Day 35: Rain

It was a rainy day today so we mostly stayed indoors. 

Everyone was "bundled up" which meant long sleeves and hats. It didn't feel cold to me because the air was still warm even though it was raining. I think I'm just used to more chilly rain.

Enoch staying warm:

 The yard in between rain showers:

 Some jackfruit picked before it was swept away:

 Dinner was really good (as always). It was garlic mashed potatoes, lentil salad and peas. Yum!

As a treat, Agape showed me how to make coconut balls. Coconut and honey cooked on the stove, delicious:

We also made chocolate tea as a sweet treat. Grated chocolate balls (made straight from cocoa), coconut milk, ginger. Amazing:

Day 34: Outing

Kwao, Agape, the two youngest boys, Peter, and I all went on a trip to Annotto Bay today. We piled in the car and set off for the library, some shopping, and a trip to Mr. Hill afterwards. I met Kwao's sister in town and hung out in the car while errands were run. Agape tried to use the computers at the library but unsuccessfully. I went to a little souvenir shop in town where I got some gifts. We stopped by a banana shack but I don't know why. I kept the kids busy long enough so that they wouldn't notice mom was no longer in the car (especially the two year old).

We drove up a country road to the residence of Mr. Hill, a friendly beekeeper that has a pretty massive operation. I met him at one of the trainings as he is a part of the local association of bee farmers. He has 230 hives on his farm. They are all on a hill, a sea of boxes. It was amazing to see. He also had lots of other animals that we looked at. Pigeons, chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, cows, sheep, pigs of a huge variety. He also plants thousands of banana trees, ackee, and such. I got to help feed a calf! When we were visiting the animals, the calves were being bottle fed so I got to help out with one. It was really fun and the babies were super cute. Kwao asked a lot about how things are run, all enthusiastically answered by Mr. Hill. It was very nice of him to show us around. Tiring ride, though! I took an accidental nap when we got back.

Day 33: Relax

Today was a day off so I pretty much just relaxed. I did lots of reading about, what else? Bees and beekeeping. It is convenient to ask any questions I have to Agape or Kwao. I am learning a lkot from Michael Bush's book. No kidding when he titled it The Practical Beekeeper. He basically has a conversation with the reader, answering questions based on his 25+ years of beekeeping experience. It stands apart from most bee books becuase he does not answer questions with explanations or descriptions of bee behavior. Most books go into the biology of bees, the history of beekeeping, and the basics moving into a "philosophy" on beekeeping. With Michael Bush, there is no fluff. Just straightforward answers. Sometimes, I find that I do not understand or follow certain terms (such as "dipping equipment") but eventually figure it out. So far, I have liked reading about alternative methods to beekeeping such as top entrances and using essential oils.
The internet went out yesterday which was interesting. Inconvenient for those that had to send e-mails but  also a relief to stay away from Facebook I have to admit...Back online, anyways. The past three nights it has rained with thunder and lightning. It has jarred me awake and frankly scared me. When I told Kwao this in the morning, he told me that this was nothing and laughed. The rain is good for the crops and the soil here.

Day 32: Building hives

We got a lot done today! I finally got to build my own hive, something I really wanted to accomplish while I was here. 

Giant green lizard (considered bad luck by many here):

 We planted pineapple tops today. Any time they buy pineapples, they save the tops to be planted on the farm. Many have already been planted, but we pulled up any that died or were rotten. We replanted the new tops among rows of sweet pepper. We did it today because the soil was nice and soft after the rain last night. Necessary items are a bag to carry the pineapple tops in and a cutlass to dig the hole:

 Here is a close-up of a pineapple growing on the farm:

 Me planting the pineapple top into the ground:

 Kwao helped me build a hive today. We marked up two boards for the two sides and two faces of the hive. I learned how to get the right angle for cutting out the faces (60 degree slant). We used a skill saw and a table saw, both of which I learned how to use safely.

 Once we cut out the sides and faces, we put them all together. It is a little tricky to hold up the face to the side and get the nails in at an angle. We pre-drilled the holes that the nail would go into and it made things a lot easier. It helps to have another person as well to hold the face and side together at the corner.

 Nailing the side to the face was easier after the first nails were in:

 Here one side is attached to the front and back face (upside down):

 We used top bars to prop up the hive as we nailed it. You can see the entrance of the hive cut out in the closest face:

 Kwao holding it together as I drilled the holes:

 Lots of marking was needed so a square was a very useful tool to have:

 The finished hive! I used pieces of wood instead of one long piece for the bottom because it is what we had:

 I also nailed pieces for the bottom of the tin-sided hive that we put together last week:

 I'm really glad that I got to put together an entire hive, from beginning to (almost) the end. We still have to make a cover and top bars. But, I learned invaluable tricks for the carpentry and for assembly. I went with Kwao and a handful of boys to gather mangoes across town. At the end of the day, we had a fantastic dinner. Mangoes and dinner:

 Me and my "constant companion" Enoch who never fails to ask me to read him a book, play cards, or take a picture of him any time he sees me:

 Dinner was rice, coconut milk with sweet and spicy pepper, salad, broccoli with garlic sauce, and avocado pear. Absolutely delicious! Also, there was chocolate biscotti "camping style" for dessert. Yum!

