Buzzy.

The bees here at McCarty Apiaries have wasted NO time this spring and have upped their honey production from previous years. We plan to extract the spring honey soon. It is a lighter honey, in color, and is sweeter in taste than the honey extracted in the fall.

We will soon be taking orders for honey...stay tuned!

Hiatus!

Spring is a much-welcomed season in our household. The bees start buzzing with more activity, as do WE in our household.

Much-needed sorting, cleaning and preparing is currently occurring at McCarty Apiaries. We lost a hive this winter, but we are currently awaiting the arrival of a new one to accompany our remaining two. We hope to have a great year.

Production of products will resume soon...STAY TUNED!

NEWS! Reflections Bookstore...and The Bees Knees.

McCarty Apiaries is (finally) pleased to announce that the Bees Knees all-natural hand-poured lip balm is available for convenient purchase in Reflections Bookstore, located on the HWAC college campus.After surveying with YOU, the balm enthusiasts, and organizing agreements with bookstore management, it's a go!

Your favorite flavors are available...

Soon to come: two NEW flavors. Check back soon! Also in the works, after a lengthy hiatus due to consecutive roadtrips and vacationing: more hand balm, vapor rub, and lip salve.

What makes the Bees Knees so good?

When formulating the flavors and consistency of the Bees Knees lip balm, I consider several things.

When considering flavor, I consider pungency and aroma. When searching for a favorite lip balm, I, personally, am sold on the aromas.

When considering consistency, I strive to keep a healthy balance between wax and oils. Most lip balm fanatics know what they like, and many have said that they prefer LESS WAX, when it comes to what they put on their lips. You will find this lip balm to be lighter less waxy that some other lip balms. It glides on and is less invasive on the lips. And from my own personal experience, as well as the reviews of other customers, there isn't a need to constantly reapply the balm.

The Bees Knees is choc-full of oils (including coconut oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, vitamin E oil), lanolin, essential oils (with healing and aromatic properties), beeswax, honey and propolis.

Here are some of the benefits of each ingredient in the Bees Knees beeswax lip balm:

coconut oil: It acts as an effective moisturizer on all types of skins including dry skin. Coconut oil is a safe solution for preventing dryness and flaking of skin. Coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems. Therefore coconut oil forms the basic ingredient of various body care products such as soaps, lotions, creams, etc., used for skin care.

jojoba oil: The oil is ideal for people who suffer from sensitive skin conditions. It helps soften the skin and when applied to your hair will increase its shine. It is also known to help reduce wrinkles. In addition, it helps promote the growth of new skin cells. It also possesses anti-bacterial qualities.

Read more at http://www.articlealley.com/article_10102_28.html?ktrack=kcplink

sweet almond oil: Sweet almond oil is obtained from the dried kernels of the almond tree. It is an excellent emollient, softening and soothing to the skin. It also helps to balance the loss and absorption of moisture, making it particularly effective for chapped and irritated skin, soothing it while nourishing and protecting. Since it is easily absorbed into the skin, it doesn't leave it feeling greasy or tacky. It is used to soften the skin and to promote a clear, young looking complexion. It is a greatly nourishing and protecting oil and is ideal for chapped and irritated skin.

vitamin E: because of its antioxidant activity, vitamin e is vital in protecting skin cells from ultra violet light, pollution, drugs, and other elements that produce cell damaging free radicals. Vitamin e lotions provide some benefit in preventing and treating sunburns.

lanolin: Lanolin is the natural oil found in sheep's wool. It helps protect the sheep from cold, wet weather by making the wool oily and water-repellent. Sheep are trimmed of their wool regularly, and when that wool is processed for making yarn, the lanolin is removed and saved for use in a variety of products, including skin and haircare products, where it acts as a strong moisturizer.

Lanolin is one of the best substances for use on delicate, dry or chapped skin.

