Medicinal Herb & Chicken Soup

Okay, so you've heard that chicken soup is for the soul, for a cold, for the flu and for just about everything... BUT not all chicken soups are created equal.  This one has it all covered in my opinion.  We eat this throughout the year but even more so in winter when people around us are sick and we are more susceptible to becoming ill ourselves due to less fresh foods from our gardens or from less vitamin D.  I can proudly say that nobody in my family has been to the doctor for an illness in the past eight years! I believe it is so important to learn to care for ourselves, first by preventative health and second, by knowing what to do in case you do come down with something.  Between the five people in my family we have been sick probably five times (collectively) in the last ten years.  Even when we were sick, we quickly recovered.  The trick is to NOT run to the doctor for an antibiotic prescription.  You can easily take care of coughs, colds, flus, viruses, stomach and digestive issues, and many other ailments on your own.  There is a place and time for doctors, but that is not every time that you sniffle.   Here is one of the many tools I have in my home's "medicine chest" to keep us healthy year round.  This recipe can be tweaked depending on your taste preference or what you have on hand.  Here is what I used today:

• One whole chicken, I took the skin off but added in the giblets for extra iron, and for sure leave the bones.  Slowly simmer the chicken for about 45 minutes before you add anything else so the bones really get the chance to release their calcium and gelatin into the broth.
• Chinese Five Spice which consists of fennel, anise, star anise, cloves, and cinnamon.  Warming herbs that help the body's systems function more efficiently and help circulation.
•  Parsley Boost the immune system by providing important vitamins, including Vitamins A, C,  B 12, and K. Helps flush excess fluid (improves kidney function) and tones nervous system.
• Turmeric Powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, this is a "super-spice" (good for so many things I couldn't possibly list them all here!)
• Fenugreek Balances cholesterol and blood sugar levels.  Nourishes body during illness.
• Fresh Garlic - It is referred to as "Russian penicillin" because it is antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, is used to treat cold, cough, flu, reduce cholesterol and fight cancer to name a few of the many, many things it is great for.
• Dried Rose Hips (Bottom left)- Contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges!
• Astragalus Root (Bark looking stuff below the garlic) Will kick your immune system into action, fights cancer and is good for your heart.  Do not add if you are already sick as it can actually "lock" the sickness into your cells.  It can also "lock out" a sickness and is therefore a great herb for preventing illness.  Also, do no take if you have an auto-immune disease.
• Gogi Berries (Dried red berries) These potent little berries have been used as medicine and food in the east for over 3,000 years!  They have significant antioxidant properties and have one of the highest vitamin C contents of any food in the world!  They are used to treat a wide variety of ailments, I suggest you become acquainted if you aren't already.  I add them to oatmeal, soups, health bars, smoothies, or eat them plain.  PACKED with vitamins & minerals.
• Elderberries- Used to treat cough, cold, flu, viral and bacterial infections.  High in antioxidants... and like a bazillion other uses.  (My favorite herb!)
• Fresh Ginger- Ginger actually has more than 40 pharmacological actions (stuff it can help with, medicinally) it is an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, and reduces nausea and other stomach ailments.
• Carrots, Onions, Celery, Kale Hearty veggies that contain many vitamins, minerals, and fiber





 

Before I go on, I can already hear what you are likely thinking... "I don't have all of that stuff on hand!  So I might as well not even try to make this."  (Hopefully that's not what you're thinking, but that is what I may have said).  Don't throw in the towel just yet friends!  You would be amazed at what your common spices can do for you.  Cheyenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, basil, thyme, cloves, pepper and even a healthier salt like Himalayan Mineral Salt can all improve your body's performance and help heal many illnesses.  I'm going to plop this link in here for you just to whet your appetite.  I LOVE this site and magazine, but there are a plethora of other articles on this subject for you to easily research as well. http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/cowell122.html

Option #2 is even better, go ahead and buy these things like Gogi berries, astragalus root and some elderberries (if you can't find them growing around you).  They are used weekly if not daily in my home in multiple applications.  Start to get friendly with these herbs and spices and experiment with teas, tinctures, cooking and baking with them.  You won't be disappointed!  I buy all of my bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com and Monterey Bay Spice Co. www.herbco.com BUT everything that I can grow myself I do, because I like to become very well acquainted with the things that I use and there is no better way than planting it, watching it grow, caring for it, harvesting it, processing it, and using it.  I mean that's all an education in itself, wouldn't you say?  So buy them, plant them, get them from the store, whatever.  But try them for sure.

