Winter Garden Raw Honey

06/19/2026

06/18/2026

USDA ARS Honey Bee Lab Closing
By: Barb Bloetscher

With 60 percent of commercial honey bee colonies dying in the last 3 years, and the likely threat of the Tropilaelaps mites and other damaging pests attacking our colonies in the US, it is alarming and dangerous to know that our Government is trying to close the USDA Research Labs in Beltsville MD. THIS INCLUDES the Honey Bee Diagnostic Lab and ALL the research that has continued to serve US since the 1920’s!!!

The USDA Honey bee Diagnostic Laboratory has ID’d CCD, Disappearing Disease (before CCD) many of the viruses and pathogens that attack honey bees, and done extensive research to improve honey bee health and beekeeping management. The Diagnostic Lab has conducted Disease Diagnostics and Pest ID as well as antibiotic resistance at no cost to the public and provided additional diagnostics as needed for unusual submissions and questions.

It’s not JUST the Bee Lab though, the facility includes research on Food, Agricultural crops, Farm animals, Fruit, Vegetables, Hay and silage, Soil nutrition and Ornamental plants. They provided insight on the emerald ash borer, many other invasive pests, plus Human Nutrition.

Acres of chestnut trees one year away from flowering have a resistance to a soil pathogen. If the Labs are closed, the buildings will be razed and the fields leveled.
You can’t infect any soil with this pathogen and wait another 30 years for the chestnut trees to develop resistance again, yet the plan is to destroy these trees.
Although the admin is providing another location for the employees, relocation is not always possible for them, plus funding and equipment to continue their research may or may not be possible.

The Admin has already ordered dumpsters to empty the labs.
The employees have until Sept 1, to move out.
The buildings will be emptied by Sept 30.
Keep in mind that the Beltsville Labs serve the entire NE USA. Other USDA Labs do good work but they have different soils, environments, Weather, and plants than we do here. Diseases and symptoms that occur in NE USA often do not occur in the arid SW or locations of other labs.

Worse of all is the loss of the Brain Trust, the Collaboration that occurs with these groups of employees. Together they found and tried all kinds of answers to difficult questions and helped us and our crops, animals and wildlife improve.

GREED and Ignorance is pushing this movement to close the labs and sell the property for "development"
PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE and US REPS and wear out their phones with messages to maintain these labs!!

PLEASE Speak up if You care at all about the research that continues to serve "US", the U.S. Citizens.
__________________________________________________________________________

According to the National Honey Board there might be 135,000 Beekeepers in the US. If you/we/us really care about the USDA/ARS instructions from Washington and loss of support for us beekeepers for honey bee health, we could possibly get some positive and attention if all 135,000 of us contacted our employees in Congress. Lets do it - Jerry Hayes, Editor

Please read this article for more information: https://hoyer.house.gov/media/press-releases/maryland-delegation-members-press-trump-administration-illegal-effort-close

06/17/2026

You flick the porch light on a June night and within minutes the soft-winged crowd arrives — and most people never look closely enough to see how beautiful, and how harmless, the regulars are. None of these is eating your house or your sweaters. The fabric-eaters are tiny and live in dark closets; these big showy ones at the bulb are pollinators and moonlight wanderers.

Meet five you'll see this month.

The luna moth — pale green, long-tailed, the size of your palm — is the showstopper. It has no mouth and only about a week to live; it's here to find a mate, nothing more.

The rosy maple moth — small, in sherbet pink and yellow like a frosted candy — looks invented. It isn't. It's one of the most common big moths in the East.

The underwing moths — drab gray bark-mimics at rest — flash startling orange or red hindwings when they jump, a trick to spook a hungry bird.

The sphinx, or hawk, moths — fast, heavy-bodied, hovering at flowers like a hummingbird at dusk — are some of the best night pollinators you have.

And the tiger moths — furry, boldly patterned — whose caterpillars are the woolly bears you'll meet crossing the sidewalk in fall.

Five moths at one bulb, and not one is a threat to anything you own. They're the flowers' night shift, and the reason your porch is briefly the most interesting place in the yard.

Turn the light off when you're done. They've got a moon to follow.

06/16/2026

12 Cast Iron Tricks
That Proven Cooks Swear By

1 Never Soap a Well-Seasoned Pan
A well-seasoned cast iron needs only hot water and a stiff brush. Soap strips the polymerized oil layer built over years.

2 Dry Immediately and Completely
Water left on cast iron rusts within hours. Dry on the stovetop over low heat for 60 seconds after every wash.

3 Season With a Thin Oil Layer Only
Too much oil creates a sticky, gummy surface. Wipe on a thin coat of flaxseed or vegetable oil, then wipe most of it off.

4 Preheat Low and Slow
Cast iron holds heat unevenly when rushed. Three minutes over medium-low before raising heat eliminates hot spots entirely.

5 Use It for Bread
A preheated cast iron skillet produces a bakery-quality crust on sourdough and focaccia that no baking sheet can match.

6 Cook Acidic Food Sparingly
Tomatoes, citrus, and wine strip seasoning fast. Use enameled cast iron or a stainless pan for long acidic cooks.

7 The Salt Scrub for Stuck Food
Coarse salt and a paper towel removes stubborn residue without damaging the seasoning layer. No metal scrubbing pads needed.

8 Store With a Paper Towel Inside
A folded paper towel inside a stacked cast iron absorbs moisture and prevents rust between uses.

9 Re-Season After Every Deep Clean
If you had to use soap or the surface looks dull, one oven seasoning cycle at 230°C for one hour restores it completely.

10 Cast Iron Retains Heat After the Flame
Food continues cooking for several minutes after the burner is off. Pull proteins off heat earlier than you think.

11 Use It Under the Broiler
Cast iron handles broiler temperatures other pans cannot. The perfect finish for steaks, gratins, and frittatas.

12 A Rusty Pan Is Not a Dead Pan
Surface rust scrubs off with steel wool and coarse salt. One seasoning cycle brings any neglected pan back completely.

Cast iron lasts a lifetime — if you understand what it actually needs.