Lanolin works by creating a barrier on the surface of the skin to help prevent water from evaporating. The skin makes natural oils for this purpose, of course, but these oils can be washed away, leaving the skin dry and chapped. At times, the environment may be colder, drier or windier for your skin oils to handle, and adding extra oil on the surface helps gives extra protection.

beeswax: Beeswax locks in moisture, fosters cells and protects skin from damaging environmental factors. Honeygirlorganic.com reports beeswax effectively "softens your skin and creates a long-lasting protective coating against the elements. It also is a naturally nourishing moisturizer as well as being anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-allergenic and a germicidal antioxidant." According to Botanical.com, "Even after processing, beeswax still remains a biologically active product, retaining some anti-bacterial properties and also contains some vitamin A, which is necessary for normal cell development."

honey: Honey is a great ingredient because it doesn't only act as an antibacterial it acts as a moisturizer as well, hydrating and softening the skin. Because honey is a humectant it attracts and preserves water therefore aiding in skin hydration.

propolis: Propolis is a sticky resin, which seeps from the buds of certain trees. The bees gather propolis, sometimes called “bee glue” and carry it home in their pollen baskets. The worker bees then take the resinous material and add salivary secretions and wax flakes to it and use the bee propolis in two ways: firstly to reinforce the hive itself, and secondly propolis protects the hive from bacterial and viral infection. 　 　

The major benefit of propolis is that it is powerfully antiseptic and antiviral. It is an anti-oxidant, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral.

COMING SOON to Reflections bookstore...

Attention Balm Enthusiasts,

For the convenience of everyone, I am currently working to coordinate selling the Bees Knees lip balm in Reflections bookstore. Although I currently offer ten flavors, I'd like to start by making the top five most-popular flavors available at the bookstore.

I am currently surveying to determine the top picks. In the running are: vanilla mint, peppermint twist, coconut creme, mint chocolate, cinnamon stick and tangerine.

It is my hope that offering the Bees Knees in the bookstore will ensure convenience for YOU, the buyer, as well as for me. You will be able to purchase on-demand and not have to coordinate payment/pickup with me. We'll give it a go and see how it works! As always, I appreciate your feedback.

photo courtesy Reflections Bookstore

Coming this week: Sweet Bee Exfoliating Skin Scrubs

Sweet Bee Sugar Scrub: sugar, vitamin E, olive oil and essential oils combine to create a tranquil and smoothing exfoliating scrub for more sensitive skin. Currently available in lavender, lavender-vanilla, tangerine, and peppermint.

Sweet Bee Sea Salt Scrub: sea salt, vitamin E, olive oil, and essential oils combine to provide a wonderful exfoliating scrub for dry and less sensitive skin. Currently available in lavender, lavender-vanilla, tangerine-coconut, and peppermint.


Sweet Bee Invigorating Coffee Body Scrub: ground coffee, sugar, vanilla bean, vitamin E and coconut oil combine to make a delightfully warm and gentle exfoliating scrub.

These scrubs are to be applied directly to the skin (preferably in the shower, as your skin is moistened and pores opened) and rubbed in a circular motion with fingertips, washcloth or loofah. Rinse off and pat skin dry.

Can't decide what best suits your skin type? See the chart below for a comparison of the salt and sugar scrubs. These scrubs make a wonderful PRE-SHAVE exfoliate.

These scrubs are designed to exfoliate and moisturize with healing oils. They can be customized to meet your personal skincare needs. CALL OR EMAIL to request yours or to determine what would work best for your needs. The cost for each 3 oz. scrub is 50 cents.

Healing hand salves and soothing vapor rubs, just in time for winter....COMING SOON!

Survey of Demand: Vapor and Hand salves

I am currently contemplating two new beeswax products: a lavender or eucalyptus vapor salve (very similar to Vick's vapor rub) and a hand salve. These products would be very useful for the approaching winter season.

I'd like to get a feel for the demand. If you would like to see these products available for purchase, please leave a comment in the "comments" section of this post.

Thank you for your help!