 

 

Medicinal Chicken & Herb Soup Recipe

 

*(PLEASE if you see something that you don't have, substitute for whatever you do have!)*  If you try something and like it, please share what you did in the comments for us to try too  :)

 

1 Whole Chicken, skin off

6 Carrots, large diced

4 Celery stalks, including the leaves, diced

2 Large onions, medium diced

2 Cups kale, finely chopped

1-2 Inches fresh ginger, slices or grated

1 Head of fresh garlic, roughly chopped

4 Tablespoons dried parsley (double if fresh)

1 1/2 Teaspoons turmeric

1 1/2 Teaspoons fenugreek seed, ground (I use coffee grinder)

1 Teaspoon Five Chinese Spices

4 Astragalus root slices

1/4 Cup Gogi Berries, whole

1/3 Cup elderberries (dried, fresh, or frozen)

1/4 cup rose hips, dried or fresh, chopped

1 cup barley (or other grain)

salt and pepper to taste

coconut oil (optional)

enough water to cover everything in the pot, I didn't measure :/

 

Put the whole chicken in a large pot and cover with water, let it gently simmer for 45 minutes or until almost done.  Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the coconut oil and cover with water again.  Let everything cook together for 20 minutes, the chicken should be fully cooked at that point.  Remove the chicken and let it cool a bit while everything else finishes cooking.  Debone the chicken very carefully and shred it up into bite-sized pieces.  Add it back into the soup.  You can add a few tablespoons of coconut oil at this point, just to get it into your diet, and the coconut flavor that floats to the top is yummy.  In fact you could probably add a bit of canned coconut milk to this recipe and it would be delicious!  I truly hope you enjoy this delicious and very nutrition soup and that it finds you in good health. 

 

 

 

 





Easy Challah Bread

I remember my mom telling while I was growing up that her mother would make  homemade bread when she was a child.  She tells the story of how she and her brother would be walking home from school and when they got near their house they could smell the  fresh bread baking all the way outside.  They would run as fast as they could into the house and eat the wonderfully soft, warm and delicious freshly baked loaf.  She said it was an all day process and took a while to learn the art of baking bread.  I never experienced fresh bread, (it skipped a generation I guess)- but the more I heard that story the more curious I got, just what did homemade bread have to offer? 

 

 

So one day about ten years ago I tried.  I followed the recipe on the back of the yeast package that I had, I was sure that it was going to be the amazing experience that my mom had so poetically described... NOT!  It was a brick, I mean, I may have just mixed up a bag of concrete and baked it.  I was crushed, there was no dream fulfilled that day!  It took me a couple of years to recover from that heartbreaking blow, I tried again.  And darn it, it happened again!  Finally I found a bread making section in one of my Country Wisdom and Knowhow books, I read the whole section, every recipe.  Just by reading through I learned a lot.  Why proof the yeast, why add a bit of sweetener, why knead so much, why let it rise once, twice or not at all.  Cookbooks are my favorite read anyway, you learn so much. 

 

 

Finally, about five years ago I tried again, not with much hope, but determined all the same.  Victory!!!  The house filled with a wonderful toasty grain, slightly sweet, slightly yeasty smell... the crust was perfectly golden, the loaf was nice and high and airy.  I couldn't wait, I sliced the heel off and the steaming bread got slathered in butter and popped in my mouth.... oooohhhh.  THIS, this is what she was talking about.  I was hooked.  Ever since I've been baking my own bread, experimenting with different grains, techniques, sourdoughs, sprouts or whatever else sounds interesting.  Sometimes I fail still, but usually it is accomplished with great reward!  I encourage you to give it a shot. 

 

 

This Challah recipe was passed on to me by a dear friend, more like another mother, my Jewish momma whom we love dearly.  It is simple and pretty hard to mess up.  Maybe with one successful loaf you'll be hooked and inspired to do more.  Which is what this blog is for, to inspire like so many others have inspired me. 

