A swarm in May, worth a load of hay;
A swarm in June, a silver spoon;
A swarm in July, let 'em fly.

Swarming is a natural biological phenomenon of honey bees. They not only reproduce to increase their numbers in the hive, but also perpetuate the species by taking a portion of hive population and departing the hive to start a new colony elsewhere.

The little ditty above tells a bee keeper how likely she will be able to receive excess honey from a captured swarm. The biggest swarms are early in the year and usually become smaller as the season progresses. For a bee keeper, it is not desirable for the working bees to leave a hive, so there are certain manipulations of the hive that sometimes can prevent swarming. Buying more bees is very costly, so it behooves one to try to capture a swarm.

The bees in a swarm are usually very gentle and will not sting because they have no honey stores or brood to protect, so capturing a cluster of bees can be pretty simple or other times VERY hard if they decide to land in a tree that is too high to reach.

The above picture is of a recent swarm of bees who were inconsiderate enough to land at the very top of a tree. I was unable to retrieve them and they flew off the next day for unknown regions. The next week, a sister hive sent off a swarm that I was just barely able to reach with a ladder on the back of a pick-up truck. I was able to successfully hive that swarm and they are now busy making a new colony for me.

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After all the work to capture a swarm, a glass of Darjeeling iced tea with Elderflower syrup is very welcomed. The elderberries, with their bridal bouquet umbels, grace many places along the roads in our rural Kansas area. Their scent is also very alluring if one happens to stop by to watch the bees gathering the pollen and nectar from these beautiful flowering “weeds”.  The scent is sweet but with a low note of pepper.

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Late June and early July is the time to make the Elderflower Syrup. The base is a simple 1:2 ratio of water and sugar. This is the same type of syrup beekeepers feed to the bees in the fall if the bees are short on honey reserves.

Elderflower Syrup

• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 T + 2 tsp food-grade citric acid (found in the canning aisle of supermarket)
• 15 big elderflower heads (umbels)
• 1/2 to 1 organic lemon, cut into slices (optional)

Instructions

2. Combine sugar, water, and citric acid in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.

3. Shake the Elder flowers to remove insects or debris. Trim flowers from the stems.

4. Add the blossoms and the lemon slices (if using) to a large glass jar or bowl.

5. Immersed the flowers in the syrup. Cover and leave to infuse in a cool room or the refrigerator for 48 hours. Stir once per day.

6. Strain the syrup through a fine-meshed sieve.

7. Bottle the syrup in a jar with a tight screw tops. This syrup will usually keep for 1 year as is, stored in a dark, cool place (cellar/fridge).

Darjeeling Iced Tea with Elderflower Syrup

• Place 1 T Darjeeling tea leaves into a quart sized container with a lid.
• Add 1 quart cold water.
• Let cold-steep overnight or for 12 hours in the refrigerator.
• Strain tea leaves from the tea.
• Fill glass with ice and add 1-2 tablespoons of Elderflower Syrup
• Top off glass with the Darjeeling tea.
• Garnish with lemon if desired.

Transform a simple breakfast of fruit, toast and black tea into an elegant setting by serving your morning repast on a vintage “Snack Plate”.

Snack Plates

During the 1940’s through the mid 1960’s, glass snack plates, also known as luncheon plates, were mandatory for anytime ladies gathered for luncheons, book clubs, bridge clubs or baby shows. Every woman had at least one set and if she needed to serve more guests, her neighbors were always ready to lend their own sets.  Ladies usually marked their set for identification with a small piece of tape or a different color of nail polish.

Creamed Honey

A slice of multigrain toast reaches new heights of fashion taste when it is dressed in a classy coat of Creamed Honey. If thus far your life has been bereft of this sweet treat, please remedy it immediately! Creamed honey is also known as Spun Honey and is spreadable like butter. Honey will naturally crystalize, but the crystals are large and crunchy. A creamed honey has a much finer crystal thus giving it a texture of spun silk. Flavors can also be added such as pecan or cinnamon, which is my favorite.

So the next time you are in need of a little self-pampering, elevate your breakfast presentation with a step into the last century by employing a thrift store found snack plate. Then add a jar of Creamed Honey. This simple little indulgence will definitely set your day for a bright beginning

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My bee’s industrious work this spring with the Cherry tree in my orchard, collecting nectar and pollinating, has led to a munificent cherry harvest!

So what better way to celebrate God’s generous bounty than with a cup of blended black tea and the addition of fresh cherry juice and a little honey to sweeten the cup.

Whenever I see cherries on the stem, it brings back fond memories of my favorite children’s game, High Ho Cherry-O. At 6 years old, I thought there was nothing as special as “picking” those red, plastic cherries with their little stems and placing them in my bucket. I don’t remember if I won a lot of cherry picking games, but it created a special nostalgia for me that last to this day. I just wish picking real cherries was as easy and fun as the game!!

Our Blooming Tea for June comes from my collection of 12 blooming teas from Tea Bloom. My daughter gave this set to me for my birthday so each month it is like opening a new surprise gift!

Even though the picture of the flower bloom is on the package, there is still that child-like wonderment that this small hard ball will transform into an underwater garden. It makes me want to add some tiny goldfish to make it complete.

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Love at First Sight’s hand tied blossom design has two chains of white osmanthus flowers and pink globe amaranth flowers ascending from a grassy bed of green tea leaves. It looks to be topped with tiny rose buds. The flavor of the tea is slight, maturing to a more compelling flavor as it mellows in the tea pot.

