I left my wife for Ed

-Posted by Isaac

I know I know, I realize this. The last thing you want to see is "Posted by Isaac"... again.
I'm with you. It's maddening. I can't get Jayne to post a blog, and week after week I'm left to shoulder this insufferable burden on my own. (Just give'm a recipe Honey!)
And it's a tough gig, this blog. An indispensable part of the business, a rich little snoop into bee life. I'm left to bear it alone. Not to mention all my other responsibilities. Like sometimes helping set the table. Like checking on the ice cream supply.

So this week I left her. It was all just too much.
Plus we were out of ice cream.

She hides it well. Inside she's sobbing.

I left her for Ed.

If you are a steadfast reader of this blog, as I am, you'll recall Ed Eisele, a migratory beekeeper who sold us a forklift down in Florida. You'll also recall a bit of difficulty getting it home. I had to load it on the back of the flatbed. The trailer was conveniently 1500 miles north.

So this week I made a quick trip to Michigan.

Together at last!

Really, it was a shopping trip for the bees. I'll show you later.

When I got up to Big Rapids, I was surprised to find a brand new building going up.

Enough of this hobbying around. Ed is going big!

Kidding. Ed has been big. For 40 years. He's just moving. Leaving a warehouse in town and putting up a spanking new facility to his liking. 

Kind of like us. Ha Ha.

Together, Ed and his son Stephen run close to 7000 hives. Michigan is home base, but the bees move from state to state. When we saw him in Florida, Ed was loading bees for California. At the moment they've got bees in Maine and Michigan. They'll soon be pollinating cranberries in Wisconsin.

Ed knows bees.

Getting up there, I couldn't help but pry into Ed's business.

And Ed is a nice guy. He offered to show me around.

The soon to be extracting room

It wasn't until about the end of the tour I remembered to snap a few pictures.

So here you are, a sneak peek inside a commercial honey house.

Everything is palletized around here.

The higher the better.

Higher ceilings mean more storage.

And you need storage.

If you know beekeepers, there's no end to the equipment.

Ed's big cappings spinner

Drums soon to be filled with star thistle honey.

Ed say's he needs to find a couple hundred more drums.

The hub-- all the activity revolves around Ed's instruction. There were, I think, eight people running around doing various tasks. Ed uses his phone like a pro. The man knows how to delegate.

2000 new supers are put together in a jiffy.

Ed is an optimist.

Old supers get some new frames.

And the foundation is all waxed with Ed's wax.

There were three Hummerbees on the move. 

And three big flatbeds to haul supers and pull those Hummerbees.

I didn't get a picture, but I was happy to see pallets of protein patties. It seems Ed thinks a little supplemental protein is a good thing. I know I've jumped on that wagon.

And that was the shopping part of the trip-- a stop in Albion to load up on protein.

We want our bees ripped.

This stuff tastes like a Power Bar and it costs about as much.

When I finally break the bank trying to take care of bees, we'll be feeding MegaBee to the children.

Of course we have to stay busy in July. A little frame building is in order. 

I don't know, maybe seeing Ed put me in the mood for increase.

Thanks to some generous honey giving, we won't breakfast on MegaBee just yet. This is Florida citrus honey by way of Michigan. Ed says he's sitting on 25 drums, looking for a buyer.

You may be in luck. Ed, Baby Eden will let you know.