GloryBee Blog

Bee Weekend Roundup

GloryBee would like to thank the local community for making Bee Weekend 2014 a huge success!

We had a great time talking with local beekeeping veterans as well as all of the new recruits! Whether you started beekeeping for the honey, the pollination, or just as a hobby, it was nice to meet everybody and share our love of beekeeping.

If you have any questions regarding your bees, the book Beekeeping 101 is a great resource. Our store has a selection of informative books that will help answer most any question. If you need some immediate help, the Lane County Beekeepers Association is a superb resource that you should utilize. Also if you’re not a member, now is a great time to join.

Finally, if you missed out on packaged bees this season, call our sales department at 1-800-456-7923 to reserve a spot for 2015.

Bee Weekend 2014 Statistics:
Number of Honey Bee Attendees: About 8,000,000

Number of Queen Bee Attendees: 868

Number of Human Attendees: Nearly 1,500

Number of Hive Installation Demos: 7

Ounces of Honey Sampled: 1,980

Thank you again for making Bee Weekend a huge success. We'll see you in 2015!

All Natural Easter Egg Dye

What is Easter without Easter eggs? Coloring Easter eggs is one of our favorite traditions here at GloryBee, but we like to avoid store packaged kits as well as food coloring. We have assembled some easy to make instructions for your own natural egg dyes with items you probably already have in your home. Start with these primary colors, and mix to create some of your other favorite colors.

Blue Easter Egg Dye:
1 lb of crushed frozen blueberries
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Directions: Mix ingredients together, boil for 15 mins, let cool.

Red Easter Egg Dye:
1 lb of frozen cranberries
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Directions: Mix ingredients together, boil for 15 mins, let cool.

Yellow Easter Egg Dye:
3 tbsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Directions: Mix ingredients together, boil for 15 mins, let cool.

Thanks to mother earth news for the inspiration.

Natural Scented Linen Powder

This recipe is a quick and easy way to get a few more days out of your sheets between washes. Just sprinkle it between your mattress pad and sheets and every time you roll over, the fresh scent is revitalized!

Ingredients:
1 cup baking soda
Rosemary essential oil
Sweet orange essential oil
Quart Jar with lid
Pint jar with canning lid and ring
Hammer
Nail

Directions:
Place 1 cup of baking soda in the quart jar. Add approximately 10-15 drops orange essential oil and 6-10 drops rosemary essential oil to the baking soda, then immediately place the lid on the jar and shake vigorously for several minutes to evenly distribute the essential oil. If you see baking soda sticking to the side of the jar, loosen it with a spoon and keep shaking. Smell the mixture when you’re done shaking—if you’d like a stronger scent, add a few more drops of essential oil and shake again (try not to exceed 30 total drops).

Using the hammer and nail, make small holes in the canning lid. Fill the pint jar with baking soda/essential oil mixture and screw lid on with ring.

To use, shake a little onto your mattress pad (aiming for the spot you usually lie in) and cover with a fitted sheet. Enjoy!

An added bonus: when you launder your sheets and mattress pad, the powder will enhance the performance of your regular laundry soap! This project can be made with other skin-safe essential oils like lavender, tea tree, lemongrass, etc.

Homemade Liquid Dish Soap

Nobody likes doing dishes. That being said nearly everybody likes saving money. We’re bringing you a dead simple recipe for homemade dish soap. This recipe won’t create as many suds as the store bought version, but it still cleans well!

Ingredients:
8 oz Bottles (Or you can re-use your old dish soap bottle)
2/3 cup liquid castile soap
3 tsp. Vebetable glycerin
10 drops tea-tree essential oil
15 drops lemon essential oil
1 ¼ cups water

Directions:
Simply mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk until emulsified. Pour the soap into your bottle(s) and use like your would any other dish soap. This recipe is easier on the hands and smells amazing!

Bee Weekend 2014

The 39th Annual Bee Weekend
Hosted by GloryBee Foods
Location: 29548 Airport Rd, Eugene, OR 97402

Would you like to purchase bees? Give us a call at 1-800-456-7923.

On Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th, GloryBee will host its 39th Annual Bee Weekend! This two-day community event is packed with beekeeping education, distribution of pre-ordered packages of live bees, live demonstrations, honey sampling, onsite food vendors and additional activities.