Nearly 300 people and over 150,000 bees attended the annual Northeastern Beekeepers Association BEE FUN DAY in Lawrence, Kansas on June 1, 2019. The daylong event hosted many nationally known bee experts and researchers who presented up-to-date beekeeping information to the attendees. Even after more than 20 years of keeping bees, I still learn many things about these amazing little insects from the classes held throughout the day. We did not have any tea to go along with the Bee Fun Day (something I am trying to have added) but we did have loads of awesome food with the highlight of the day, FIVE TYPES OF HOMEMADE HONEY ICE CREAM!

Each year, the workshops will vary as to content but we always have a swarm demonstration. Dr. Chip Taylor, retired bee researcher, delights us with bee stories about swarming bees and demonstrates how a swarm of bees will follow their queen by sensing her pheromone.

The queen is placed in a cage and suspended below the roof of a tall stand. The bees that cluster around the cage will remain there as long as the queen is in the cage. When the cage is removed, the bees will sense this and start flying around until they locate her scent then they will once again cluster on the cage wherever it is located.

Chip likes to put the cage in different places on his body while he talks to the crowd. This year he placed it on his belt on the back of his pants. It was very hot and there was little wind so the scent of the queen did not carry as well as it might have so the cluster of bees did not get very big on his backside as it has in years past

It is amazing to go to an event such as this where people WANT to be around bees and are not freaking out that there are so many unimpeded, free flying bees! Dr. Judy Wu-Smart gave a presentation about bee problems in a hive and many of us listening were standing among the hives with no veils on our heads. Now this does not mean we could not get stung, it just shows the level of confidence that beekeepers have around bees. (The ones with the veils are usually the new beekeepers!)

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The roses are truly blooming now and my bees are in rose heaven. So this morning I shared my Raspberry Rose Hibiscus Tea with them while enjoying the hum of their busy activity and the sweet scent of roses. No one could be more blessed than to be in that moment. (Note in the above pictures the pellet of pollen riding on the back leg of the bee stuck on a stiff leg hair. We call this the pollen basket even though there is no basket.)

Even though this is an herbal tea and is usually steeped for a longer amount of time, I prefer to under steep this tea otherwise the hibiscus seems to overpower the delicate rose and raspberry flavors.

Tea Time Etiquette

Note on the Pinky

The misconception that it is proper to place one’s pinky in the air when drinking tea may have begun due to the first tea cups, which would have been from Asia, not having handles and were held with the thumb and the first one or two fingers because the cup was hot. The pinky was extended to help balance the cup. Another suspected culprit in the pinky up faux pas may be that in ancient Roman times, a person of culture ate with only three fingers while a common person ate with all five. Thus,  later, a person who wanted to be perceived as being cultured may have tried to show his elitism by raising the pinky.

Typically, tea consumed in the U.S. is imported from Asia, Africa or South America. I was unaware that North America was able to produce tea until my daughter brought me a tin of loose leaf, Plantation Peach tea grown on the Charleston Tea Plantation located in South Carolina on Wadmalaw Island. The tea that is produced here is a larger leaf style that is said to give a rich and smoother taste.

The tea bush, Camellia sinensis, is adapted to mild climates with acidic soil that is well drained and with adequate rainfall as can be found in our southern states. New Orleans is on the same latitude as China’s tea-growing regions, but we have entrepreneurs that are experimenting with tea growing in states as far north as Oregon and Michigan and even in Canada.

Farmers in South Carolina attempted multiple times to grow tea beginning as early as the 1700’s but all attempts failed until 1888. This is when the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina was founded by Dr. Charles Shepard. He was able to make a success growing tea, but the potential tea legacy died when he did in 1915. His fields of award winning teas were allowed to be reclaimed by nature.

A heroic rescue of these vintage tea bushes was mounted 48 years later, in 1963. The plants were relocated to an experimental research farm on Wadmalaw Island. Then in 1987, this R & D tea farm was purchased by William Barclay Hall and he formed the Charleston Tea Plantation as a commercial operation. In 2003, the tea plantation was made a subsidiary of the well-known Bigelow Tea Company while Hall remained as partner and overseer of daily operations and tea development.

Some internet research shows that small artesian style tea farms are popping up all over North America. The US League of Tea Growers reported in 2017 that 15 states had 60 small tea farms. The Specialty Tea alliance, sites tea farms in 17 states and one farm in Canada as of 2018.

Even though these small, usually experimental tea farms are appearing around the county, they are not having any impact on the domestic tea market. Each farm produces only a few pounds of tea a year and most of it is quickly snapped up, because it is somewhat of a novelty being an American grown tea. 

As of now, North American grown tea is a high-end, artisanal product. This is due to the intense labor involved with handpicked tea. It is reported that in Sri Lankan, tea pickers earn $3 to $5 per day. You can see this wage would not be acceptable in the U.S. To make a tea commercially viable in the States would require mechanized harvesting and processing such as is used on the Charleston Tea Plantation.

So for now, if you find a domestically produced tea, enjoy it as you support an American produced product!

Resources: 1)https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/28/521380607/pinkies-up-a-local-tea-movement-is-brewing 2)www.Charlestonteaplantation.com 3)https://specialtyteaalliance.org/world-of-tea/us-grown-tea/