What are our bees doing in August? Buzz Savories’ bees are methodically gathering nectar and storing this precious fluid in the beeswax cells they made for this purpose. 

This productive behavior is stimulated by the “honey flow” meaning forage plants are in bloom and our weather has been pleasant for bee activity.

Except for some rainy days, Buzz Savories bees are diligently collecting nectar and pollen.  Both are stored in the hive. The bees make and store honey in the supers (smaller boxes that the beekeeper places on top of the large boxes called deeps. The honey is stored for use in the cold months, and the pollen is stored in the deeps among the brood cells. Pollen serves as a source of protein for the bees.    

What flowers do bees prefer?  Every beekeeper I know says, “Clover.”  Bees will pass over alfalfa and other flowers to get to a field of clover.

Fields of clover are few and far between these years. The clover has been rooted out and replaced with alfalfa. Bees make do with alfalfa. They also find wild mint, blazing star, sage, coneflower, hyssop, vetch, sunflowers, soy beans, bee balm, milkweeds, and flowering fruit trees.

When these plants and more are accessible, the honey flow may last for many weeks, and the beekeeper feels happy to see a thin film of white wax topping the cells of nectar. This indicates the nectar has turned into honey and is the proper consistency for long term storage in the hive. Beekeepers leave 50 lbs. for the bees to live on through the winter. The excess is lifted off the hive in late August and extracted for the honey that the beekeeper packages and markets and eats.

See how my 14’ by 12’ patch of prairie pollinators is growing  in my front yard in Holdrege, Nebraska.    They grow with profusion and delight and exuberance.  Standing in their company, I feel the energy that surrounds these healthy plants, and I walk away feeling refreshed and happy.  My small patch supports Big Blue Stem grass, Coreopsis, Cone flower, Black-eyed Susan, Blazing Star, Milkweed, Catmint, Golden rod, Yarrow, Larkspur,, Wild Bergamot, Spiderwort, New England Aster, and friends – red clover and dandelions.

Monarch butterflies need our help! Their populations are shrinking. Biologists point to shrinking butterfly habitat. Monarchs require a specific host plant in order for them to complete their life cycle. What is this significant plant? Milkweed. Milkweed serves a critical role in the monarch’s life cycle.

Nebraska’s iconic plant, the Yucca is blooming in the Nebraska prairie where the handsome, fearsome yucca lives long and with distinction.  Roots 20 feet down in the earth and sword-like leaves with a waxy finish protect the yucca during long periods of drought.  

For the people who travel-to and walk-in natural places and spaces in Rural Nebraska, they may witness nature unfolding.  I want to share a nature event that my sister and I experienced in late March 2023.  See the poem below and photo by Don Brockmeier, a nature photographer from Eustis, Nebraska.  Look up Don Brockmeier on Instagram for more images of nature unfolding.

I read recently that there is a definite trend away from buying “things” as gifts and instead buying the recipient experiences. So instead of unwrapping another bathrobe or scarf or box of chocolates, the lucky receiver gets tickets for a play or a boat ride or a concert. That way, long after the scarf and bathrobe have gone to the Good Will and the chocolates have settled onto the hips, the memory of the experience you gave them will warm the heart into old age and beyond.

So, here’s an idea we had for Mother’s Day. It’s May, and Mother’s Day Sunday or one of the days close to it is likely to be a nice one. Why not prepare a Buzz Savories Picnic for mom? 

Choose a memorable or meaningful location, then start with a little appetizer like our simple Ham and Cheese Feuilleté with a glass of wine. Now it’s time to bring out our Savory Ham Salad sandwiches, and a side dish of Potato Salad My Way (above) or perhaps our interesting take on Memphis Mustard Coleslaw. To finish it off, perhaps some Homemade Honey Buns made with Buzz Savories Artisanal Honey. Each dish offers a taste experience to take mom out of the mundane and into a new world of flavor.

And here’s how to make it an over-the-top experience. After the meal, bring out your real gift of a Buzz Savories Gift Set. They’re on sale now for Mother’s Day and you can choose one of ours or mix and match our products to make one of your own.

Make mom a Buzz Savories Picnic and give her an experience she may never forget.

Right now, the sandhill crane migration along the North Platte River near where we live is coming to an end. Every year, from mid-February through early April, about half a million sandhill cranes stage here, gaining energy for their trek to nesting grounds stretching from the Great Lakes to the artic regions of Canada and Alaska.

As you can imagine from this picture by our friend Don Brockmeier, it’s a stunning spectacle.

When you buy Buzz Savories Honey Mustard or Spicy Beer Mustard, and certainly when you buy our Artisanal Honey, you’re tasting a bit of Nebraska. And like a sky filled with sandhill cranes — or our hardworking bees — it’s a taste of nature at its finest. Try some.

Any of us who have lived long enough to learn to enjoy mustard — it’s something of an acquired taste, after all — have also learned there are many instances in life where changing one thing changes everything.

We have nothing against French’s (although it’s interesting to note that this kind of mustard is referred to as “American mustard” throughout most of the world) except that it is ordinary and has a kind of corporate flavor to it.

One of my first great culinary leaps using whole-grain mustards like Buzz Savories Honey Mustard and Spicy Beer Mustard was in my family’s traditional potato salad. It’s a simple recipe I learned at an early age and calls for a dressing of mayonnaise and, of course, yellow mustard. Putting this recipe together one day decades later, I found we were out of French’s and reached instead for the honey mustard in the back of the pantry.

Changing that single ingredient created an entirely different flavor profile, a little hot, a little sweet, and with whole seeds to create an interesting new texture.

If you use French’s or indeed any plain, mild yellow mustard in sauces, vinaigrettes and other dressings, dips or marinades, try swapping out that one ingredient for Buzz Savories Mustards and taste new depths of flavor in modest dishes. Life’s an adventure and this is an easy change. Try it. And let us know what you think.