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Mead Lovers Digest #1529
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1529, 2 July 2011
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1529 2 July 2011
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: Almost free honey (Dick Dunn)
Re: Subject: rhodomel or rhubarb mead ("Joanna Bailey")
Crystalised Honey (Patrick King)
Digby on-line! (Mead Lovers Digest)
Re: Everyone should have their own bee hive(s) (James Waldron)
Re: Honey is cheap (MeadGuild@aol.com)
Re: Almost free honey (MeadGuild@aol.com)
NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com.
Use mead-request@talisman.com for [un]subscribe and admin requests.
Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead#Archives
A searchable archive is at http://www.gotmead.com/mldarchives.html
Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Almost free honey
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:40:37 -0600
Ed Vendely <Ed@sweetbettybees.com> wrote in favor of keeping your own bees
as a source of inexpensive honey for meadmaking...
> I've been making mead (hard cider, wine and beer too) for about 25 years
> and used to buy honey from a local beekeeper by the 5 gallon bucket @
> $112. When the keeper retired, my wife and I got our own bees...
Note that beekeeping is hard work, so with a lot of aging beekeepers
like your former local source leaving the "hobby", there may be an
opportunity near you to work with a beekeeper in exchange for some honey.
You might just find someone who's ready to retire but willing to continue
for a few years--with your help or long enough to get you started.
This is a possible partial answer for younger meadmakers who don't have
much money but have some spare time.
> ... Everyone should have their own bee hive(s) just like a dog or cat!...
As I said, beekeeping is hard work (and usually hot as well). A super
full of honey is more than a lot of folks can easily lift, let alone
repeatedly lift and carry.
Seems to me that beekeeping is an ideal situation for a community project,
since once you get going you'll likely have enough honey to supply a fair
number of households--even if some of them are making mead.
>...Cider makers seem to all grow their own heirloom/cider apples -
They do? I mean, we do?
No, not really. I think many of them -aspire- to do so, but I don't see
that most do until they're getting into quantities approaching small-
scale commercial.
> ...Dick, you make cider, got your
> own trees? Bees will pollinate them for a better crop!
Oh, yes...I have my own trees, plenty for one person to manage. In fact,
I've really more than I can handle during the spring and fall, so I'd be
daft (moreso than I am!) to add beekeeping to what I'm doing now. Plus,
there's no shortage of pollinators around here.
Still, what I -might- do in the future is work with a beekeeper to keep
a colony or two here. So, folks thinking about beekeeping might look at
the flip side of that: If you don't have a suitable place for hives at
your own home, look around for someone growing bee-pollinated crops.
(That said, an orchard -by-itself- isn't enough for bees, since the
flowering period is too short. Bees need flower sources through the
spring and summer.)
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Subject: rhodomel or rhubarb mead
From: "Joanna Bailey" <jbmail@isomedia.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:29:55 -0700
Thanks for sharing your notes Rebecca!
Very informative and helpful :)
- -Joanna
------------------------------
Subject: Crystalised Honey
From: Patrick King <patkingfilms@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 09:49:05 +1000
Hello, good to see newsletter has survived long enough for me to write
in. My Mrs is a first season bee keeper here in Melbourne Australia
and has had a bumper heist of honey. As she uses organic practice and
raw extraction, a lot of it has crystalised. This makes it harder to
sell but I believe if the crystals are small it is still good for
mead? (I'll let you know in six months). Perhaps those looking for
cheaper honey could ask local beekeepers for crystalised. Has anyone
had any experience or tips about working with crystalised honey?
Thanks. Pat
------------------------------
Subject: Digby on-line!
From: mead-request@talisman.com (Mead Lovers Digest)
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:09:18 -0600 (MDT)
Thanks to Mike Higgs for pointing out that the text of Digby ("The Closet
of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digby, Knight, Opened") is available
via Project Gutenberg...in fact it's apparently been available for more
than five years (?!?!). This is a real eye-opener for the history of mead
from several centuries ago. See
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16441/16441-h/16441-h.htm
I've added this to the FAQ that gets sent to new subscribers. It will
find its way to the talisman.com/mead page before too long.
- ---
Mead-Lover's Digest mead-request@talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Boulder County, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Everyone should have their own bee hive(s)
From: James Waldron <james.waldron@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:30:43 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
Yes, I agree, everyone should have their own Bee Hives (unless you are
one of those allergic to bee stings). Would help to rebuild the dwindling
colony counts in the U.S. as well.
But, just like making Mead, there's much to learn. For example, here
in Northern Virginia we have a plant called Mountain Laurel, endangered,
protected, but quite a bit of it around where I live. When it is in bloom,
hives must be closed up and the bees fed sugar. Because, honey made
from Mountain Laurel is poisonous. Yep, poison honey. (Apparently the
Roman army used to leave jugs of this stuff out for advancing enemies.)
Fortunately the blooming period is short. But, you have to be aware,
and I'm sure there are those on this list much smarter about this than I am.
Look for a local bee keeping club, usually evident with a display at
your local county fair. Otherwise, a pretty quiet bunch. As an aside,
what always amazed me is that bees are shipped through the mail. Like,
3,000 bees in a small box, carried by your postman. Can't imagine walking
around with one of those under my arm.
Thanks,
Jim.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Honey is cheap
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:27:40 -0400 (EDT)
> Be careful from where your honey comes ...
Unless something happened while I was sleeping, honey
imported from mainland China is an illegal import
because it is contaminated with God knows what!
Unless you are certain that the honey you are buying
has the blessing of the FDA, do not buy it!
Dick
- ---
Richard D. Adams
Ellicott City, MD 21042
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Almost free honey
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:00:57 -0400 (EDT)
"Ed Vendely" _Ed@sweetbettybees.com_ (mailto:Ed@sweetbettybees.com) wrote:
> I've been making mead (hard cider, wine and beer too
> for about 25 years and used to buy honey from a local
> beekeeper by the 5 gallon bucket @ $112. When the
> keeper retired, my wife and I got our own bees...been
> doing it for about 10 years. Fascinating! Quit whining
> about the price - - you get what you pay for and you all
> should be using only local, raw, chemical-free honey,
> not processed store packaged stuff that could even be
> from China! Everyone should have their own bee hive(s)
> just like a dog or cat! Cider makers seem to all grow
> their own heirloom/cider apples - Meadmakers should have
> their own bees - good for pollinating gardens and etc...
> and sell your excess for a profit. Dick, you make cider,
> got your own trees? Bees will pollinate them for a better
> crop!
Two needed Commandments:
Thou shall NEVER buy honey from China
- as far as I know honey from China is still illegal.
Thou shall keep thy our own bees
- even in the "Land of the damnyankee Snow".
My childbride and I have an agreement that when we move, we
will keep bees. Our only disagreement is who will be the
beekeeper. ;) While I expect to lose that argument, I am
certain our out-of-pocket cost will win!
Dick
- ---
Richard D. Adams
Ellicott City, MD 21042
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1529
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