Bee Weekend Hours:
Friday, April 11th – 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 12th – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Bee Pickup Times:
Friday, April 11th – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 12th – 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Demonstration Times:
Friday, April 11th – 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 12th – 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.

Meet the 2014 American Honey Queen
GloryBee will host the 2014 American Honey Queen, Susannah Austin, at this year’s Bee Weekend. Susannah will speak about the importance of honeybees to Oregon agriculture and how honeybees are worth billions in pollination. She will also share information about the many uses for honey.

Susannah Austin is daughter of Kris and Catherine Austin of Orlando, Florida. She is a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, where she is pursuing a degree in biology with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian. Besides bees, Susannah is interested in photography, knitting, cooking, reading, playing with her dog, and spending time with family and friends.

As the 2014 American Honey Queen, Susannah serves as a national spokesperson on behalf of the American Beekeeping Federation, a trade organization representing beekeepers and honey producers throughout the United States. The Honey Queen and Princess speak and promote in venues nationwide, and, as such Queen Susannah will travel throughout the United States during her year-long reign. Prior to being selected as the American Honey Queen, Susannah served as the 2013 Florida Honey Queen. In this role, she promoted the honey industry at fairs, festivals, and farmers’ markets, via television and radio interviews, and in schools.

The beekeeping industry touches the lives of every individual in our country. In fact, honeybees are responsible for nearly one-third of our entire diet, in regards to the pollination services that they provide for a large majority of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. This amounts to nearly $19 billion per year of direct value from honeybee pollination to United States agriculture.

Learn with Bee Girl
Sarah Red-Laird is the founder and Executive Director of Bee Girl. Her love of bees and their honey began in Southern Oregon, on the deck of her aunt's cabin, at the end of a country road. Sarah carried her affinity for honey bees with her through to Montana where she chose honey bees and Colony Collapse Disorder as her research project for the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana. She graduated with honors, and as a University Scholar from UM's College of Forestry and Conservation.

She is excited to "bee" in Southern Oregon to combine her love of bees with her education, outreach, and non-profit experience to encourage and support the newest generation of bee lovers. No matter what she gets her honey stickied hands into, at the core of the Bee Girl organization is our mission of preserving honeybees, beekeepers, and food resources by providing outreach, education, support, and mentorship for beekeepers and communities.

Bee Girl teaches classes for beginning beekeepers and works one-on-one with beekeepers and their honey bees. She works to educate the next generation of honey beekeepers and advocates through her Kids and Bees program and the Southern Oregon University Beekeeping Club. She is also working on an initiative to help farmers and other land managers help our bees though conserving bee habitat and planting bee forage.

Bee Installation Demonstrations
Dick Turanski, founder and beekeeper, along with his son and Vice President, Alan Turanski, will demonstrate live bee installation into hives. The demonstrations are a must-see; for non-beekeepers, they offer a rare chance to see a colony of bees up close.

You don't have to be a beekeeper to participate! Bee Weekend has become a popular community event, featuring honey tasting, activities for kids and much more. Additionally, our Factory Store will be open so you can purchase supplies, bee-related gifts and toys, and a variety of tasty treats. Come see the bees up-close and learn more about these tiny and amazing creatures!

Beekeeping Preparation

Study up before Bee Weekend. Read Beekeeping 101 by clicking here.

Beekeepers prepare for the beekeeping year early by preordering packaged bees. Due to the increasing popularity of beekeeping as a hobby, it is recommended to order bees early in case of shortages. Beginners can prepare by purchasing how-to books and attending workshops like those offered through local beekeeping associations. Supplies like boxes, frames, foundation and other equipment should be purchased well in advance to allow plenty of time to paint the hives and prepare the frames and foundation. For an easy way to get started, GloryBee offers a beginning beekeeping kit that will get novices off on the right foot.

Oakshire Inspires Event
Start bee weekend a bit early on Wednesday April 9th with a pint of Save the Bee Ancient Ale at the Oakshire Brewing Public House.

GloryBee has partnered with Oakshire Brewing to craft a unique single batch ancient ale featuring GloryBee honey and other ingredients. $1 from every pint sold at the pub will be donated to our Save the Bee Campaign. Not a beer drinker? Stop on by and enjoy live music by the Rosannas starting at 5:00pm.

