July | 2018 | Besaw's Bee Sauce

Putting together lip balm has been a frustrating task.

What I’ve tried:

1. Setting up lip tubes from Mann Lake on the counter and pouring the melted concoction in each tube with a beaker. The problems I encountered- a sloppy mess was created, containers were knocked over onto the counter, it took forever, and it created a sunken in look on the lip balm rather than an even pour.

2. Setting up lip tubes from Mann Lake on the counter and pouring in the melted concoction in each tube with a pipette. This resulted in fewer sloppy messes and fewer containers knocked over. The problems I encountered- it still took forever, I had to keep a close eye on the level of melted concoction and continuously squeeze in more to create an even look, pipettes had to be disposed of after only a couple uses due to wax solidifying inside of it.

3. Lip Balm Filling Tray from Bulk Apothecary. This was a genius idea which got me really excited. The problems I encountered- The Mann Lake tubes didn’t fit the tray, therefore I needed to order a new brand of tubes. I was advised to by Milliard brand.

4. Lip Balm Filling Tray from Bulk Apothecary and Milliard brand tubes from Amazon with Onlinelabels.com Lip Balm Labels. 18318771_10212462425292288_290528891_o These tubes fit the tray perfectly, which had me so excited. I was able to fill 50 tubes at once. You can overfill the tray to prevent the sunken in effect. Once it dries, you can use the scraper to remove excess wax and leave it with a perfect, even top. The labels fit perfectly. The problems I encountered- It left a tiny mess on the counter, the Milliard caps were a little too loose. Loose caps result in the lip balm easily getting a dirty film around the opening of the tube.

5. Milliard brand tubes from Amazon with Milliard brand lip balm blank labels. I purchased these labels because they have a tab that can help keep the cap on (at least before someone decides to use the lip balm). The problem I encountered- the label doesn’t wrap all the way around the lip balm tube. Like…what? I’d understand if they were different brands, but they aren’t. What a waste of money. Garbage.

6. Milliard brand tubes from Amazon. This batch of Milliard brand tubes had such loose caps, I contacted the company to complain. They sent me a free pack of 50 tubes and an apology. Hooray for nice customer service! The problem I encountered- The caps were still too loose. Even worse than the last batch. If I tipped the lip balm upside down, the caps would fall right off. Time to give up on this brand.

7. California Home Goods Lip Balm Crafting Kit and Onlinelabels.com Tamper Evident Tab Lip Balm Labels. A new pouring tray from Amazon that came with 50 tubes. I read reviews from other people that said that most tubes would fit this tray. The 50 tubes it came with fit perfectly, with only 2 or 3 loose caps. My new tamper evident lip balm labels are also awesome. The problem I encountered- California Home Goods does not sell lip balm containers separate from this kit and they brag that all standard sized tubes should fit. I purchased more from Amazon and hoped for the best.

8. 25 Lip Balm Containers – Empty Tubes sold by Pure Acres Farm on Amazon. I haven’t poured any lip balm into this yet. Why not? The problems I encountered- It does not fit either the California Home Goods tray OR the Bulk Apothecary tray. I will try rubber banding them all together and trying the pipette method again with these, but I won’t be purchasing this brand again.

9. Premium Vials, Empty Lip Balm Containers on Amazon- To be updated upon arrival.

Interesting fact (opinion): I confidently recommend onlinelabels.com for labels.

It is over 90°F outside for the 3rd day in a row. You’d think that because honeybees keep their hive at an average of 95°F throughout the year, that this temperature would be no big deal.

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Imagine having a small and nicely air-conditioned house on a day like today. You decide to invite 100 people over for a party. The house no longer feels pleasant- it’s overcrowded, stuffy, and you can tell that the central air is struggling to maintain the temperature. What would you do? While I’d have no shame in telling everyone to go home (and admit this was a terrible idea), maybe you’d offer up hanging out outside.

For bees, this is where bearding comes in. At this time of the year, the honeybees may be heading toward their peak in population (up to 80,000 bees in one hive!) In order to regulate the heat on the inside and keep the queen at her preferred temperature, many of the bees form a beard on the front of the hive.

Speaking of hive population, the amount of bees bearding on each hive can give an idea of how well it is doing. This hive, one of my 2 winter survivors, is looking weak considering there is no beard.

To compare, this is our second winter survivor. As you can see, they have an almost full beard. There are more boxes on this colony because they are doing very well with producing honey. Surprisingly, there has been no sign of swarming. The hive on the right is currently empty.

Our third hive, the Carniolans that were purchased as package bees in the spring, have a cute little beard that is growing every hour. These girls are also doing very well.

Our last hive, a nuc we purchased in May, has a much bigger beard than I would have predicted. When I checked them last week, they had 3 capped emergency queen cells and no living queen. The bottom box had frames that were mostly filled up, but the top frames were completely empty.

With this crazy heat, this is another perfect opportunity to remind people to provide water for the bees. They are thirsty too!

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Interesting fact: Some bees are given the job of collecting water to bring back for evaporative cooling- this includes bringing water, then fanning their wings to move the cooler air through the hive.

Besaw's Bee Sauce

It's honey though.

Month: July 2018

Lip balm container annoyances

Stay cool with bearding