Beginning Beekeeping - The Equipment

Backyard (or rooftop, or fire escape, or whatever) beekeeping seems to be picking up steam, but I still found it maddeningly difficult to find a good primer online. A good beekeeping book is crucial, but I also like to do free research online whenever I begin a project - even a big one - and a simple primer on the equipment you'll need would have been really helpful in estimating what sorts of costs I would incur.

So this post is just that. I'm going to go over the basic parts necessary to assembling a hive. In the next post, I'll discuss where to get the bees. Frankly, that's as far as I've gotten. My bees seem to like their new home; they've been busy building comb, and I'll continue to add bee-related posts as they develop their colony and I inevitably screw something up.

collecting - cast iron pans

I bought my first cast-iron skillet as a fledgling baker in high school, looking for a proper vessel for making pineapple upside-down cake. It was actually a completely uneducated buy; I was at the late, lamented Lakewood Antiques Show, saw a wonderful, smooth 9" cast-iron skillet for $18, and talked them down to $12 (it was a Sunday, the last day of the show, after all). I didn't know anything about seasoning the pan, and I bought it in part because, frankly, I didn't know that new cast-iron pans were still manufactured. It's turned out to be well worth its $12 price, and sits permanently on top of our stove, stacked with a number of other cast-iron pans that could double as anti-burglary implements, if it ever came to that.

building a tufted ottoman

Update: there's a cost breakdown and a basic illustrated step-by-step process for a similar ottoman here.



You guys, Allen and I totally built this ottoman.

If we can do this, anyone can do it. I think I'm going to forgo a detailed tutorial on how to do this particular one, because the bumper around the edge (copied from this one that I love) made for a really convoluted process. But anyone could easily (really!) build one like this.

I'd recommend buying these two books, building a simple frame out of inexpensive two-by-fours (you can have Home Depot cut these for you), buying high-density foam, cotton batting, and edge roll from DIY Upholstery, legs from Adams wood products (we used oak, 8" tall), and having covered buttons made by your local upholsterer.

Remember to use edgeroll vertically at the corners, or you'll end up with sausages at the edges, which is how ours looked before. Give it a try. You get to carve foam into fun shapes!

pressed & framed botanicals

I've been seeing some beautiful botanical prints lately that I'd love to somehow reproduce (in spirit, if not in detail). I've only marginal drawing skills, but Mother Nature herself offers an ideal way to bring the silhouettes of ferns and other plants into our homes without having to render their likenesses in pencil - pressing plants. It couldn't be more straightforward, and there are infinite ways to mount and frame your finished product - but I've got a few tips to help people along.

buying happines

This is old news, but could I just take a moment to say how much I love this New York Times article on money and happiness?

MacAusland's woolen blankets

Do you ever get so excited about something you've bought that you want to tell people about it? This is one of those times. I apologize in advance for gushing, but I've been made giddy by a blanket. It's a gift for someone I love (who luckily doesn't read this blog), and I can't wait to give it to them.

MacAusland's Woolen Mills, on Prince Edward Island, Canada, makes beautiful, fluffy, lofty wool blankets in dozens of beautiful colors and several patterns (though the checkerboard is clearly the best). For those who value provenance, here's something: When you call MacAusland's Woolen Mill, you get a MacAusland on the phone. Here's a neat description of the mill.

MacAusland's weaves its blankets from pure virgin wool, and offers custom sizes and color combinations. Those lucky few who have sheep of their own can send wool for MacAusland's to spin into yarn.



The blankets are really well priced, from about $45 for a very large throw to about $85 for a queen-sized blanket. (Of course, though, keep in mind that shipping from Prince Edward Island to the southern United States doesn't run cheap.)

The blanket might arrive smelling a little of loom oil, and mine still had a few pieces of grass and natural detritus clinging to it. A cold run through the gentle cycle (using Woolite) helped remedy that. Never dry a wool blanket, or you'll end up with felt - just roll it around a couple of beach towels to squeeze out the excess water, and drape it over a bed or a shower curtain to dry.

A warning to those trying to coordinate colors in a cool-hued, white-toned house: MacAusland's "natural white" is completely unbleached, and more like ecru than white.

Would it be unreasonable to reupholster my settee with one of these blankets? Maybe I'll post a new upholstery DIY.

Shyrdak rugs

I love shyrdak rugs, even though I haven't met one in real life. They look so warm and tactile.

The rugs are made of wool felt by Kyrgyz women. Lightweight felt suits the lifestyle of these traditionally nomadic people, who have historically resided in yurts - where shyrdaks also decorate the walls. To make the rugs, two layers of contrasting felt are cut with an identical pattern, and the "positive space" of one color is used to fill the negative space of another, resulting in two complete ornamental panels. The panels are then quilted together, often with a contrasting trim at the pattern's edges. Sometimes they're backed by another layer of felt.

The Cost of Buying Cheap

NPR’s Talk of the Nation reviewed Ellen Ruppell Shell’s book the other week, called Cheap. Here is the NPR website’s description of the piece:

The words discount, half-price and final sale can get you running to the mall or reaching for your credit card. But in her book called Cheap, author Ellen Ruppel Shell explains why bargain-hunting may come at a high price.