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الرحيق المختوم: تحتوي هذه الصفحة على نسخة وورد، ومصورة pdf، والكترونية مفهرسة من كتاب الرحيق المختوم، مع ترجمته إلى 13 لغة عالمية؛ فلقد حظيت سيرة صاحب الرسالة العظمى - صلى الله عليه وسلم - باهتمام العلماء والمحدثين والكتاب والمؤرخين، المتقدمين منهم والمتأخرين، وكل من هؤلاء الأعلام يغوص في ثبج هذا البحر الزاخر، ويستصفي منه يتيم الجوهر ونفيس الدرر.
فمنهم من عني باستخلاص دلائل الإعجاز والخصائص النبوية، ومنهم من صمد إلى الإبانة عن أحداث الغزوات وتفاصيل المعارك، ومنهم من أفاض في ذكر فقهها واستخلاص أحكامها وعبرها، ومنهم من استجلى مواقف عظمة هذه النفس الزكية.
ولا تزال وستبقى سيرة هذا النبي الكريم - صلى الله عليه وسلم - ملهمة لأولي الأقلام اللامعة والدراسات العميقة، للاستهداء بهديها والتأسي بصاحبها صلى الله عليه وسلم.
وممن أسهم في هذا المضمار ونهل من هذا المعين الصافي الشيخ صفي الرحمن المباركفوري - رحمه الله - في كتابنا هذا؛ حيث كتب عن السيرة فصولاً مضيئة، وموازنات فريدة، وربط الأحداث ببعضها ربطاً متماسكاً بأسلوب بديع أخاذ، حيث استخلص من كتب الأقدمين فوائد بلورها في إيجاز غير مخل، وتطويل غير ممل، فجاء كافياً وافياً.
وفي زماننا هذا الذي أضحى الناس فيه يلهثون وراء مناهج فاسدة ويسلكون سبلاً معوجة .. تبرز أهمية دراسة السيرة العطرة؛ لتوضح لنا معالم الطريق المستقيم، وعظمة هذا النبي الكريم، عسى أن يكون هذا باعثاً لنا على إصلاح ما أفسده بعدنا عن المنهج الإلهي، والتأسي بمنقذ البشرية من الضلال والتيه صلى الله عليه وسلم.

تأليف : صفي الرحمن المباركفوري

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This rich and creamy, smoked turkey and spring pea fettuccine recipe is inspired by a pasta I learned long ago, working at my first real chef job in San Francisco. 

You may have heard me mention Ryan’s Café in the past, especially if you’ve tried our famous chicken Marsala, and it was at this same restaurant where I learned what I still consider one of the best pasta recipes ever.

As I mention in the video, the original was done with smoked chicken, but for whatever reason smoked turkey is much easier to find at the market. I blame the sandwich industry, but no worries, as the turkey is just as good. There’s just something very special about the way the creamy, slightly sweet, aromatic sauce pairs with the smoky meat. Which reminds me, this is also wonderful with leftover ham.

Regarding what many would consider the dangerously large quantities of cream, I’d like to take a moment to do some math. The recipe makes four appetizer size portions. There’s about 1 3/4 cups of cream used, which is roughly 350 calories worth of butter-fatty goodness per serving. To put that into perspective, those two small ladles of dressing you used during your last trip to the salad bar had about the same amount. So, long story short, relax.

Anyway, now that I’ve armed you with a comeback for when your (probably too thin) friend questions your copious cream usage, I hope you give this very simple, but extraordinarily delicious pasta recipe a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 small or 2 large portions:

8 oz dry fettuccine noodles, boiled in salted water

For the sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp minced shallot

1 3/4 cup heavy cream (about 34-36% fat)

6 oz smoked turkey, sliced

1/2 cup green peas, frozen or fresh shelled

2 tbsp minced fresh tarragon leaves

salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

1 tsp lemon zest

Parmigiano-Reggiano to garnish

View the complete recipe

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I can't believe it's almost Memorial Day weekend! Seems like just yesterday I was watching people shoveling snow and scraping ice. Of course, I live in California, and that was on the Weather Channel, but still, seems like yesterday. I blame my beloved Golden State Warriors for making the playoffs, and throwing off my seasonal clock.  