 

• Begin by adding 1 1/2 cups of warm water to a large bowl.  Sprinkle 4 teaspoons of yeast evenly over the surface of the water, it will soak up the water and sink this way, otherwise you may get clumps that don't dissolve.  Then stir in 2 tablespoons of honey, or sometimes I use sugar or rapadura if I'm low on honey.  (Yes, even beekeepers get low on honey sometimes, sad).  The sweetener is to wake up your sleepy yeast and feed it so it becomes very active, pretty important.
• Add 4 tablespoons of softened butter to your yeast mix and 2 cups of flour, and mix to combine.  This will create what is called your "sponge", what you will be adding the rest of your ingredients to later once this has proofed for about 15 minutes.  You will notice that the mixture becomes bubbly and begins to swell, this is how you know you have good, active yeast.  Just make sure to keep in between 65-80 degrees n the house for best results.

 

• Next add 3 teaspoons of salt, 3 eggs, and about 3-3 1/2 cups more flour.  You can also choose to add herbs or cinnamon and raisins at this point.  I typically grind my own wheat flour and use about 3 cups of that and 2 cups of all-purpose flour.  I find that if I use all whole wheat it makes for a much heavier bread, and this is really supposed to be nice and light.  BUT I've used all whole wheat when I'm feeling extra "granola girl" that day, and I've used all white flour too- because I realized the world wouldn't explode if I did! lol

• Next, get to kneading.  This bread doesn't need a whole lot of knead!  Really just a couple of minutes by hand.  I like to do it in the same bowl that I mixed it all up in, works just fine for this bread (not all, where you really have to develop the gluten you would want a bigger working surface).  Add small amounts of flour until the dough is not super sticky anymore and is soft and supple.  Side note: While I'm kneading is the only time I ever take off my wedding ring, otherwise it would be a lump of crusty dough by now.

It will look something like this, and double this when it rises.  Cover loosely with a dish towel and put it in a warm, draft-free spot.  Let it rise for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size.  It will depend on how warm it is in your house and how active your yeast is.  This does not need a second rise, like I said this is an easy and forgiving bread.

 

Next cut your dough half, because this recipe is for two loaves.  Take each half and but into 3 equal pieces.  We are going to be making a braid.  Another option is to take one half of your dough and freeze it.  Then take the other half and make two smaller loaves from that.

 

Time to play!  Roll out "snakes" with each of your six pieces of dough.  Try to make them all about he same length and thickness, so that you can make an even braid and so that they'll bake evenly.  I make mine about 18" long and probably about an 1.5" thick, give or take.  I find it works best if you apply pressure to the center and roll and pull outward at the same time all the way to the ends until you get the right length.

 

 

Pinch the ends of three of your "snakes" together and begin to braid.  Don't do a loose and flat braid.  I tell my girls "high and tight!"  Really lift each strand over the other so it is, well... high and tight.

Get your children in the kitchen with you.  They'll love it!  We practice our math and fractions while baking.  Homeschoolers or not, baking is great learning.

 

Next you want to get an egg yolk and a couple of drops of water to thin it.  Paint the entire loaf with the egg before baking.  You can also add sesame seeds or poppy seeds at this point and they'll stick better.  But this will give your loaf that shiny, golden finish that Challah is known for.  This is Nadia's favorite part.

 

 







• Cover loosely with a towel again and let the loaves rise for about 20 minutes.  You don't have to do this, but I find that if I don't they will do all the rising in the oven and your braid will split and tear a big from rising too fast.  If you let them rise you'll have a true braid shape.  You can tell I was in a hurry in the picture above, as I usually am on Friday afternoons preparing for Shabbat. 
• Bake on a greased baking sheet, or parchment lined baking sheet, or baking stone at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Viola!  You made fresh bread.  Enjoy and hopefully you'll want to go on and try another type of bread.  I'll be posting lots more step-by-step bread recipes this winter I'm sure, since that is mostly what I'm doing these days.

 

Challah Bread Recipe

 

4 teaspoons yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons honey or sugar

4 tablespoons butter, softened

5-6 cups flour, divided (AP or whole wheat)

3 whole eggs

3 teaspoons salt

herbs, dried fruit or seeds (optional)

one egg yolk and 1/2 teaspoon water for egg wash 

In the past year...

Welcome back to the Good News Herbs (and Wornicov Family) Blog!

