice with specially cut ribs from Whole Foods
Drinking was also part of our trip – here’s what remains of our rainbow vodka shot jello cake by the time I remembered to take a picture.
My buddy Sierra (milking coconuts here) who put up with me and C for three weeks. Hope she’s ready for another three weeks!