Live music, good beer, and an opportunity to save the bee. Click here to RSVP!

Citrus Aromatherapy Hand Soap

We’re back with another easy recipe for superb hand soap. Just a few ingredients make a hand soap that cleans, lathers, and leaves your hand smelling fresh and citrusy.

Ingredients:
Unscented liquid soap base
½ Teaspoon Bergamot Essential Oil
¼ Teaspoon lemon Essential Oil
¼ Teaspoon Grapefruit Essential Oil
¼ Teaspoon Sweet Oange Essential Oil
Foaming Soap container (or use your own)

Directions:
Pour the liquid soap base into a mixing bowl. Starting with Bergamot, add each essential oil individually. Stir oils thoroughly into soap base and carefully pour into container. That’s it! You’re done! These make great gifts and are a fun way to get the kids to wash their hands! The bergamot is a lower note that really smooth’s out to the sharper citrus high notes. Video:

All Natural Cold Cream

Cold Cream Cold cream is a product you can use for almost everything. Use cold cream to sooth sunburns, remove makeup, as a face wash, to replace shaving cream, and to soften and moisturize your skin! It’s always nice to have a supply on hand. Here is a recipe we like that you can make quickly and easily.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup beeswax
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup almond oil
1 teaspoon liquid vegetable glycerin
2 tablespoons rose water

Directions:
Add all products EXCEPT the rose water into a double boiler.

Use a low heat to melt the beeswax. Once the wax is completely melted,

Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir in the rose water one drop at a time until the cold cream thickens. You can add more or less rose water in order to get the cream to the consistency you’d like.

Natural Cleansing and Soothing Toner

Want to make your own natural face toner for pennies on the dollar compared to store-bought versions? Watch this video, pick up the ingredients and start saving! Ingredients:
Distilled water: 1/2 cup
Apple Cider Vinegar: 1/2 cup
Aloe Vera Concentrate: 2 Tbsp
Vegetable Glycerin: 2 Tsp
Grapefruit Essential oil: 1/4 Tsp
Clary sage Essential oil: 1/4 Tsp
Chamomile Essential Oil: 1/4 Tsp
Spray Bottle

Starting with distilled water and apple cider vinegar, Place ingredients into pint jar, shake for 30 seconds or until ingredients are mixed. Pour enough toner for a week into a spray bottle and gently mist on face.

Coconut Oil Face Scrub

These are our favorite type of recipes. Coconut oil is known to have anti-microbial properties. Paired with baking soda and a pinch of salt, you can harness this all natural oil to make an exfoliating face scrub that will leave your skin feeling radiant, clean, and silky smooth.

Ingredients:
½ cup Aunt Patty's Organic Coconut Oil
½ Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Extra Coarse Sea Salt

Directions: Pour baking soda into bowl with coconut oil. Stir until baking soda is fully mixed with coconut oil. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sea salt to act as an exfoliating scrub. If you’d like to kick it up a notch, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil (vanilla works great). Pour into a sealable container. Once solidified, scoop a small smount on your face and gently scrub using circular motions. Rinse with water and a touch of soap.

GloryBee Wins the 2014 Bold Steps Award

Eugene, OR – GloryBee, a Eugene-based natural and organic ingredients company, was awarded the Bold Steps Award by Mayor Piercy at the State of the city Event on January 8, 2014.

Two other companies competed for the award: Life Technologies, a global life sciences company and Rainbow Valley Design & Construction, a design/build firm specializing in environmentally friendly new homes, remodels and commercial spaces.

The Bold Steps Award recognizes Eugene-based sustainable businesses, and represents a partnership between The City of Eugene, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and BRING’s RE:think Business program. Recently updated from a semi-monthly award to an annual award, this year’s award increased the level of competition, as well as the visibility of the winner.

A number of GloryBee’s practices helped the company earn the recognition including:

• An extensive employee benefit plan, health incentives program, and a comprehensive performance evaluation program.

• In 2012, the company reduced its use of propane, natural gas, and water by 15%, 4% and 37% respectively. The company offsets 100% of its electricity consumption with Renewable Energy Certificates, and diverted 65% of all waste from landfills in 2012.

