Honeybee

Links would be great.

Actually the barrel contained "ingredients to make all-natural soap, but some of these are alcohol based," according to the person who's giving them away. I think it should be okay if I rinse them out real good, but I just want to get some other's input on the matter, please.

I want to liven up my plain-old green plastic hanging flower pot with a new background color and cute stencil. What type of paint will work best?

There is a raised area made of brick about waist-high, approx 2'x5' on my front porch that is space for plants. Last year I planted annuals, but this year I would like to plant some easy-care perrenials that will look nice throughout the summer. I'm in central IL and it's a partially shaded area. Does anyone have any suggestions?

We are trying to be more energy efficient at work and have been trying to get folks to turn off the lights in areas that aren't used constantly (like bathroom, library, break room). However, our maintenance person told us that the ballasts in our fluorescent lighting are old and it actually takes more energy to turn the lights on/off than to just leave them on. Now, I thought that modern bulbs had overcome this, but everything I read talks about the bulbs, not the ballasts. How does the age of the ballasts effect the energy consumption? Perhaps I'm showing my ignorance about the mechanics of light fixtures, but I'd like to understand how it works if anyone out there can enlighten me (to be honest I'm not exactly sure what a ballast even is). Is our maintenace person right? I'd really like to see some supporting evidence as well (scientific or unbiased studies/links if possible).

We just bought a house and the previous owners put a polyurethane finish over what we think (as did our local hardwood refinisher company) are waxed hardwood floors. They also just put the finish around their furniture, so there are areas with poly and others with just wax. The waxed areas actually look really good, but in many areas the polyurethane is flaking or scratched. How do we go about refinishing these floors? Is it okay to just sand them down and go from there or do we need to remove the wax first? If we have to remove the wax, how do we do that when it's under the poly? I've never dealt with hardwood floors before so any advice for a beginner would be great!

I would like to make homemade treats for my cats and my friend's cat for Christmas just for fun! I'm making my friend some homemade bread and I thought I'd bring something for the cat too.

Just wondering what other companies do?

I work at a federal agency so we just have a potluck. We don't have funds for an all-out holiday party (your tax dollars hard at work), but it's still fun.

Say, if a package of eggs say organic, that doesn't necessarily mean the hens had free-range, right?

What is a fair price to give our friend who video taped our wedding? He expects no reward, just did it as a nice gesture for us, but I would like to give him something for his trouble. The video turned out great (for an amateur) and it's so nice to have a memory of that special day especially since it was just a whirlwind of activity--I hardly remember a thing!

We will be traveling for 2 1/2 weeks and I'm going to have three friends watch our 2 cats while we're gone. I am going to make dinner for them and show them the ropes before we leave. They are not staying at our house overnight just feeding and playing with the kitties a time or two each day. What do you think is a proper amount to pay them for their help? Should I give cash, gift certificate, or a little something that I picked up from our travels?

I have seen many references online for a excerpt or poem by Robert Fulghum called "Union" that I would like to use in our wedding. However, I've seen a couple different versions. Does anyone know what book this excerpt came from so I can get the full/correct text?

We are considering Ecuador for our honeymoon. We prefer smaller, more intimate feel, like a bed and breakfast. We will be traveling in October.

For my wedding I would like to have a wildflower bouquet using native or organically grown flowers. I've contacted a local organic farmer who will sell her flowers to me. She has "prairie flowers" (central IL), cosmos, zinnias, and sunflowers. What types do you think will look best and hold up as cut flowers in a bouquet?

I am trying to plan a 'green' wedding and I liked some of their resources. This past of week I haven't been able to get to their webpage. I get an error page. Does anyone know what happened or if it's coming back?

I don't want to ask for money, but I like when the bride and groom have dance time with guests. Has anyone seen this done in other ways, or have any ideas to make it fun? I've been to one wedding reception where you were offered a shot of pucker or hershey kiss before the dance...lame/not?

I am getting married in Peoria but am living in another state right now. I'm trying to find someone to officiate our wedding, a civil ceremony, this coming fall. I've searched the online yellow pages and google searched for Peoria officiants but can't find anyone. Any leads?