California bound (with a few hiccups)

-Posted by Isaac

Just look at that Christmas honey.

It’s been an eventful week on the bee farm. Last Saturday the Honeyrun Open House was a big hit.

And we’re back at it again this Saturday. In fact, right now I’m avoiding things by doing this blog post. If I go out there, someone will make me socialize. Or work. Or worse yet, explain the benefits of local honey for the millionth time.

I think I’d rather tell you about all the bee excitement.

Last Sunday afternoon it was time to get the girls ready for their road trip.

I’m very thankful for the harrow loaned by Becky and Justin. It made all the difference. You can see in the above picture, the harrow made a nice counterbalance when lifting three stacked bee pallets.

Each stack, I’m guessing, weighs around 1500 lbs.

Got all the hives stacked nicely on a dry, 40 degree Sunday.

Then on Monday the rains came. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the temperature bounced up to a balmy 55 degrees. Not ideal.

We were tested. When the rains weren’t pounding down making us miserable, the bees were out flying, enjoying the heat. For a span of about four hours, it was a soggy mess of loading and smoking bees. Stings to be had by all.

But slowly things came together.

And I do mean slow. I remember fifteen years ago, my boss in Montana would take about an hour to load a semi truck. Pretty slick.

We were every bit of three hours before the first strap was even unrolled. The driver took a nap during most of it.

But hey, it was my first time!

My slowness gave Dad (pictured above) plenty of opportunity to ask questions and make assessments. If you know my father at all, you’ll know what I mean. When the driver woke up, he became the new victim.

I’m sure it was a relief when I finally finished loading, and he could distract himself with netting the load instead of answering questions.

Two big green nets made a Christmassy backdrop for Eden’s photoshoot.

By this point, four hours in, I was starting to feel relieved. All he had to do was pull out on the road and get going.

Easy, right?

Nope. Not easy at all. The rain had turned the field into a muddy soup, and our tiny road with steep ditches made it impossible to make a simple turn. By about the third try at a wide turn, his tires were spinning.

Stuck!

My little tractor didn’t even budge that 80,000 lb load. Not an inch. What to do, what to do?

All I can say is, I’m glad my brother is a grain farmer. And I’m glad I haven’t made him too mad over the years. And I’m glad he was home when the plea for help came. And I’m especially glad it was warm enough that day to fire up his big bad dual-wheeled 160 HP Case International. Brother Justin to the rescue!

The next hour involved lots of mud, big chains, big engines and big wheels. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t take a picture. But in my defense, I was stressed out and covered with mud.

Eventually, just before dark, we were able to get that big load on it’s way to California.

It was enough excitement to take me through the week.

I think I’m ready to go out and talk about local honey now.

If you happened to miss the Open House, but really wanted something, don’t worry. We’re always slow in getting things put away. Jayne’s wonderful creations will be out on the tables for probably another week.

Stop on in!