Young Harris was great in so many ways. I learned a lot and heard some good speakers: Juliana Rangel from NC State and Gary Reuter from the University of Minnesota, in particular. I also taught two workshops on Low Tech Beekeeping and tested the candidates for Certified Beekeeper on their practical exams.
Julia and Noah went also. Noah earned his Journeyman certification - he's only 15 and I imagine he's one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person to get this certification in Georgia. He is such a knowledgeable and excellent beekeeper, and I love being associated with him.
I couldn't believe that I left my camera in Atlanta so I couldn't take photos of Noah and Julia in their moments of reward, but I've put in pictures of them in inspections that we have done together.
Julia who earned her Journey(wo)man last year, this year went for her Master Beekeeper and she DID IT! I have loved working with her over these years and was sure she would achieve this. There's an old saying that if you ask 10 beekeepers a question, you'll get 10 different answers, but Julia, Noah and I generally think very similarly and agree in philosophy. I feel lucky and really privileged to be friends with and to keep bees with both Julia and Noah.
I didn't enter any honey in the honey contest - all of my cut comb has been opened and shared with others; my liquid honey is beginning to crystallize, and I never got around to making a wax block or creamed honey, so I didn't have any honey to enter.
I did enter the "art" category of the honey show with the quilt I've made for my newest grandson: Max who is now five months old. Jeff, who is his father, keeps bees with me, and he and Valerie decorated Max's room in bees.
I've worked on it for six months and was thrilled to win a blue ribbon. I've made a number of quilts in my life, but this is the first quilt that I actually drew the design myself so it is totally original. The six honey bee blocks are based on a traditional quilt block but I made the heads smaller like a real honey bee and put a floral block in the center.
So now I'm going to slow down for a month or two and take better care of myself…..but I will still be sharing my bee life with all of you.
Congratulations on your blue ribbon! The quilt is wonderful. Such a labor of love will be cherished for generations to come.
ReplyDeleteTo get Max off to the right start, show him that his quilt has both Italian and Carniolan bees!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Julia and Noah-- what great accomplishments! Sharing a love of bees makes such good friends. I've enjoyed hearing about them in your blog over the years.
Hi Penny, Thanks for the kind words. I love noticing that the bees in the honeybee block have two different colorations! Hope you have a Happy Mother's Day.
ReplyDeleteHoney is always good for skin and many skincare tips are originated from honey!!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your blog, and usually always learn something!! Thank you so much:) But I mostly wanted to let you know how impressed I am with your beautiful quilt, what an inspired work of art, and you definitely deserved first place!!
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