Marvelous Mama Meesh

For over a year now, I have been compiling a myriad of reasons why his crazy idea would never work.

Bears, moose, skunks, raccoons and a hundred other varmints live in them thar mountains!

And every one of them would love a tasty snack of honey and bees. Not to mention the cold summer evening mountain temperatures, strong winds, and lack of a beekeeper constantly watching over them. Gladly he ignored my misgivings and a few weeks ago placed Mama Meesh and her hive of honeybees high in the Cache Wasatch National Forest on property belonging to our very good friends.

Scott and Dean believe the wildflowers and the snowberry bush will make delicious honey. Seriously, if you were a bee wouldn't you want to live here?

After a two week settling in period, it was time to check on the bees to see whether they had even survived the move. Just the two of us made the drive into the mountain property that day...where a lovely light breeze scattered the scent of the forest around us. The afternoon was nothing short of a spiritual experience.

What we found was a busy thriving hive. The girls were actively flying in and out with bright yellow pollen filling the sacks on their tiny legs. Pollen is immediate sustenance for hard-working bees.

Mostly likely they were gathering it from this bright yellow mountain flower along with sweet sugary nectar. Using a straw-like proboscis, the worker bee drinks the liquid nectar, storing it in a special honey sack (almost like a honey tummy) within her body. The bee continues to forage, visiting hundreds of flowers until the honey sack is full when she brings it back to the hive.

Approaching the hive, we immediately noticed the absence of guard bees protecting the entrance. They usually zig and zag into your face. This hive was completely and inexplicably docile.

Even after opening the hive and moving frames around, Dean declared it to be the happiest beehive he's ever seen.

Signs of brood on this frame

and many others indicate the hive is expanding mightily

Sweet sugary nectar is already making the transition to delectable mountain honey.

I watched him methodically go about his work...

searching for the illusive Queen Mama Meesh

and placing the next honey super on.

Dreaming of harvesting the amber colored ambrosia next fall.

The face of a very happy beekeeper who should never listen to his wife!

The beekeeper and I sat on that mountain for quite some time and absorbed the magnificent vista. Casually he pointed out a grove of Quaken Aspen trees at the very tip top of the mountain overlooking the bees...Jocie's mountain. Her monument lies in that bright green grove. And her spirit wafts continually through these trees both winter and summer. It's no wonder that Mama Meesh is content and thriving with Jocie the beekeeper magnificently watching over her.

And then I couldn't help but giggle as I envisioned fifteen-year old Jocie and her girlfriend Lindsay frolicking among the trees that live here!

Face of jiggystick

PRESS RELEASE...

 Glamorous Los Angeles Juris Doctor Candidate Dione becomes the face of jiggystick.

Sporting new lululemon workout gear she is clearly on the edge of fashion

as well as the cutting edge of lip balm products!

I sound so official don't I?

Mad Apiary Skills

Fact...raising chickens is much easier than keeping bees.


Feed the chickens, water the chickens, gather the chicken eggs and clean the coop every now and then. It doesn't take a genius to maintain a flock. It's so easy, even a chicken could do it.

Keeping bees is undoubtedly more intense and complicated and spring is one of the busiest times for a beekeeper.

Frames must be inspected for healthy bees and brood. Brood is the continuation of life in the hive and the honeybee queen's main goal. Although the term "queen bee" is frequently used loosely, she does not directly control the hive. Her sole function is to serve as the reproducer.

This smaller worker bee on the bottom is valiantly trying to drag the larger drone bee out of the hive. He must have done something naughty!


Dean likes to give the honeybees a little dose of antibiotic to maintain good health.


He mixes the antiobiotic with powdered sugar and sprinkles it on top of the frames. The bees quickly gobble up the tasty sugary substance.


Dean has the uncanny ability to pick the single frame from a hive which contains the queen. Scanning literally thousands of bees to spot her.


Just at the tip of the yellow hive tool say hello to Queen Oy Vey...of Hebrew descent.


Again in the first frame he picks up from the next hive, meet Queen Mama Mich in the center of this photo.

Be sure to check back soon for Mama Meesh's amazing story on an upcoming blog post.


Upon close inspection of one of the frames in the third hive, he notices a supersedure (emergency queen) cell. Supersedure is the process by which an old queen bee is replaced by a new queen. It is initiated by the worker bees who suspect an aging, diseased or otherwise failing queen. Being the quick thinking beekeeper that he is, he makes the decision to split the hive immediately.


Dividing one large hive into two is a risky move, not to mention a physically tricky one. The remaining hive still has a failing queen but now they lack a replacement. The new hive has only an unhatched virgin queen. If splitting is done incorrectly, losing both hives might be the tragic result.

Only time will tell if the beekeeper's risk paid off.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. In the center of this photo you will see where a young virgin queen has emerged from her queen cell. Virgin queens will quickly find and kill (by stinging) any other rival virgin queens whether emerged or still in their cells. Basically, first queen out...rules!

Introducing...Queen Amidala! 

She's the beauty just to the left of the yellow hive tool. Her wings are shorter than the other bees and she is much larger. Dean couldn't be more excited with the new "queen right" hive.

But what happened to the existing hive with the old failing queen?

Close examination reveals four new queen cells. Multiple supersedure cells are created to increase the odds of success. Growing a queen is quite simple. As an ordinary egg hatches, worker bees feed the larvae nectar, honey and extra royal jelly, speeding up the queen development. I look forward to capturing the new and improved version of Queen Lady Gaga very soon.

In the meantime, you may think spring is busy for a beekeeper...but you should hear the chorus of bees in this honeylocust tree practically dripping with pollen.

And the raspberries girls, don't forget those!

It's the close of another day of adventurous beekeeping here at The Garlick Press. 

May's Leap Year Nonsense

One photo in the month of May that made my heart leap...

Meet Mr Pheasant and Miss Crow dancing on top of the chicken coop.

Nature...you just never know what is going to happen in our backyard.

Purple at Fifteen

Sometime in the past few years I stopped shopping for him at places like Old Navy and Gap Kids.

It seems just last night that he insisted we only call him "Buzz Lightyear". Because you see...he was Buzz Lightyear, as he wore the Buzz outfit an entire year of his childhood. 

Sometime in the past few years I started buying him razors and stopped cutting his meat! 

And sometime during the past few years The Teenager passed me in height...it happened overnight. Now, he can wear his Dad's shoes, uses cologne, and does pull-ups from a rod in his doorway.

But just last week he let me shop for him. He even liked the purple I picked out...and the vest...he was really excited about the vest! Fifteen looks good on The Teenager as does the purple!

Maybe sometime in the future he'll let me take photos of him for more than 1 minute before he bails on me! Just maybe...