Anyway, the upcoming long weekend is considered the official start of cookout season, and to celebrate I thought I'd repost this collection of grill-friendly recipes. By the way, in addition to looking and tasting great on their own, these dishes all have a proven track record of pairing well with cold beer. Enjoy!! 

Santa Maria Tri-Tip	Grilled Lamb Chops
Grilled Pickled Veggies	Grilled Korean Short Ribs
Grilled Flank Steak	Grilled Lemon Chicken
Cornell Chicken	Grilled Barbecue Chicken
Grilled Pork Tenderloin	Grilled Asian Skirt Steak
Spicy Tarragon Grilled Chicken	Grilled Calabrian Chicken

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To read the content of this post, please click on the link below to visit Melissa's new blog:

http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2013/05/common-core-with-camilla-cream-and.html
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by Salman Hameed

Our long lost cousins. Here is a fantastic NOVA episode on new genetic and archaeological discoveries about the Neanderthals.

Enjoy!

Watch Decoding Neanderthals on PBS. See more from NOVA.

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This is seriously the EASIEST homemade Mac and Cheese recipe I've ever seen and it's actualy good.  I made this today when my oldest daughter wanted me to make her my Mac and Cheese but I was out of butter so I couldn't make a rue which is in my favorite recipe that you can find HERE.  I was very skeptical that this recipe would actually work bcause you cook the pasta directly in the milk and then just add cheese and stir, what's easier than that?  Well I was pleastantly surprised when I made this on a whim and it was actually really delicious.   My only suggestions are that you should use a small pasta with ridges in it to help absorb the milk more easily and I would also only serve this right after it's made.  It gets super thick as it stands and although it still tastes good it's looses that creaminess that I really like in Mac and Cheese.  Try it for yourself and see.  You can find the original recipe at Macaroni and Cheesecake.  I omitted a few ingredients to make it even easier.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried pasta (something with ridges in it will work best)
2 1/2 cups skim milk
1 cup loosely packed cheddar cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a saucepan, add pasta and milk. Bring to simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until pasta is soft, stirring frequently and ensuring milk does not boil.
Turn heat off, add cheese & salt & and stir to combine.  Serve immediately.  If the mac and cheese is too thick add a little bit of milk and stir until you get your desired consistency.
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by Salman Hameed

Posts should resume their regularity here. Lets start with the news that The French Muslim Council (CFCM) has decided to start using astronomical calculations to set the dates for Ramadan. Hallelujah - oh I mean, Alhamdulillah!. It's about time, but still good to hear some common sense trust (faith?) in science. From our friend Tom Heneghan:

Council President Mohammad Moussaoui said the old method played havoc with French Muslims' schedules for work, school and festivities. France's five million Muslims are the largest Islamic minority in Europe. 

"Now all this will be simplified," he said, and promptly announced the Ramadan fast would begin on July 9 this year. 

Turkey began using scientific calculations to set the start of Ramadan decades ago. Muslims in Germany, who are mostly of Turkish origin, and those in Bosnia also use this method. 

Muslim minorities elsewhere in Europe often start Ramadan according to its beginning in their countries of origin, or in Saudi Arabia. That can lead to different ethnic groups starting it on different days, even in the same country.
"This is historic. Now all Muslims in France can start Ramadan on the same day," said Lyon Muslim leader Azzedine Gaci.

Read the full article here.

In other news, Pakistan will most likely maintain the excitement of shunning science in favor of naked eye testimonies. For last year's adventures, see this earlier post: Strife amongst Maulvis give astronomers a rare opening in Pakistan.

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No salad will break your heart like the “Caprese.” It always sounds great; creamy mozzarella, fragrant basil, and sweet, juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes…what’s not to love? Well, false advertising for one. With very few exceptions, the tomatoes used on these Caprese salads are not sweet, juicy, ripe tomatoes; they’re the opposite.

