Farm Field Trip

For my Farm Field Trip I visited a local bee yard owned by the Utah State University Extension Office. I set my appointment up through my sister, Kim, who is conducting research there. I accompanied Kim and her team to the bee yard, which was in a secluded field near Gosner’s, here in Logan, Utah. We arrived in the morning on a warm day to make sure the bees were active. I was required to be completely suited up in protective gear, including a bee suit, mask, gloves, and shoes. The yard was composed of approximately 16 hives.

Small-scale bee farm boxes

We began by starting a fire in the smoker. This was an interesting process while trying to get the correct fuel to produce plentiful smoke. The smoker was prepped first to ensure that its use was immediate once the hives were opened. The smoke acted as a calming agent for the bees while the hives were accessed.

Preparing the Smoker, I am suited on the left

Smoking the hive, I am suited on the far left

Upon opening the first hive and applying copious amounts of smoke, I was shown the different boxes of the hive. The uppermost boxes are used for the honey, and the lower boxes for brood. We were able to remove trays from each of the boxes and examine the differences. It was fascinating to see the mass amounts of bees scurrying around in every direction, each performing a very specific duty. Kim pointed out the differences in male and female bees, and we were even able to locate the queen, which proved to be a very daunting task.

Kim’s research is involved in producing an organic pest control method to treat a notorious honey bee pest known as the Varroa mite. Once the mites infest the hive, they cling to the backs of the bees and then infest the brood cells. If uncontrolled, the mites can completely kill the hive. To treat these pests, we applied a thick layer of plain powdered sugar with a sifter all over the tops of the boxes and the bees. We then used a brush to make sure that sugar reached in between each frame. The powdered sugar causes the bees backs to become slippery and also encourages mutual grooming amongst the bees. Both cause the mites to either fall from the bees backs, or become dislodged during grooming. The mites then fall to the bottom floor of the hive and either die, or cannot make the climb back up into the hive. I enjoyed this part, is was fun to see the bees become completely covered in the white sugar and then begin grooming each other.

Adding powdered sugar to the frames using the sifter

Brushing the sugar down in to the frames using the brush

Brush and Sifter

After treating each hive, we ensured that all the frames were replaced and then carefully replaced each box, taking care not to crush too many bees. After this long day I had a chance to ask Kim some questions.

What kind of bees do you work with? – “Apis mellifera, the Western Honey Bee.”

Will this honey be used for sale? – “As a small-scale bee yard, our main concern is just making sure that the bees are able to make enough honey to sustain themselves through the next winter and are unharmed by our research activities. But if we are lucky and have a plentiful year, we hope to harvest and sell the honey at local farmer’s markets. Or keep a few bottles for ourselves”

                If successful, can your research be applied to large-scale bee farms? – “Absolutely. This work is especially targeting farms that want to keep an organic honey product. The addition of this pure sugar allows for that.”

                How long does the bee farming season last? – “Here in Utah, you can think of bees being active at the same times that you want to be outside. As soon as the weather warms up and flowers begin to bloom, bees are busy working. And before the cold winter sets in, the bees have hopefully prepared their stores for the winter. We are just along to provide necessary resources and also to help winterize the hive at the end of the season.”       

From my research, I found that this particular bee farm was similar to other bee farms around the country. There were differences since it was a small-scale farm used primarily for research. It is common for bees to be moved from site to site to maximize productivity and make the best use of seasonally available forage. In addition, specialist colonies can only be obtained in certain geographical locations. For those bee farmers who provide pollination services, the ability to move hives efficiently is essential. Bee farmers may use specially-adapted vehicles to increase efficiency and enable access to sometimes awkward sites. Since the farm I visited was so small and used primarily for research, they did not have to worry too much about moving their boxes to different locations. Plus, they used the common honey bee which made it easy to adapt to Utah's climate. 

While a significant proportion of activity is outdoors during the spring and summer months, it is essential to be able to harvest and process honey efficiently and hygienically, and to recover beeswax which is obtained as a by-product of the processing operation. Another main difference is that most large-scale bee farms are solely for the production and sale of honey. On the farm I visited, with good results on the research, they are hopeful to harvest and sell the honey at local farmer’s markets this coming fall.

