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Oh yeah by the way we opened a honey shop. At Pike Place. For Real.

Across from Throw The Fish.  Under the clock. Next to Rachel the Pig. Above the Gumwall.  Basically in Time Square.  And we did it, or ok let me just break narrative for a second and say I DID IT in just over 48 hours from Wednesday night historic commission approval to Saturday morning 9am opening.  Or actually, the whole process started back in September and it's been more work than I've ever known.  Well, if you want to get specific, I guess this is something I've always wanted and have been driven to see succeed through incredible amounts of sacrifice and hope and a reliance on flexibility and cooperation from others for at least the last 7 years.  yeah, it...

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New batch Worker Bee Body Balm, with some very unrefined characters!

We did something different with this newest batch of Worker Bee Body Balm, and the color and scent are dramatically different!  Instead of our normal bulk body products source in Bellingham, we found unrefined shea butter at Whole Foods in Seattle, and as the #2 ingredient besides beeswax, boy does that make a difference.  Real shea butter is almost green and so fragrant, as opposed to the refined shea butter that we've been buying through Brambleberry/Otion which tends to be pure white and fragrance free.  Look at how different the end result is, from a batch last month to the batch today!this is the raw, unrefined beeswax and unrefined shea, along with coconut oil, pure lanolin, and a drizzle of...

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Fireweed Field Trip

Here I am, sneaking in a beekeeper selfie so I can say I actually met Sue Cobey and hung out with master beekeepers Bruce and Marco.  It's all about street cred, you know?! so how did I get here? Good question.  I've been working with and buying up a bit of Bruce's amazing honey for my small but growing wholesale side business, which will hopefully sustain me and my bees over the winter when funds and honey reserves are low.   Bruce has a team of great guys working with him, each with their own set of strengths and abilities.  I see Seth and Joe and Pat regularly, but haven't spent much time with the man himself.  So I just...

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Bee-pocalypse AKA the farm disaster of the week

What do you get when you mix one totally exhausted and overwhelmed beekeeper/owner operator, a honey house garage door left wide open for 14 hours on a sunny Sunday, and many many neighbors in a small conservative town?  Well, you get the 2014 Everson Beepocalype!   On Labor Day weekend this year, I packed up my truck with two markets worth of tents, tables, honey, and high hopes for a great day, as well as my suitcase to go home to Michigan for a week to attend my cousin Abagail's wedding and relax with family on a red eye flight out of seattle after the long day of driving, managing, and selling.  I got my first indication that I'd messed...

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Winter warmth and timely metaphors

What a couple of gorgeous days we've had up here in soggy 'ol western Washington! The rains let up and we marched ourselves and hundreds of lbs of frame honey out through muddy fields and farm pastures to get our ladies fed!  We hold back tons of honey during extraction to feed back, if needed, to strong springtime clusters.   I'm hesitant to say the word Springtime just yet, as we likely will have a million gallons of steadily-pouring rain yet to deal with, but after the recent cold snaps, I knew whatever bees were still alive would likely need a little treat to boost morale in the hive.  It was also a nice day to cart out any unused equipment that...

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