They’re almost always your standard, conventionally produced, picked green and left to redden (not ripen) in the case, tomatoes. They’re mealy, flavorless, and completely undeserving of being paired with ingredients as perfect as mozzarella and basil.

While I’m invariably disappointed by the execution of this classic salad, I do love the combination of flavors, and by using cherry tomatoes, I thought it would translate perfectly for a baked goat cheese appetizer. Did it ever. When you take into consideration the taste, appearance, and ease of preparation, there’s a real chance this could become your new favorite summer appetizer.

By the way, as long as you are using high quality, oven safe ramekins, you can also do these on the backyard grill. Place a piece of foil on the grates, set down your ramekins, close the cover, and cook until the juices are bubbling, and the cheese is heated through.

I hope you give this delicious, and so not disappointing “Caprese” a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

8 oz log fresh goat cheese, cut into 4 equal pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp basil chiffonade

16 cherry tomatoes, halved

freshly ground black pepper and cayenne, to taste

*bake at 400 degrees F. for about 15 minutes

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No one’s really sure why this magnificent dish is called barbecue shrimp, but since it was invented in New Orleans, let’s just assume they had a great reason, and move on to more important issues, like making and eating a huge plate of these.

There are countless ways to make this dish, almost all containing copious amounts of butter, along with garlic, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. This is not something you’d serve to your friend with the bland palate. By the way, can’t believe you’re still friends with that bland palate dude.

Anyway, feel free to adjust and adapt to your heart’s content. My version is fairly light, which is kind of funny to say, since I call for half a stick of butter, but I’ve seen versions that were basically deep-fried in the stuff. So, you know, compared to that, this is like spa food.

As far as seasoning goes, be careful with the salt. The Worcestershire is pretty salty, so you may not want to add it all to the shrimp stock like I did. I used about 3 generous tablespoons, since I like mine pretty salty, but it’s probably safer to just add 1 or 2 tablespoons, and then taste/adjust later on.

Other than that, and finding some colossal shrimp (the bigger the better), this recipe is a breeze. It may not have anything to do with barbecue, but like its namesake, it’s incredibly delicious and another great culinary gift from the south. I hope you try some soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds colossal shrimp

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp Old Bay seasoning, optional

4 tbsp cold butter, cut in cubes

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups shrimp stock (using reserved shells, sauteed in 1 tsp butter, and simmered with 2 cups stock or water for 20-30 min)
juice of 1 lemon
hot sauce to taste 

2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, or to taste

lots of white rice

View the complete recipe

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I want to wish all the moms out there a very happy Mother’s Day! I’m blessed to have two great moms in my life, my mother Pauline, and my mother-in-law Peggy. Both continue to be my biggest fans and supporters, and as I’ve said before, this blog wouldn’t exist without them.

To honor them, and everyone else out there who nurture and take care of others, I give you this inspired performance by future rock star, Teal Greene. While I chose this because of Teal’s heartfelt lyrics, I have to admit his wardrobe choices of baggy, long underwear, sunglasses, and San Francisco Giant’s cap  sealed the deal. Enjoy!

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by Salman Hameed

This is commencement time. If you have 10 minutes (and yes, you do), watch this video dramatizing the 2005 commencement speech by the late David Foster Wallace. This is an abridged version but you  can read the full speech here. It is really fantastic and I also love the imagery used in the video. But ultimately, it is about how you create - or ought to - create meaning.

Do check this out.

Enjoy! (tip from Open Culture)

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• - العنوان : في بطن الحوت
  

• - المؤلف :  محمد بن عبدالرحمن العريفي

• - التصنيف : القصص والروايات

• - رابط التحميل : اضغط هنا للتحميل

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by Salman Hameed

Pakistan's elections have started (live updates here). Despite the bloodshed, assassinations, tiger death (yes - it was too hot for this rare tiger used as an election prop), stage falls, kidnapping, targeting of secular parties by the Taliban, there is a lot of enthusiasm for the elections. In case, you have been only hearing about the right and center-right parties in the elections, here is a reminder that socialist parties are also around. Here is the band Laal, which is known for singing political songs, imploring people to vote in the upcoming elections in this cool video:


Laal: Chapna (Habib Jalib) from Taimur Rahman on Vimeo.

