· By Angela Seto
🐝 All wrapped up on Vancouver Island!
The hives on the truck as we unload in Vancouver Island.
What's new on the farm:
We finally made it. The bees are now settled in on Vancouver Island.
I can't believe I'm writing this only a few more days to Christmas, but it's done!
We got lucky, paired with some careful planning, to get the bees out of Saskatchewan and onto the island when we did.
Andrew was poring over the weather forecasts on the days leading up to their departure.
Unfortunately, it looked like there was going to be a snowstorm on the morning of. Then we would get a break for the afternoon, before another snowstorm came in the evening.
That was definitely not ideal conditions to be loading a truck of bees.
But Andrew hatched a plan.
As soon as the snow stopped, he would get out and begin clearing the snow with the tractor.
He would need to make enough space for the semi-trailer to drive in, turn around, and back up into position for loading.
He also needed to remove all the snow that had piled up around the hives so we could get them out.
As he was doing this, one of our crew and I started taking apart the wraps that he covered the bees with to keep them warm.
It was amazing to see that under those wraps, the bees were generating tons of heat! There were icicles outside the hives, from where the heat from the bees had melted snow.
When there was enough area plowed, I jumped on the forklift. I began moving the bees in position for loading onto the truck.
Finally, the driver brought the semi-trailer into our yard, and we began loading the bees.
Once we finished loading the bees, we put nets over the hives. This is so they wouldn't escape when the truck made a stop. The nets are also mandatory for us to take the bees on the ferry to Vancouver Island.
Since it was so cold, we also put a tarp around the bees on the front of the truck to cut off the wind chill.
About 7 hours after Andrew first started clearing snow, we finally had the truck strapped up and on its way west.
(The driver was very patient and understanding with us. Normally, they are used to farms that have a few forklifts and tons of crew members. He says the staff "swarm" the truck and the loading is done without the driver even having to get out of the truck! But our team is much smaller, and we have 1 forklift.)
Several hours after he left, it started to snow again!
After all that excitement, we booked some flights to get to the island. We needed to get everything set up to receive them before they arrived.
If you were hoping for a smooth trip for the bees, it turned out to be anything but.
On the second travel day, we got a message from the trucking company. The truck was stuck in Golden, BC.
Highway 1 (the main route through the Rocky Mountains) was closed until midnight.
A ton of snow had fallen in the area, so they had to do avalanche control work. There was also a collision between two semi-trailers.
On the third day, once he got through, he headed further west and ended up getting stuck in Kamloops, BC.
There was an "atmospheric river" in the Fraser Valley, and so much rain came down, it flooded the valley. Going through that area is the only way to get to the ferry terminals.
All the highways to get through were closed.
There was nothing we could do except wait for something to open up.
In the meantime, the driver had to stay back in Kamloops because the weather was holding at 1°C/33.8°F.
If he went any further west, the temperature would be too warm for the bees.
The truck would be sitting for hours during the road closures, so we needed to keep the bees cold. Otherwise, they would start flying out of the hives.
After many hours, the driver heard of a back road opening up to get through. He left Kamloops and detoured to get through the other side of the highway closures.
As soon he went through, the back road closed up behind him!
Thanks to his determination, we were able to make the last ferry of the evening and get the bees over to the island. We were so relieved to see him in the unloading yard!
Everything ran smoothly from there. With some help from family friends, we unloaded the truck, and moved all the bees to four different farm yards.
At each yard, we placed the hives on pallets and covered them with wraps and tarps. They would be very warm and protected from the rain.
It took us three days to finish most of the work. Finally, we could say the season was over!
In the future, we will never move bees so late again. It's way too stressful!
The hives all wrapped and tarped for winter at one of our Vancouver Island yards.
Holiday Closure
Thanks to everyone who has placed their orders! All orders placed by our Christmas delivery deadlines (Dec 10 for USA, Dec 12 for Canada) should be on their way to you now.
We will be closed from December 25 to January 1 so our whole team can enjoy time off with our families and friends.
Tomorrow (Dec 21) is the last day for orders that we will ship this year. Any orders placed on Dec 22 onwards will ship starting on January 5!
Honey Hot Chocolate
We've been getting a few snowstorms here, and there's nothing cozier than being inside and enjoying a mug of hot chocolate while it's snowing.
Hot chocolate has somehow become associated with pre-made powdered mixes, but it's actually very easy to make a delicious, creamy version at home without any extra ingredients.
Ingredients (makes 2 cups):
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons honey (or use more or less depending on how sweet you prefer it)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
- Warm the milk in a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir regularly to avoid scorching the milk on the bottom.
- Remove from heat.
- Add the cocoa powder, honey, and vanilla.
- Whisk everything together. If you prefer a frothy hot chocolate, you can use an immersion blender and blend for 1-2 minutes.
Enjoy!
Check out the original recipe from The Food Charlatan.