Yes, it has been a while, but it was well worth the absence because I now have a new SON to show for it!  It was a high risk pregnancy and pretty much from the get-go I was out of commission, so there wouldn't have been much to blog about except my misery, big hit eh!? 

Welcome to the world Tav Elijah!  Born October 15

 So, I never really understood why people had blogs, why people read blogs, I mean who gives a rip about what is going on in my life!  However, I have often found myself googling a recipe or something and finding the answer on a blog, that leads to reading a couple of articles that that person has posted and that leads to me actually doing what they posted about.  My family and I are into at least a dozen projects at any given time.  Those projects range from cooking and baking to gardening, beekeeping, homeschooling, cheese making, herbs and their uses in our daily lives, raising livestock,  and a bazillion other random things.  SO, maybe, just maybe I can inspire someone as so many others have done for us.  Thank you for reading this blog, and please comment or question because I would love to hear from you and because I know that we have so much to learn from one another.

 

Here are some recent happenings around the homestead...

HERBS, of course! That is something that never ceases here.  I have been fine-tuning some of my old blends and coming up with several new ones.  I am opening an Etsy store here in the next month or so, so I am getting that all in order.  Packaging and labels have been a pain in the neck, but it's coming along slowly.  Some of my blends that you can look forward to are: Calming Tea, Restorative Blend, Fairy Tale Blend, The Momma Trio- Big Momma, Little Momma and Milky Momma (yep, that's what I said!), Cold and Flu Brew, a Citrus Ginger Yerba Mate Blend and the winter favorite... Roasty Toasty Tea, similar to a chai and great for circulation.

 

 

Some other things I've been developing and tweaking:

lotions and creams, baby diaper balm, tooth powder, medicinal 

syrups, face and body scrubs, throat lozenges, herbal massage oils

and some other things that we like to use in our home and am trying to replace with natural, herbalicious substitutes.

I LOVE cooking from scratch, especially when I can find all or most of the ingredients from right here at home!  I also like to make food so chalk full of healthful ingredients that it is actually medicinal!  This soup has homemade bone broth, free-range chicken, hearty home-grown vegetables, lots of herbs and spices including turmeric, sage, parsley, gogi berries, astragalus root and rose hips.  If you had a cold or were feeling something come on THIS is what you would want to be eating!

 

 

 It's important to me to make sure that my kiddos love to eat healthy foods.  This was our New Year's breakfast.  Freshly ground whole wheat pancakes with bananas, cinnamon and kefir added to the batter.  I also made a plum syrup to go with it instead of adding syrup or honey.  Not diet food at all, just delicious and nutritious!

I've been experimenting with ALL things bread.  I have 50 pound bags of wheat berries, rye, spelt, 7 Grain cereal, rice and lentils.  I've been sprouting grains for bread, making kefir breads, sourdough breads, ancient breads, flat breads, and having a blast doing it.  All this kneading is making me buff! I think I need me a kneading machine, phew!  More on all of this later.

 

Daniel and I butchered a couple of our lambs this week.  What a process!   But we think it is important to raise as much of our own food as we can.  We are also in the process of tanning the fleeces for rugs, there will probably be a post on that process too. 

 

 

This momma looooves elderberries!  Every year our family goes out and harvest buckets and buckets of elder flowers for medicinal teas and berries for elderberry syrup.  This year because I was pregnant I didn't get to get out there myself but my husband brought me lots of branches full of berries and I sat on the deck and combed them off.  Now this winter we are keeping healthy with our elder teas and syrup!

MY GOODNESS, the garden was in full swing for months and we had to  harvest, freeze, can and dry the produce as quickly as we could.  It was a constant chore!  Maybe this year will be better since I won't have a big belly attached to me.  We are still enjoying our potatoes, onions, garlic, green beans, canned tomatoes, dried herbs, pickles and even fresh kale from the garden this winter!

 







Crocheting is another hobby of mine.  I had fun making hats and things for the baby and one new hat for each person in the family too.  They are coming in handy now.  It is FIVE degrees outside as I type this



 

 This is Benjamin, we raised him from two months old.  The girls always knew he would be dinner and were fine with that.  The other day when we had the s hanging for a couple of days Nadia (the little one) walks up as her dad was removing the fleece and says "Yum yum,  he is going to be so tasty!" Some may think that is gross but I am proud to say that my kids know darn well where their food comes from! 