Couple of other things entertaining things: To complete the mockery of fatwas, one of the politically religious parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), declared that voting for Imran Khan's party is "haram":

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday declared it ‘haram’ to vote in favour of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and his candidates.
Imran Khan, according to Fazl, is being sponsored by the West and the Jewish lobby. 

Fazlur Rehman used every word that would foment hatred against any person in the conservative masses of Pakistan. He called Imran an agent of “Americans, Jews, Ahmadis and a person of ill character”. 

“A person who could not make his own children Muslim nor Pakistani, is dreaming of becoming prime minister of Pakistan and making the country an Islamic welfare state,” Maulana said. 

“The Yahoodi (Jewish) lobby’s money is working (for Imran),” he said.

And he has sufficient evidence to back it up: His own word. Oh - he is so humble!

“I am asked, ‘what is the proof that he (Imran Khan) is an agent of the Jews,’ I say there is only one proof and it is my own responsible personality. I am so righteous that I would never talk ill against anyone. This is enough that Maulana Fazlur Rehman says that he is a Jewish agent.” 

He went on to give a joint declaration of the clerics belonging to the JUI-F. “We the Ulema have agreed that giving vote to PTI is haram. 

Anyone who casts his or her vote for Imran or to a person who is contesting election on the ticket on PTI is involved in haram and such a person is going against Sharia,” the chief of the JUI-F said.

Aha. And this is again a reminder that even when people say they want "sharia", it is unclear what sharia do they mean. But I also like another entertaining claim by the Jamaat Islami (JI) leader during the elections: the liberals in Pakistan should register themselves as a religious minority:

All those claiming to be liberals in a country made for the supremacy of Quran and Sunnah should register themselves as minorities, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan declared on Sunday. 

American intervention in the country had lead to anarchy and those siding with the US had no place in this country. If they were happy to call themselves as liberals, they should enter their names in the list of minorities, the JI chief suggested while addressing an election rally held at Bagh-e-Jinnah near the Quaid’s mausoleum.

No, no. This is not satire. But it is still funny.

On a more serious note, I will leave you with two more things. First, here is a fantastic music video by Beyghairat Brigade. It is brilliant, sarcastic, biting, and critical of the military and the colluding politicians. But it is also blocked in Pakistan - or at least in some parts of the country. Here it is:


Dhinak Dhinak by Beygairat Brigade | Official Video from Farhan Adeel on Vimeo.

Finally, check out this excellent article, The Tragedy of Pakistan, that provides an excellent context for the present election (tip 3quarksdaily):

Beyond simply outlasting a bloody election showdown against the TTP, the future leaders of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will have to drastically reform an extractive and unaccountable state apparatus in order for the democratic project to have a chance of succeeding against the violent and ideological onslaught of anti-government militants. 

With 180 million people, 100 nuclear warheads and nearly 50 banned terrorist outfits, Pakistan has always been too strategic for the politics of the country to be swayed by what its people want. As the unwanted stepchild of the anti-colonial South Asian independence struggle, Pakistan came out of the partition of the subcontinent with an ignominious legacy as Britain’s military buffer zone against threats from the west. Though the British kept all of India under a firm paternalistic rule, the provinces that make up present-day Pakistan were deliberately denied political development because of their utility as a recruiting ground for soldiers and landowning elite collaborators. Though constitutional reforms came towards the tail end of British rule to give greater political representation to locals, they were little more than a cosmetic attempt to put an Indian face onto autocratic rule.
To this day, the country functions according to the structure developed over two centuries under the British Raj; the Civil Services of Pakistan, the backbone of government, traces its lineage to the colonial era Indian Civil Services — the elite English bastion of political power in India. The acknowledged expertise of bureaucrats, combined with their high-class social background, has vested them with veto power over the demands of ‘inept’ politicians in the formation of state policy. This has resulted in a modern Pakistani state that is not run by politicians but rather said to run in spite of them. 

