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About Sarah...
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Well I
know beekeeping is kind of an odd and somewhat geeky
hobby. I've always had a hobby of one sort or
another - I'm just not the kind of girl to sit
around. I started a family young, and when the kids
were settled in at night, I worked on various
projects. I crocheted, I cooked, I quilted and
scrapbooked.
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One day I decided it
was time for something more interesting, and less
domestic. I had had my fill of making Halloween
costumes. The kids and I headed to the public
library, and while I was browsing the shelves, I
found an interesting book on home taxidermy, and
another on beekeeping.
I read both books,
telling myself I was going to learn one or the
other. Taxidermy won out over honeybees (I was
secretly petrified of bees). Learning to tan hides
was much more prudent, anyway - as Alaskans, eat a
lot of game meat, and often times the hide went to
waste. The only real drawback I saw to taxidermy was
all the chemicals I was going to need. My youngest
child was only 2 years old, and seemed to find his
way into anything. I started brainstorming safe
places for the chemicals and looking for more
reading material.
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Shortly
thereafter, I learned I was pregnant with my 4th
child. Well, that cinched it. No chemicals! I had
seen advertised in the local paper that the local
community schools program was going to have a
beginning beekeepers class. I enrolled in the
class... That was 8 years ago. |
I have since learned many things; Honeybees are
very, very interesting; shipping wooden hives
from the lower 48 is expensive, table saws are
not cheap; putting together a table saw is
difficult when you don't know what the heck an
arbor is, anyway! Table saws are a lot of fun;
table saws can be dangerous; table saws can hit
you in the stomach with little of piece of wood,
and make you think you've been hit by a truck,
leaving scar tissue years later...Whoops,
where was I? Basically, honeybees were
incredibly fascinating to me, and I quickly
became obsessed with them.
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My beekeeping
activities have required that I also become
proficient in woodworking. I make all of my own
equipment, and make enough extra to sell some
beekeeping supplies here on the Kenai Peninsula. As
you can see, it has become a family project.
In addition to honey
collection, I have decided to branch out into some
other products that have come naturally as a part of
my beekeeping hobby. I also make various soaps,
lotions, lip balm, and winter skin salve, and also
gift baskets and gift ensembles.
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Cool Alaska Links:
Alaska's newest and coolest online magazine
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TerminationDust.Net
Custom Alaska Vacation packages -
www.alaskavacationstore.com
Custom Alaska Honeymoons -
www.alaska-honeymoon.com
Alaska Vacation Blog
Custom Alaska Winter Vacations
alaska-winter.com
"Is That Like, the Board?"
Wigi Tozzi's blog
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