 

 

 

Introducing our son to our home and our lifestyle.  Get used to the work and the fun son, this is the good life!

There will always be lots to post about around here.  I'll do my best to keep it up but this lifestyle is quite a busy one!  If there is something in particular you'd like to hear about let me know.  My post will probably be short but useful (hopefully) so that I can commit to posting more often.  I hope you have enjoyed the introduction to what this blog will be about.  Have a blessed week!



Winter Happenings

 

Welcome back to the Good News Herbs (and Wornicov Family) Blog!

Yes, it has been a while, but it was well worth the absence because I now have a new SON to show for it!  It was a high risk pregnancy and pretty much from the get-go I was out of commission, so there wouldn't have been much to blog about except my misery, big hit eh!? 

Welcome to the world Tav Elijah!  Born October 15

 

So, I never really understood why people had blogs, why people read blogs, I mean who gives a rip about what is going on in my life!  However, I have often found myself googling a recipe or something and finding the answer on a blog, that leads to reading a couple of articles that that person has posted and that leads to me actually doing what they posted about.  My family and I are into at least a dozen projects at any given time.  Those projects range from cooking and baking to gardening, beekeeping, homeschooling, cheese making, herbs and their uses in our daily lives, raising livestock,  and a bazillion other random things.  SO, maybe, just maybe I can inspire someone as so many others have done for us.  Thank you for reading this blog, and please comment or question because I would love to hear from you and because I know that we have so much to learn from one another.

 

Here are some recent happenings around the homestead...

HERBS, of course! That is something that never ceases here.  I have been fine-tuning some of my old blends and coming up with several new ones.  I am opening an Etsy store here in the next month or so, so I am getting that all in order.  Packaging and labels have been a pain in the neck, but it's coming along slowly.  Some of my blends that you can look forward to are: Calming Tea, Restorative Blend, Fairy Tale Blend, The Momma Trio- Big Momma, Little Momma and Milky Momma (yep, that's what I said!), Cold and Flu Brew, a Citrus Ginger Yerba Mate Blend and the winter favorite... Roasty Toasty Tea, similar to a chai and great for circulation.

 

 

Some other things I've been developing and tweaking:

lotions and creams, baby diaper balm, tooth powder, medicinal 

syrups, face and body scrubs, throat lozenges, herbal massage oils

and some other things that we like to use in our home and am trying to replace with natural, herbalicious substitues.

I LOVE cooking from scratch, especially when I can find all or most of the ingredients from right here at home!  I also like to make food so chalk full of healthful ingredients that it is actually medicinal!  This soup has homemade bone broth, free-range chicken, hearty home-grown vegetables, lots of herbs and spices including turmeric, sage, parsley, gogi berries, astragalus root and rose hips.  If you had a cold or were feeling something come on THIS is what you would want to be eating!

 

 

 It's important to me to make sure that my kiddos love to eat healthy foods.  This was our New Year's breakfast.  Freshly ground whole wheat pancakes with bananas, cinnamon and kefir added to the batter.  I also made a plum syrup to go with it instead of adding syrup or honey.  Not diet food at all, just delicious and nutritious!

I've been experimenting with ALL things bread.  I have 50 pound bags of wheat berries, rye, spelt, 7 Grain cereal, rice and lentils.  I've been sprouting grains for bread, making kefir breads, sourdough breads, ancient breads, flat breads, and having a blast doing it.  All this kneading is making me buff! I think I need me a kneading machine, phew!  More on all of this later.

Daniel and I butchered a couple of our lambs this week.  What a process!   But we think it is important to raise as much of our own food as we can.  We are also in the process of tanning the fleeces for rugs, there will probably be a post on that process too. 

 

 

 

This momma looooves elderberries!  Every year our family goes out and harvest buckets and buckets of elder flowers for medicinal teas and berries for elderberry syrup.  This year because I was pregnant I didn't get to get out there myself but my husband brought me lots of branches full of berries and I sat on the deck and combed them off.  Now this winter we are keeping healthy with our elder teas and syrup!

MY GOODNESS, the garden was in full swing for months and we had to  harvest, freeze, can and dry the produce as quickly as we could.  It was a constant chore!  Maybe this year will be better since I won't have a big belly attached to me.  We are still enjoying our potatoes, onions, garlic, green beans, canned tomatoes, dried herbs, pickles and even fresh kale from the garden this winter!