The travails of a historically autocratic state have been intensified by the curse of geography. If it were located anywhere else, Pakistan would be dismissed as irrelevant — and might then enjoy greater control over its domestic policy. Instead, it is surrounded by Afghanistan, a hotbed of dysfunction where the War on Terror was inaugurated, Iran, a declared rogue state attempting to develop nuclear capabilities, and China and India, the two major emergent threats to American economic might. Before 1989, Pakistan was also neighbor to the Soviet Union. With such borders, Pakistan has traditionally served as a critical outpost of support to Western interests in a hostile region. 

In light of this, it is understandable why the governors of Pakistan, civilian and military, failed to establish accountable and responsive institutions of political economy. It also explains why the country is held hostage to the neoliberal economic program and security paradigm. Since 1948 when the Pakistani army leveraged the country’s location vis a vis Soviet Russia for a lucrative position as a US proxy in South Asia, global stakeholders have jumped at the chance to pay for the privilege of maintaining some form of control over Pakistan’s goings on. Presiding over a resource rich but economically weak nation, the country’s leaders have been unable to fight the impulse to accept. This has encouraged outward-looking politicians to mortgage Pakistan’s foreign policy and loot as much as they can from state coffers before they are inevitably and unceremoniously thrown out of power. The free flow of money has disincentivized military governments — for military governments are the disproportionate beneficiaries of Western aid — from doing the hard work of creating a sustainable tax infrastructure in the country, one that would push the people of Pakistan to invest in their own country, or financial regulatory bodies which would require the government to show returns on that investment. 

The most fundamental obstacle, however, to the implementation of democratic governance in Pakistan has been ideological. As control over people has become territorialized by the borders of an ever-shrinking state, ideologies particularly pan-Islamist ones have found themselves competing for limited territory and votes — and therefore power. In such an environment, the atmosphere of tolerance has been shattered by the arrival of an exclusivist religious ideology from the Persian Gulf. Seeking regional proxies in South Asia to counter Shiite Iran, the Gulf States and particularly Saudi Arabia have invested a large amount of capital in the Pakistani state while promoting the development of a strict and doctrinaire Wahhabi Islam. It has penetrated the country via new Saudi-funded madrassas, or religious schools, that are blossoming across the country, some of which have subsequently been implicated in training terrorists. These institutions have made a home in the absence of a state that long ago abdicated responsibility for responding to demands for public education and welfare.

And it concludes with this:

The autonomy and integrity of the nation has long been the plaything of others. Now the Taliban are providing the single greatest impetus in recent times for national soul-searching. Martyrdom for the sake of democracy in Pakistan will only be meaningful if state and society succeed in formulating a functional and responsive government. Otherwise, the ideological vacuum and lack of public support of the present Islamic republic will provide an easy path for a calculating and determined militant opposition to enforce its repulsive dogmas on the country.

Read the full article here.

In the mean time, lets hope the elections go smoothly and without violence.

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I’ve never been a big cold soup fan. Where I’m from, cold soup gets sent back, but over the years I’ve grown to appreciate things like gazpacho, vichyssoise, and…that’s about it. Well, thanks to this gorgeous chilled sugar snap pea soup, my repertoire just expanded in a very delicious way.

Traditionally (from what I hear), chilled pea soups are made with English peas, but thanks to the very user-friendly sugar snap, not only is there no shelling involved here, but I think they impart an even sweeter flavor. Speaking of sweet flavor, you’re going to want to contrast that by garnishing with some sour cream or crème fraiche. If you can’t get or have that, then use a few drops of lemon juice or rice vinegar to balance the flavors. 

