We are pleased to announce the arrival of our 2nd child-
He was born on Sept. 21st and weighed in at 8 lbs 9.5 ounces and 20 inches long.
His big sister is ecstatic- and so are we.
We appreciate everyone’s patience and blessings this past year-
Mark is getting the bees ready to overwinter-
after 7 different valley apiaries being hit by bears this season- he has been making efforts to bear-proof them…and we thought our only bear issues existed in Michigan!
This season has proved difficult for the bees, the bears and many farmers in the area- we all hope and pray that next season will be more fruitious!
If our son- whose middle name is Aristaeus has anything to do with it- it will surely be a brighter future for beekeepers!
Aristaeus**: A minor god in Greek mythology, which we read largely through Athenian writers, Aristaeus or Aristaios (Greek: Ἀρισταῖος), “ever close follower of the flocks”, was the culture hero credited with the discovery of many useful arts, including bee-keeping; he was the son of Apollo and the huntress Cyrene. Aristeus (“the best”) was a cult title in many places.
According to Pindar’s ninth Pythian Ode and Apollonius’ Argonautica (II.522ff), Cyrene despised spinning and other womanly arts and instead spent her days hunting, but, in a prophecy he put in the mouth of the wise centaur Chiron, Apollo would spirit her to Libya and make her the foundress of a great city, Cyrene, in a fertile coastal plain. When Aristaeus was born, Pindar sang, Hermes took him to be raised on nectar and ambrosia and be made immortal by Gaia. The Myrtle-nymphs taught him useful arts and mysteries, how to curdle milk for cheese, how to tame the Goddess’s bees and keep them in hives, and how to tame the wild oleaster and make it bear olives. Thus he became the patron god of cattle, fruit trees, hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping. He also taught humanity dairy skills (including cheesemaking) and the use of nets and traps in hunting.
**Taken from wikipedia.org