I will be posting regularly again in a day or two - sorry about the paucity of posts but between our bee problems and travel I have had no chance to snap and upload any photos or pithy comments (ha ha as they say) - sigh Norvell
The Admore, Legacy, Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
a quick note with a fuller review later - I was disappointed, not badly as this is a very good whisky, but the 40 % Alc/Vol smoothed out the drink as compared with 'The Traditional' at 46 % (see my review - found in the listings to the right) and I really grew to like the 'burr' of The Traditional' - however it (Legacy) is a really decent whisky that you can serve with verve to friends that blanch at some of the 'volcanic' whiskies that are highly rated. - and right in my own personal ball park.
The Heat Wave Is Really Stressing Our Bee Hives - III
The Heat Wave Is Really Stressing Our Bee Hives
Talissker Single Malt Scotch Whisky 10 year old
this is not a review per se, but I have been doing a little
internet island hopping while sipping my usual small cut glass tumbler filled
about two fingers deep - with maybe a refill coming up - of 'Talisker's
10 year old, that I just opened. it is one of my all-time favorites and
someday, lottery willing, I will be trying one of the pricey many years
old of the same distillery but for now this truly outstanding 10 year old malt
shows its real strengths compared with some of the fine blended malts that I
have favored for a while due to cost considerations - the smoothness of this
lovely coloured drink lets the bite of the nicely higher alcohol content - 45.8
% ABV - do its job without destroying the abundance of flavours in the
background - to me that means a mildly – almost a perfect mildly - sweet honey
flavoured peat smoke to tease my tongue
with the antiqueness of a rich browny background of an old pub that I visited
once in Ireland and finishing with a quiet calm day at a kelp covered beach
with the faint iodine flavours giving savour to the day – then the finish of
this great whisky comes on as you breathe in the peppery last notes for the
longest time – there is no argument against Michael’s 90 rating – unless perhaps
you want to move it a tad farther toward a strong 92 norvellhimself
Crab Feast At Black Hill - II (or is it III or IV, at any rate some more of the evenings good times
the best crabs this year than I've seen and eaten in years - firm crisp shells, full meated and great flavour and I ate more than three for the first time in the same number of years - and all agreed these were great - with the down home side dish of corn-on-the-cob, white corn, also good for the less than dyed-in-the-wool crab eaters as well as for those who don't do the crab thing
Honey Bees Bearding - II
the 'beard' is slowly dissipating - might be the newly added space
BEARDING
- WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
It's called bearding, as the bees
seem to form a fuzzy beard on the hive and hang out in a cluster. Almost all of
the time this is totally normal, and even a good sign. You will see this in
strong colonies as the population is at its height and as the bees are storing
and ripening honey at a blinding pace. To keep the honey at correct temperature
and allow for airflow in the hive, a small to large number of adult bees will
hang out in the front, helping the internal temperature to stay cool. You might
even see some fanning of their wings, pushing air into the hive on the hottest
days.
Bearding is often a totally healthy
sign of a colony working at its peak. It can be a sign of a strong colony with
a large population, all in service to their single purpose: overwintering
successfully with enough honey stores to survive. Each hive is different and
not every hive will display the same amount of bearding. For instance, we have
4 hives in our backyard with colonies all installed this past spring, and no
two are alike at this point in the season. Two show significant bearding,
one a bit of bearding, and another, none at all. Things to bear in mind when
witnessing this are: genetics and overall health of individual hives, how long
the colonies have been hived, and how much room they have to keep storing food
supplies.
SHOULD
YOU WORRY ABOUT BEARDING?
The first thing you want to ask
yourself when you see bearding is: do my bees have enough room? That is,
depending on your hive type, do they have enough space to keep building and
filling comb in the form of a honey super or box, or more empty bars to build
comb upon. Likely you will know the answer already due to regular monitoring,
but if you don't, you will want to make sure your bees have room to expand and
keep storing.
Another aspect to consider regarding
space is: have your bees been throwing swarms? If the answer is yes, they are
likely out of room and have been out of room. Their productivity and ability to
create enough stores for themselves is being thwarted by a lack of room for
expansion. In both cases, give them more space.
In the case of a horizontal top bar
hive, harvesting is often required to provide your colony more space. If the
hive is filled from end to end with comb, it's the only way (other than
splitting) to give them room. Don't be scared to do this!
(If you have a top bar hive and know
your bees still have space to build comb and store honey but they are continually
throwing stores, your bees could be honey bound. For more on honey bound top
bar hives, look for an upcoming post, or shoot us an e-mail/call!)
Blue Beer Bucket - for our summer crab feast
and the - probably not so funny - impetus for the two preceding posts
Medicare Sounds Good To Me
How to Treat a Stroke in the 17th century — The Treatment of King Charles II of England.Thus is the sort of thing that I think about when people tell me “I was born in the wrong century”.
On February 2nd, 1685 King Charles II of England suffered a fit of apoplexy (had a stroke) while being shaved by his barber. He fell into convulsions, at which point the court physician was called immediately. The court physician quickly performed the emergency treatment for a man who had just suffered a stroke. He took out a penknife and bled out 16 ounces of blood from King Charles to “balance his humors”. After the bleeding he was given an enema, which was re-administered 2 hours later. When the King came to he was weak and could not speak. Upon word of his stroke, 14 of the finest physicians in London arrived to treat and cure the kings illness. Each doctor had his own theory of medicine and his own special treatment for stroke. The following treatments of King Charles II are well recorded, and closely details the methods and methodology of 17th century medicine.
On February 6th, 1685 King Charles II of England died of the age of 54.
- As well as the 16 ounces of bloodletting at first, King Charles was bled another 8 ounces daily.
- “To free his stomach of all impurities”, he was made to drink strong emetics (drugs that induce vomiting) containing heavy metals such as antimony and zinc sulphate (both are poisonous).
- His head was shaved, and covered in blistering agents such as mustard and camphor. The theory behind this was that the blisters would force bad humors lower into his body where they could be bled out. A red hot poker was also applied to encourage more blistering.
- He was given daily enemas containing “sacred bitter power, cream of tartar, syrup of buckthorn, rock salt, and orange infusion of the metals supplemented by antispasmodic julep of black cherry water”
- He was made to sniff sneezing powders made of cowslip flowers and spirit of sal ammoniac. It was thought the sneezing would relieve pressure on his brain.
- He was given numerous laxatives.
- A mixture of pigeon droppings and burgundy pitch were applied to his feet.
- He was given a tonic containing 40 drops of the essence (ooze) of a human skull “from a man who had died a most violent death and was never buried.”
- He was fed powder from a crushed stone taken from the stomach of a goat from East India.
'borrowed' from Father Izzy-isms http://fatherizzyisms.tumblr.com/
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