As far as the mint goes though, I’d make every effort to obtain some, as I can’t imagine another herb pairing as well. Lastly, the Snoop Dogg reference in the title foreshadows a Snoop Dogg reference made during the garnishing portion of the video. For more information, ask your kids. I hope you give this lovely, spring soup a try soon. Enjoy! 

Ingredients for about 6 cups of soup:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup sliced leeks

4 cups chicken broth

salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

1 pound sugar snap peas

2 mint leaves

crème fraiche or sour cream, and more fresh mint to garnish

View the complete recipe

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I always get a ton of food wishes this time of year for creative brunch ideas, and I was thinking about doing some new type of eggs Benedict, when I happened to see a photo of a Monte Cristo sandwich. At first, it just made me want a Monte Cristo sandwich, but after that wore off, I started thinking about how I’d seen these topped with fried eggs before.

Long story short, I decided to simply make an open-faced version of the famous stuffed sandwich, and top it with poached eggs, and hopefully a new American brunch classic was born. Of course, I'll let you decide, but there was nothing I didn’t love about this plate of food. Okay, the salad was kind of phoned in, but the rest was awesome.

The base is a variation of our famous Restaurant Style French Toast recipe, which marries perfectly with the ham, cheddar and havarti. It was so tasty you really don’t even need the poached eggs. Actually, forget I said that. Do the eggs. If only so you can pop those yolks, and watch them run. Besides the eating, that has to be the best part.

I’ve also re-posted a poached eggs demo below, since poaching your eggs ahead of time is the only way to go, especially if you have a larger group. By the way, you can hold the Monte Cristo bases in a warm oven while you pull the rest of the meal together. I hope you give this new Benedict a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

For the batter:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup cream

1 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp allspice

4 thick slices of French bread
1 tbsp butter

8 slices ham

4 slices cheddar cheese

4 slices havarti cheese

8 poached eggs

chive to garnish

How to Poach Eggs 

 

View the complete Poached Eggs recipe

View the complete Monte Cristo Benedict recipe


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by Salman Hameed

Carl Zimmer has written some fantastic books on evolution, including this textbook intended for non-majors: The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution. Also check out his blog: The Loom. Here is a short video where he explains the evolution of feathers. Enjoy!

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Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois! Wow, what a great start to another beekeeping season. Bees are finally experiencing some warmer temperatures, natural nectar and pollen so things are finally feeling pretty good.

Sheri and I have had so much fun over these last few months teaching hundreds of new beginners about beekeeping. Our business is operating so much better each year thanks to great customers like you. We are flooded with beekeeping questions from all over the US. Sometimes all lines are ringing at once. So when you call in, please be patient with us as two of our daughters who work for us have had surgery and are off for a while. We are excited that Karee and Jesse are expecting their first child, but there are complications and Karee is on indefinite best rest. Please keep her in your prayers, thank you.

 

We had a wonderful response to our first ever package bee pickup class. Our regular beginner classes are held all day Saturday but we decided to test a 3 hour class on the same day as new beginners were picking up their bees. It was great. I took them out and showed them how to install a package with a real package, then we inspected a hive one week after installation, and then we opened up an overwintered hive. I could hear the students responding with excitement over what they were seeing for the first time, face to face with a live hive with bees flying around and seeing a queen at work on comb. It was a hoot!

 

Our next exciting adventure in bees will be our week long Beekeeping Institute June 17-21, 2013.
Alex Wild taught me how to use my iPhone for a very close up shot I took last week. Click on the image to see the detail. Alex will be teaching a class at our Beekeeping Institute. Check it out below.

