The other day I dropped into the well-loved brewpub in Solon, Big Grove Brewery, and saw that our honey had been put to good use by their brewer. He concocted the cleverly named and quite tasty Good Day 2 DIPA. I complimented his good work :) We're hoping to put honey from the bees we placed on his dad's property in the next round of brews! The syrup pump also decided that it might be a good day to die this past Friday.... Does anything look off here? Something Fishy All Up In Here The Source of All Those Mysterious Metal Pieces! At least the old pulley came off easily, so hopefully Menards can supply the right part this afternoon and get us back in action. We had several inches of rain to start September, and many of the hives are very light---still lots of brood and strong populations but little sustenance to withstand any kind of dearth. The last several days brought warmth and sunshine, so they've maintained themselves on goldenrod but could use some proactive feeding attention to keep them safe from nature's whims. Andrew is also getting into the autumnal mood with an exploration of local hot chocolates--not something in his repertoire until this month :) This was his very first, served at another fine honey-using establishment in Cedar Rapids called Brewhemia. Autumn Arrival Calls for Hot Chocolate!