Despite their differences, every bee farm uses the same equipment. They all need: a hive and frames, a smoker, a hat with a veil, a protective suit, and gloves, And, they all battle the same challenges such as wild animals, weather conditions, and the integrity of the hive itself. Overall, this was an interesting learning experience for me and I most certainly appreciate all types of farmers. 

Hive Frames

       Raposo, Jacqueline. "Everything You Need to Know About Keeping Bees and Producing Your Own Honey." Serious Eats, Serious Eats Inc, 9 May 2014, www.seriouseats.com/2014/08/how-to-raise-bees-honey-beekeeping-introduction.html. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

Scholarly Book Review

Review of Little House in the Big Woods

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls, a young pioneer girl living in the woods of Wisconsin, tells of her struggles, hardships, and joys, while living with her family in a little log cabin in the woods. Pa is the hardworking, yet gentle, provider for the family while Ma cooks, cleans, and takes care of the three children. The Ingalls’s family struggles through harsh winters, wild animal attacks, and hot summer days all in the attempt to provide for themselves. As Laura and her family endure these challenges, she learns and grows from each experience while surviving in the Big Woods.

Little House in the Big Woods is a classic American novel that takes the reader back to a humble chapter in American history, while highlighting important agrarian concepts that still hold true today. Wilder truly captures the importance of farming, the hard work required, and even how children contribute to the task of farming.

Throughout the novel, Laura describes small moments that showcase how farming enabled her family to thrive while living in the secluded woods. She describes the small garden that had been growing behind their house all summer. This garden was crucial for their survival in the months to come. She says, “Now the potatoes and carrots, the beets and turnips and cabbages were gathered and stored in the cellar, for freezing nights had come.” Laura and Mary would help gather and store the fresh produce in the attic for winter when food would be scarce. Laura was only five years old at the time, yet understood the importance of the small garden and how essential it was for her and her family. This is a stark contrast to modern farming and the responsibilities carried by children. Not only did the garden yield edible produce, but also herbs for cooking and medicine. This illustrates some of the first food preservation techniques and the role it played in survival for their family.

            Although the Ingalls did not live on a traditional farm, in addition to their personal crops, they also raised livestock. Laura describes her Pa butchering their pig, and Ma using every bit of the pig for something useful. Not only could they store and eat the bulk of the meat, but also use the scrapings of lean and fat meat to make headcheese, jars of lard, and white salt-pork. They also used their cow for milk to make cheese and butter. Laura and Mary would take turns churning the butter and loved helping Ma in the kitchen. Again, Wilder illustrates how children at a very young age were actively engaged in the farming and agricultural processes that their families performed. Each chapter, Laura describes working from morning until night, preparing food or clothing for the harsh winter. We see how this pre-industrial age of farming differs from modern farming in that the family only produced for themselves. Wilder shows how farming was more of a lifestyle than an occupation at the turn of the century.

            While winter was in full bore, fresh game and produce was scarce. But that didn’t stop the Ingalls from farming. She describes her Pa and Grandpa farming the maple trees in the woods. This scene illustrates extreme self-reliance; buckets and taps were fashioned by hand, and the sweet sap was then made into brown sugar. Their work was never done. Once the snow melted, it was time to plow and put in the new crops. Summer days were long and hard for Pa, but just as busy for the family at home. She says, “Ma was busy too. Laura and Mary helped her weed the garden, and they helped her feed the calves and the hens. They gathered the eggs and they helped make the cheese”. Wilder illustrates the cycle of farming season after season. Every member of the family had a unique role that continued that cycle in their home. Children were just as important to the process as the adults and within this theme we see how Wilder saw family togetherness as a key to their success on the farm.

