Winnie the Pooh and his bear friends aren’t the only animals who like honey. Protecting your bees from predators can ensure the vitality of your colony and a fruitful harvest. Use the following solutions to keep bee predators at bay:  Put up electric barriers or chicken-wire fences to keep bears, opossums, and skunks away. Elevate hives to keep opossums and skunks out of the hives. Place birdfeeders away from hives. There may be a slight gap in time between when you introduce your bees to their hive and plants begin producing nectar. During these few weeks, feed your bees with a 1:1 mixture of water and sugar. Punch holes in the top of the hive and hang small food jars with the mixture from them. This can ensure your bees have nutrition until they can access nectar. Check the hive as often as you like. This could be once between spring introduction and fall harvesting or every day if you prefer. This can ensure your hive is flourishing, building a strong comb, and doesn’t have any pests or other problems. During your check-ups of the hive, look for signs of illness, parasite infestation or other animals accessing your hive. This can help you nip potential problems in the bud before they affect your hive. Some signs of issues with your hive include:  Misplaced bars Weakened colony Visible hive beetles or wax moths on the comb Lack of larvae Deformed wings . Take out the long, flat hive frames in the fall. Scoop off the honeycomb and wax into a container or bucket with a hot knife. Then allow the honey to gradually sink to the bottom of the container and remove the wax cappings that remain. This will give you delicious, raw honey to eat and wax cappings you can turn into candles or other items.  Set the wax capping on a sieve or filter to strain out bits of the capping from the raw honey. Get an extractor if you prefer to strain your honey into a spigot and keep the wax separate.
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One-sentence summary -- Ensure your bees’ safety from critters with barriers. Feed your bees as necessary. Monitor the hive at regular intervals. Watch for potential problems. Harvest Honey


Decide what size cake you'd like to make and get out the number of pans you'll need. You'll typically need 2 or 3 pans. Then cut parchment paper to fit the inside of the pans or spray the inside of each pan with baking spray. Greasing or lining the pan will ensure that the cakes don't crumble or tear when you remove them.  For example, you could use 8 or 9 inch (20.3 or 22.9 cm) round cake pans. Since you bake several cakes you can either stack them and frost them to make thick layers, or slice each cake in half horizontally to make even more thin layers. For a homemade cake, choose your favorite recipe and mix the cake batter. Ensure that the cake will make as many layers as you need or plan on doubling the recipe. To save time, combine 2 purchased cake mixes according to the packaged instructions. You can make a layer cake that has the same flavor of cake layers or use a different flavor for each layer. Once you've mixed your cake batter, set a prepared cake pan on a digital scale. Spoon some of the batter in and then set another pan on the scale. Keep filling each of your cake pans while you weigh them so the batter is divided evenly. Dividing the batter evenly will ensure that all of your cake layers are the same thickness. around the outsides of the cake pans. Secure cake strips to the outside of each filled cake pan. If you don't have cake strips, tear an old kitchen towel into long strips and wet them. Wrap the damp strips around the outside of each filled cake pan. The cake strips or towel will help the cake bake slowly from the edges towards the center. This will prevent the cakes from forming domes in the center. To bake flat cakes that are easily to layer and frost, turn the oven temperature down and bake the cakes for a little longer. Doing these things will prevent the cakes from cooking quickly in the center and puffing up.  For example, if your recipe calls for baking the cakes for 30 minutes at 350 °F (177 °C), turn the oven down to 325 °F (163 °C) and bake them for 45 minutes. Plan on increasing the baking time by one half when you reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. If you think the cakes have finished baking, insert a cake tester or toothpick into the center and pull it out. If it comes out clean and dry, the cakes are done. Then you can remove the cakes to cool completely. If the cake tester comes out with batter on it, return the cakes to the oven for a few minutes and check them again. Once the cakes are completely cooked, remove them from the oven and turn them out onto a wire rack to cool. When the cakes are at room temperature, cover them with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 5 days. Chilling the cakes will make them easier to slice and frost. Never try cutting or trimming warm cakes because they'll tear more.
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One-sentence summary -- Line or grease your cake pans. Make the cake batter. Use a digital scale to divide the batter evenly among the pans. Wrap cake strips or towels Reduce the temperature to 325 °F (163 °C) and increase the baking time. Test the cakes and cool them completely. Chill the layers for up to 5 days.


It is recommended that you store it in a smaller Tupperware container, so that you can clean food off the crock pot just after it cools down.  If your crock pot has a removable stoneware container, remove it from the heating portion to cool. Place it on a stove top. If you cannot remove the inner portion of the crock pot, you must make sure the device is unplugged and cooled completely before cleaning with water. Crock pots should be fairly easy to clean. If there is baked on food, allow it to soak for 5 to 10 minutes in warm soapy water.  Removable stoneware containers can also be cleaned in the dishwasher. If you have repeated problems with hard to remove food, you may be cooking the ingredients for too long. Do not use scouring pads to clean the crock pot, or it may damage the surface. Wipe dry. Wipe dry after cleaning to reduce the likelihood of spots.
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One-sentence summary --
Remove leftover food from your crock pot. Clean with warm soap and water. Wipe the heating base with a soft cloth dipped in warm, soapy water. Remove water spots with vinegar. Finished.