INSTRUCTORS: David Burns EAS certified master beekeeper, Sheri Burns Colony Problem Solver and beekeeper, Charlie Nye Bee Researcher and Bee Lab Manager at the University of Illinois Bee Lab and Alex Wild, biologist, insect photographer and beekeeper. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WEEK LONG BEEKEEPING INSTITUTE or Click below to sign up for one or several of our classes that week:

Day 1- Basic Beekeeping Taking Registrations Now

Day 2- Practical Beekeeping Taking Registrations Now

Day 3 - Advance Beekeeping Taking Registrations Now

Day 4 - Queen Rearing Taking Registrations Now

Day 5 - Insect Photography Taking Registrations Now

Maybe you’ve heard all the reports and chatter about recent reports about why bees are dying. I’M ON THE TALK SHOW, FOCUS, TOMORROW FROM 10am-11am to discuss all of this. You can call in and ask a question.

This Wednesday (May 8th) I'll be on the Radio Talk Show, FOCUS with May Berenbaum, Professor of Entomology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. It's a call in or email in 1 hour radio program at 580 on the am dial. Here's how you can call in or email your questions during this live broadcast: During the show, you can call us at 217-333-9455 or toll-free at 800-222-9455 or send an email to: will-talk@illinois.edu with your beekeeping questions.

For those of you outside the Champaign/Urbana, Illinois listening area, we'll post a link on our website to the archive of this one hour discussion about why bees are dying.

"The US Agriculture Department said yesterday that the honey bee population declined by more than 30 percent last winter, continuing a decrease in honey bee numbers that began in 2005. That's a problem as more than 20 billion dollars worth of annual harvests rely on bees for pollination. No one really knows exactly why bee populations are dropping, although many speculate it's due to what scientists are calling colony collapse disorder. Researchers have pointed to pesticides, stress and microbial organisms  as possible causes but conclusive answers have so far been elusive.

This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with May Berenbaum, Professor of Entomology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign about colony collapse disorder, what it is, and what might be causing it. According to new research, high fructose corn syrup could also play a role. We'll also hear from David Burns, a Master Beekeeper and owner of Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in Fairmount." –FOCUS580

Our cedar hives have become a smashing hit! They are beautiful and our customers and loving them. Some are using Tung oil as a natural preservative. I build each top of the cedar hive myself. It has insulation in the top, along with a piece of copper along the peak. We had requests for 8 frame cedar hives too, shown in the picture. To purchase a cedar hive for your garden or yard, click here.

 

 

We’ll be taking a much needed break so Our offices will be closed May 22 - May 29. Our middle son is a Marine and will be deployed to Afghanistan in a few months so we'll be taking a few days off to spend with him. I’ll be riding my motorcycle from Illinois to California too see him. No orders will be shipped during this time and any orders placed during this time will be shipped within 10-14 business days after we return so please place your orders with this in mind. Hope to see you at our Beekeeping Institute June 17-21 here at our honey bee farm. Come spend the week with us!

LESSON 137: What Do Bees Need Most In The Spring?

The answer to this question is, a well educated beekeeper who makes regular inspections.  If you do not feel you are well educated in the beekeeping area, let’s have a crash course, some fundamental starting points.

First, now that it is spring and you are starting with a new package or a nuc, you must monitor you queen. Queens are fragile and can be killed by the clumsy movements of a beginner. Early queens can die and no one knows why other than living things do die. So DO NOT allow more than two weeks to go by without inspecting the health for your queen.

Most of you have installed your package but let me give two tips. Use a screen bottom board and when you install your package, place an entrance feeder in the front of your hive with 1:1 sugar water and block off the entrance so no bees can exit for 48 hours after installing the package. After 2 days, allow a small opening for the bees to fly in and out. It is not uncommon for a small percentage of new packages to abscond, which is when the entire hive leaves. By keeping the colony blocked in for 2 days it gives them time to release the queen and start building a small amount of comb for the new queen. The second tip is to use an entrance reducer all year. I set mine to the largest setting. This restricts the opening to around 3 inches giving the guard bees the ability to keep out unwanted pests. That’s still plenty of room to go in and out even during a heavy nectar flow.

HEALTH OF THE QUEEN is evaluated by inspecting her brood pattern. Look at frames of sealed or capped brood. Make sure it looks dry and not many cells missed. Now, look for larvae and eggs. Please take time every 2 weeks to ensure your queen is laying eggs. If you do not see eggs or larvae order a queen immediately. Every day without a queen means your hive is declining in population by 2,000 bees a day!  Everything you do now is getting your hive ready to survive the winter.

While you do not have to feed you new colony as long as the weather is good and the flowers are producing, some suggest it is a good ideal to feed 1:1 sugar water as long as the bees are drawing out the comb on your new foundation.

Finally, the success of your hive will be determined by how aggressive you are toward the varroa mite. This is what we teach in all our classes. The varroa mite is our number one enemy. Start now using your green drone comb, powdered sugar drops and screen bottom boards.

Thanks for joining us for another beekeeping lesson! Don’t forget to join us Wednesday on 580AM and call in with some good questions. Sheri and I believe the honey bees will only continue to make a comeback if more and more citizens take up beekeeping. Hobbyist can step forward and make a huge impact on the survival of the honey bee by keeping bees, allowing weeds and flowers to grow, never poison honey bees and sharing the important role honey bees play in pollination.

We hope you’ll visit our website at www.honeybeesonline.com, buy some hives and get started in beekeeping! It’s not too late. Now is a great time to dive in. Though we are sold out of packages, we’ll provide you with the numbers of reliable package providers that will ship bees to you. We are ready to be your friend and mentor in beekeeping. See you next time!
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
www.honeybeesonline.com
217-427-2678
 
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by Salman Hameed


Pakistan's elections are scheduled for May 11th. There have already been a tremendous number of casualties - mostly by the Taliban (of the Pakistani flavor) targeting the relatively more secular parties. Here is from the horse's mouth:

“Taliban shura had decided to target those secular political parties which were part of the previous coalition government and involved in the operation in Swat, Fata and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwah,”adding that “the organisation followed the instructions of the Taliban shura and that it was the shura that decided which political parties to target, where and when.” 

To another query that the Taliban were making ground and paving way for some parties to win the elections and denying space to others, he said: “neither we are against nor in favour of the PTI, PML- N, JI and JUI-F,” adding  that “We are against the secular and democratic system which is against the ideology of Islam but we are not expecting any good from the other parties either, who are the supporters of the same system, but why they are not targeted is our own prerogative to decide.”

Shamefully, none of the parties not targeted by the Taliban have unequivocally condemned this Taliban assault on democracy. But to add to the uncertainty, just a few hours ago, Imran Khan of PTI also got injured when he fell off a lifter while getting on a stage for a political rally. This is big news as he is one of the leading contenders in the upcoming elections.

But what are the major concerns of Pakistanis? The Pew forum has a new survey out that focuses on Pakistan. Perhaps, not surprisingly, crime and terrorism is at the top at 95 and 93% respectively. But note that even Sunni-Shia tensions are labeled as a "very big problem" by over half of the respondents, and the conflict between the government with the judiciary and the military is not considered that much of a problem.

At the same time, most people also feel that the country is on the wrong path, with Zardari's approval ratings in the teens (and that is the least surprising result of the survey):

Here is a graphical representation of the opinion on the direction of the country. Note that 2007 was the start of major Taliban incursions into Pakistan (not completely unrelated to the US drone policy in the tribal regions - but that really picked up from 2009 onwards), an increase in suicide bombings in major cities and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The following years also saw its impact on the economy. 

But then check this out. The Taliban are seen as much of a threat as India. This is important as often people think that there is widespread for Taliban. But this poll suggests that there is broad recognition of the danger posed by the Taliban: 

Similarly, there is very little support for the various extremist groups, including those that are focusing on Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the question does include those groups that are primarily involved in targeting Ahmadi and Shia minorities. In any case, here are the views on extremist groups:

But there is still support for the military, religious leaders, the media, and even the courts (despite their utmost effort to destroy the trust gained in the Lawyers' movement). As per religious leaders, it would have been interesting to see individual names instead of a generic religious leader which people may idealize in a particular way.  Ah - but the poor police - it is only above Zardari...

You can find the full report here.

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