Everyone Was Busy Now, 1932 Helen Sewell

            Towards the end of the novel, Laura describes how her Pa and Uncle Henry would be in the fields all day cutting the oats with cradles. She says, “It was hard work, walking around and around the field in the hot sun, and with both hands swinging the heavy cradles into the grain and cutting it, then sliding it into the piles.” This passage clearly depicts the struggles of the pre-industrial farmer. All steps of harvest were done by hand with no convenience of a modern machine. Extensive time and grueling labor was required for this process.

             The emergence of farming machinery is eventually seen when Laura tells of the “wonderful machine.” As Laura and Mary watched, she states, “… Pa told them that the big machine was called the separator, and the rod was called the tumbling rod, and little machine was called the horsepower.”  This machine separated the straw from the wheat, which allowed the crop to be further utilized than if harvested by hand. This illustrates how modern inventions propelled farmers into the industrial era.

            Although this novel is filled with numerous agricultural themes, Wilder incorporates entertaining and laughable stories throughout that help tie the themes together. The novel also gives us a taste of the pre-industrial age of and the movement into industrial farming. The Little House in the Big Woods continues to romanticize traditional American farming and gives us a glimpse into the actual world of early settlers.

Little House in The Big Woods, 1952 Garth Williams

Works Cited
Sewell, Helen. Everyone Was Busy Now. 1932, https://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/wildersewell-woods/wildersewell-woods-01-h-dir/wildersewell-woods-01-h.html. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017

Williams, Garth. Little House in the Big Woods Book Cover. 1952, www.pluggedin.com/book-reviews/little-house-in-the-big-woods/. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017.

      Wilder, Laura I. Little House in the Big Woods. 2nd ed., vol. 1, New York, Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1953, pp. 1-238, 5 vols.

The Burdens Which Bind Them

Throughout history, many have used art to express themselves to make social and political statements. Diego Rivera was one of those artists who didn't want his art to be just art. He wanted to use his art to comment on social issues plaguing his country and the world.

The piece of art that I chose to analyze was The Flower Carrier by Diego Rivera.  It was painted in 1935 in oil and tempera on Masonite. Rivera's home country was Mexico, although he was commissioned numerous times to paint murals in Europe and the United States.

The Flower Carrier, 1935 Diego Rivera

 As we look at this painting, we see an exhausted peasant man knelt on all fours, being weighed down by an overly large basket of flowers. A woman stands behind him, most likely his wife, trying to lift the burdening load from the man's back. The man in the painting symbolizes Mexico's working class who worked tirelessly in the fields to support their families. We can see from their peasant clothing that they are not from an aristocratic family. The woman symbolizes the strength of the working community and the aid that they gave to each other. But, we can see that the woman is considerably larger than the man and seems to be coaxing him to get back up . This could symbolize the burden placed on the man by his family to provide for them. We can also see that the strap used to carry the basket looks extremely large and sturdy. It looks as though it is seizing him, rather than assisting him in carrying the load. This could symbolize how he is "tied down" to the farm on which he works and cannot escape because he is too poor. The man is looking towards the ground, while we the viewer are drawn to the beautiful flowers he carries. This shows how the man does not see the beauty of the flowers, but only their worth for him to trade and sell. I think it is important to notice that he is not carrying a cash crop such as corn, wheat, or squash. He has collected flowers which were once used to decorate the homes of the Spanish elite. I think this symbolizes that the luxurious lifestyles of the wealthy were weighing down and weakening the lower class.

Rivera created a beautiful painting with so many meanings hidden beneath each brush stroke. He knew the struggle of the poor farmers of Mexico and knew something needed to change. His voice was heard through his art and many admired his political voice. From this painting, we can see how there were similar agricultural struggles throughout the world like we have seen in our previous readings throughout the course.



Rivera, Diego. Flower Carrier. 1935, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. www.diegorivera.org/flowercarrier.jsp#prettyPhoto. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.

Scholarly Book Review Proposal

1. Wilder, Laura I. Little House in the Big Woods. 2nd ed., vol. 1, New York, Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1953, pp. 1-238, 5 vols.

2. I chose this particular book because I remember my mom reading us the entire Little House on the Prairie series while tucking us into bed when I was small. It has been long enough to where I don't recall the story line but I do remember that they are fantastic books, especially for children. I love Wilder's simplistic, yet deep writing that really helps the reader visualize the story.