Day 31: Bee talk

The family that was staying left this morning, but not without peeking into the bees first. I love hearing the reactions from people who have never gone into a hive before. They always say that it was very interesting and that they had never seen anything like it before. I also explained that crystallized honey doesn't have to be thrown away (always make me cringe when people mention they do this). But, I'm glad some bee love was shared around and some questions answered. It's funny how explaining bees or beekeeping always takes an explanation about their behavior or how the colony operates. Everything they do is very interconnected and answering a question about honey takes some extra explanation of bees.

Day 30: Market again

Kwao and I got up at 3:30am to go to the market in Kingston. It was especially tiring becuase we had stayed up late.
I forgot to add to the last market post that someone yelled at Kwao, "How much for the tall one?" as another cat call. Pretty funny. I was called the usual names today with the addition of "Sweetie".

I took a much needed nap after i got back and woke up to thunder and lightening. It hasn't rained yet, but it looks like it will very soon. The thunder is frighteningly loud and booming, with crackling noises accompanying. You can expect to hear little Kofi start to cry approximately three seconds after the thunder. The sky is grey and the weather slightly less hot.

I spent two hours today fussing with Excel to try and figure out certain functions for inputting survey information. I knew more than I did before, like how to add a drop-down menu in. I also did reading today. I like the book The Practical Beekeeper by Michael Bush that I was lent. It is very straightforward and without scientific explanations, rare in a bee book. But it does have a lot of practical information. I didn't know before that people actually eat bee larvae....

Day 29: More bee bites, animals, and food

Went into the bees this morning. The queen rearing nuke had a colony that absconded suddenly. There were a few ants left in the hive, but it was still a mystery as to why they left. One colony was fine and the other was unfortunately queenless. The queen cell that we had given them never emerged and the larvae inside the cell was mummified. When feeding two other hives, we found a good frame of brood to give to the queenless hive in order to encourage them to make queen cells.
Here are some random pictures from the day.
A tiny frog:

Cocoa nut that I tried for the first time. The seed is sticky on the outside and bitter tasting:

I also had fish soup today! Jessica showed me how to make it. Basically, she boiled a few fish heads in water over the stove. Then, she added yam, potato, green onion, carrots, and herbs. It was delicious:

I also spent some time peeling beet roots today for beet root juice. Yummy when it is ice cold:

Another (bigger) frog:

Day 28: Propolis and visitors

Made a propolis tincture today! The family had a ball of propolis in the freezer that they had collected. I made a propolis tincture with rum and shaved propolis. Basically, I grated the propolis finely and added it to about 5in of rum in a rum bottle. Then, I let it sit out in the sun all day. It is supposed to be really good for you for many reasons including minerals, anti-inflammatory etc.
The shaved propolis:

 The rum bottle with rum:

 Me grating the propolis:

 The mixture:

We had a pretty slow day today because we had some visitors come to stay.
Here is a picture of a tiny lizard:

I also went to the beach with lots of local people today. Later, I made more sugar syrup but the kitchen was full of ants. Kwao said that means it might rain soon.

Day 27: Bee bites and candles

Went into the bees this morning to take out the plastic feed bags. Might as well not make them work hard to get all the plastic out. Plus, we did some hive inspections while we worked. I learned the difference between a queen cup and a queen cell. Queen cups are built in preparation for a new queen to be laid. Queen cells are when the egg has been lain inside, which is capped 9 days later. Then, she emerges on day 16. Unfortunately, I got a bee sting on my wrist. They call them "bee bites" here but it means a bee sting. It didn't hurt to badly but limited my wrist movements for the rest of the day. 

My swollen hand:

 

I helped around the house today becuase there is a family coming to stay for a few days tomorrow. I painted the lower cabin and the entire kitchen. The kitchen included the fridge which rusts quickly becuase we are so near the ocean. 

Me painting:

 Close-up:

 We also made candles today with the wax we rendered! We melted the wheel of wax over the stove. We prepared the molds which meant cleaning them out and then placing the wick. This was tricky because the wick had to be straight and sit inside the mold. We tied the wick to a stick across the top to hold it in place.
Me tying the wick to a stick over the mold:

 Melting the wax:

 Me pouring the wax into the mold:

 Pouring the wax into the mold, which had a toothbrush instead of a stick to hold the wick:

 Enoch and I watching Kwao put the top-bar hive we worked on yesterday together. He nailed the front and back onto the sides:

 Nailing the side to the front is tricky because the side has to be held above the ground:

 The finished candles! We didn't put the wick in correctly on the big one but we are going to melt it down and try again...