• Two primary GloryBee social initiatives – Save the Bee, which addresses the declining honey bee population, and Food for Health, which works with nonprofits to improve child health, nutrition, and physical activity.

“Eugene is nationally recognized as a leader in sustainability not simply because of our policies, but because of the commitment and innovation of businesses and residents who are working to improve environmental quality and grow our green economy,” said Mayor Kitty Piercy. “Working together we are creating a greener, more sustainable, and livable city.”

For the City of Eugene, sustainability means considering and balancing all three aspects of the triple bottom line – people, planet and prosperity – to address the community’s present needs without compromising future generations. The Bold Steps Award recognizes businesses that embody this vision and are taking bold steps in each area of the triple bottom line.

The trophy will be passed, Stanley Cup-style from winner to winner each year. Nameplates for each winning business will be added to the trophy each year.

About the Bold Steps Award Program

This was the first year of the re-envisioned Bold Steps Award program. To qualify for next year’s consideration for the Bold Steps award, businesses must be certified through BRING’s RE:think Business program by August 2014, with additional information provided via the Bold Steps Award application. Through RE:think Business, businesses receive free, on-site consultation to reduce waste and save money. Bold Steps finalists will receive public relations and marketing support about the award and a professionally produced 60-90 second video about their triple bottom line efforts. Local marketing and research firm bell+funk conducted focus groups with business owners to design an award program that provided business with the benefits they wanted, then developed a logo and marketing materials for the program.

Further information about the Bold Steps award and a link to the application is available on the City of Eugene website at eugene-or.gov/boldsteps. To learn more about RE:think Business, go to BRING’s website at www.bringrecycling.org and click on the RE:think logo. Businesses with current RE:think Business certification do not need to repeat the program to be considered for the Bold Steps Award.Eugene, OR – GloryBee, a Eugene-based natural and organic ingredients company, was awarded the Bold Steps Award by Mayor Piercy at the State of the city Event on January 8, 2014.

A number of GloryBee’s practices helped the company earn the recognition including:

• An extensive employee benefit plan, health incentives program, and a comprehensive performance evaluation program.

The trophy will be passed, Stanley Cup-style from winner to winner each year. Nameplates for each winning business will be added to the trophy each year.

About the Bold Steps Award Program

GloryBee in Open For Business Magazine

GloryBee was recently featured in Open For Business Magazine! The article talked about our sustainability practices and detailed our nomination for the City of Eugene Bold Steps award. The award is presented each year at the annual State of the City address to a company that operates with a triple bottom line philosophy. That is, businesses that are financially successful and environmentally and socially responsible.

Read the article by clicking here.GloryBee was recently featured in Open For Business Magazine! The article talked about our sustainability practices and detailed our nomination for the City of Eugene Bold Steps award. The award is presented each year at the annual State of the City address to a company that operates with a triple bottom line philosophy. That is, businesses that are financially successful and environmentally and socially responsible.

Read the article by clicking here.

How to Help People Affected by the Typhoon in the Philippines

Witnessing the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, GloryBee’s first thoughts were with the people of the Philippines. We have formed very close relationships with our suppliers there since we source nearly all of our coconut products from the Philippines. After a few tense days, we were able to get in contact with our suppliers and are thankful to report that the families and factories where we source our coconut products were not impacted by the typhoon. Unfortunately 50% of the overall coconut trees in the Philippines were uprooted, so there will be a rebuilding and replanting in the coming years. We will continue to work with our suppliers, ensuring our continued business as a way to support this rebuilding process.

Concerned customer questions have poured in over the past week, checking on our suppliers and asking what they can do to help. We believe the best way to help is through a donation to the Red Cross. The Red Cross is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and an average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs.Witnessing the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, GloryBee’s first thoughts were with the people of the Philippines. We have formed very close relationships with our suppliers there since we source nearly all of our coconut products from the Philippines. After a few tense days, we were able to get in contact with our suppliers and are thankful to report that the families and factories where we source our coconut products were not impacted by the typhoon. Unfortunately 50% of the overall coconut trees in the Philippines were uprooted, so there will be a rebuilding and replanting in the coming years. We will continue to work with our suppliers, ensuring our continued business as a way to support this rebuilding process.