 







Crocheting is another hobby of mine.  I had fun making hats and things for the baby and one new hat for each person in the family too.  They are coming in handy now.  It is FIVE degrees outside as I type this



 

 

 This is Benjamin, we raised him from two months old.  The girls always knew he would be dinner and were fine with that.  The other day when we had the s hanging for a couple of days Nadia (the little one) walks up as her dad was removing the fleece and says "Yum yum,  he is going to be so tasty!" Some may think that is gross but I am proud to say that my kids know darn well where their food comes from! 

 

 

 

There will always be lots to post about around here.  I'll do my best to keep it up but this lifestyle is quite a busy one!  If there is something in particular you'd like to hear about let me know.  My post will probably be short but useful (hopefully) so that I can commit to posting more often.  I hope you have enjoyed the introduction to what this blog will be about.  Have a blessed week!



End of Winter Happenings & Projects

One last display of Winter?  I kind of hope so, I'm solar-powered!

Getting to some of those projects that couldn't be done in cold, damp weather.
The one on the right is the "new look" in Espresso... like it?  I'm also going to reupholster it with
outdoor, weather resistant material.  My neighbor bought this for cheap at a thrift store and
didn't want it anymore.  She gave it to us and with a new coat of paint it looks better than the
one we bought a couple of years ago for $150!!!

To celebrate today's glorious sunshine we made a sunny salad, I know some of
that is not in season, but being I sent my hubby to get me all the fruit he could find
we might as well put it to good use.  Isabella is practicing her culinary skills!

This was my window garden to keep me sane this Winter.  I have green onions with the bottoms
in water so they keep sprouting, I just cut off the tops when I need them and a couple of days later
I have new ones!  I also have rosemary and mint rooting in the mason jar, as well as some Vick's
Vapor Rub plant that my neighbor shared with me last Fall.  Oh, and the mint in the hanging basket,
time to move it on outside...soon.

Caterina LOVES to bask in the sun.  She's working on her tan! Haha

Okay, I know, not the most attractive picture I could have slapped up here, but
I wanted to show you about how much compost we get in a day or two!  If you don't compost,
you should!  You would be amazed how much less trash you'll have, and the amazing dirt that comes
from this after we put it in our tumbler for a while makes it all worth the (minimal) trouble.

NadiLu couldn't stand it, she had to help, she got to be the tosser and the tester.

Of course we're chipping away at school everyday.  I'll soon do a post just on that to answer some
of the questions I get about what curriculum we use and why, resources, ideas, etc.  Here the
girls are playing "Sound-O", like Bing-O, but to strengthen reading skills, school can be FUN!

We are finally getting our greenhouse up!  We have moved 4 times in 3 years and have been dragging
this thing around with us.  I'm glad we never put it up anywhere else, it would have been a pain to take apart
and move!  We probably would have left it.  But it has found it's rightful place and will be put to great use,
mostly for starting medicinal herbs to sell at the Folk Medicine Festival!

Playing in the mud! Nadia and Isabella both have a pair of these boots, our neighbor had
two pairs that she wasn't using and gave them to us!  Thank you Holly!  It made this Winter so
much better, you really can't live on a farm without a pair of these suckers!

The beginnings of our compost pile.  We put it at one end of our garden, near the chicken coop
and also near where the sheep will be.  That way we can quickly and easily transport the manure to the pile.
We also add what has been tumbled in our compost tumbler to this pile to further break down.  The leaves are from some
leaf-removal jobs my hubby did in the Fall and the big pile of squash are from a local garden center, these were tossed out
at the end of Fall.  We made some great soup from some of them, collected seeds from others and now they'll make us some fine dirt!  There is also layers of cardboard boxes mixed in this pile, all the boxes from when we moved!

Our bees are also excited for Spring, they are working hard today.  I was surprised they survived this Winter seeing as how it got down to -2 degrees here this year, which is abnormally cold for this zone.  Not only did they survive but they are thriving.  A quick note:  this hive is not painted white because we chose to go with all organic options.  This have is treated with a 100% natural wood preservative, made out of all-organic ingredients.  You never have to repaint it and I like the look of it better anyway!