3. I believe that reading Little House in the Big woods will add to my understanding of literature and agriculture. These books are classic American novels that are simple, yet beautifully written. In terms of better understanding agriculture, I think this is a perfect book for this because it focuses on some of the first farmers of the early 1800's and how they battled blizzards, droughts, and fires to maintain they farms across the woods and prairies. I think this book is a perfect example of individuals who used farming to become self-sufficient and survive. 

Trace Your Farming Roots

Although most of us do not consider ourselves farmers, most of us have some type of agricultural root in our family history. As we look deeper into the history of our families, we can also look at historical events that impacted the way our families lived.

 My great-grandparents, Eli and Olga Pali, were immigrants to the United States from the small country of Albania. My grandfather first landed in New York and worked as a dishwasher. The mining of silver then drove him to Nevada where he made enough money to return to Albania to claim his bride and take her back to America. When they returned, he had just enough money to buy a small plot of land in Elwood, Utah on which he would start his farm. Eli and Olga's first year of farming began in 1929, the year the Great Depression struck. During World War I many farmers had been successful in their crops but had gone into large amounts of debt. When prices began to fall, farmer's tried to produce more in the hopes of paying off their debts. Unfortunately, prices were dropping too quickly and by the time the depression hit, many had either went bankrupt or lost their farm. Fortunately for Eli, he had no debt but still was forced to weather the storm. The depression forced families to become self sufficient. Eli and Olga's main cash crop was beets, but they also learned to farm wheat, barley, and a garden of fruits and vegetables. They also raised livestock such as cows, pigs, and chickens to supply meat, milk, and eggs. They learned to survive on very little money and provide for themselves. Amidst their struggles, they somehow managed to make it out of the depression while still keeping the farm.

 After the depression, Eli and Olga found a way to make it back on to their feet and slowly but surely grew quite a successful beet farm. The Utah and Idaho Sugar Factory was booming so business was plentiful. By 1940, a new government company began hooking up farmhouses to electricity which began to make farm life easier. In 1945, farming began moving away from the traditional horse power to tractor power. In 1946 my great-grandfather bought his first tractor. This invention changed life on the farm forever. Since he could now farm faster and for a longer amount of time without tiring, Eli invested in 50 more acres of land for his farm. He sold the majority of his dairy cows and horses since all of his time could now be committed to farming beets. They produced so many beets, that by the time they had made their profits they still had enough to feed their family. In 1980, the U and I Sugar factory closed its doors, which forced the Pali's to farm a different cash crop. From then on they became onion farmers and later gave the farm to their eldest son in 1986.

 It was extremely interesting to talk to my dad about his grandparents and the link our family has within the farming community. Many events could have ended my great-grandparents farm, but they continued to work hard and made a very happy life farming. If we dig deep enough, I think all of us can tie our roots back to agriculture.



 Reinhardt, Claudia, and Bill Ganzel. "Farming in the 1930's." Living History Farm, The Ganzel Group, 2003, www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_01.html. Accessed 22 Jan. 2017.

 Speilmaker, Debra. "Historical Timeline- 1930's." Growing A Nation- The Story of American Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, 2014, www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/1930.htm. Accessed 22 Jan. 2017.

Blog Theme

"Agriculture, is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of a man."- George Washington.

 We live in a world where everything is about instant gratification. From cell phones, to online shopping, and even our everyday grocery shopping. But do we ever stop and think about where our food comes from and why it is so easily accessible? We seem to forget those who founded such a successful nation and from what it was founded upon. Leaders such as George Washington knew the importance of farming and often thought of himself first as a farmer, rather than the leader of a nation. Without farming, American would not have grown to the powerful nation that it is today and would not have been able to aid other countries in expansion and self-sufficiency. From the field to your table, farming has been feeding people for hundreds of years. Throughout this blog, I would like to focus on the roots and origins of farming, and the impact it has had on the societies and the world as a whole.

 “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” ― Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution