On bee-ing happy

(nuc box on the left - getting ready to settle bees into hive box)

Sorry.  I know that's a lame title, but it's all about the bees this time of year.

I'm beginning again and this time I've started out with a back-up ..... a back-up hive, that it.  Since starting beekeeping several years ago, I've had very mixed results at it.  The first year was fabulous, the second year not quite so fabulous and last year was a complete failure.  I'm not easily discouraged though and have decided to make another go at it.  My friend, Mary's husband, Tommy, is a beekeeper extraordinaire.  He's the go-to man to call whenever anyone in the area sees a swarm or has bees in their house siding.  He captures these swarms, settles them into a hive and then they make their way to folks like me.  Last week he brought me two nucs (nucleus colonies) and we put the frames into the hive bodies I had prepared for them.  I've been watching them all week and they seem to be doing great.  They've been busy as, well, bees.  We have lots of flowers and trees blooming at this time, so they have plenty of sources for gathering pollen.  Right now they are raising brood and when the hive is full of workers, things really get going.  I've added the second hive bodies on and when they have filled those with honey for themselves, I can then add on the honey supers and hope they will start filling those for me.  One thing we did differently this time was place the hives where I can see them easily from the studio window.  Before, the hive was under some trees and just out of sight from the house and studio.  Every year I would have one or more swarms from that hive and I never once saw it happen.  If it's going to happen this year, I will surely see it.  Surely, Shirley! (know where that comes from?)

(added second hive bodies on around midnight - won't be doing that again - don't ask!)

We are confused

Where,  oh where,  is winter?  Last week, while dragging our Christmas tree to the grandchildren's bonfire pit,  I passed a blooming dandelion.  How can that be ?  It gets worse ..... today,  while walking to the garden to harvest a head of Chinese cabbage,  there was a daffodil blooming in the border by the garden fence.  It's just all too weird.  I suppose I can admit that these nice,  dry days in the mid 50's make it pleasant to work outside and it has encouraged me to start a regular walking routine ( one of my 2012 goals - figure out a way to exercise here on the farm,  rather than drive somewhere to get on a treadmill ).  But,  still,  this just seems wrong.  Besides,  this is the south and if we don't get some really cold weather,  come summer the bugs ( mosquitoes especially ) will make war on us !

One good thing about the warm weather is that it's allowing the bees to come out for cleansing flights and feed on some frames of honey that I've been putting out for them.  Hopefully,  this mild winter will leave me with a strong and healthy hive when spring really does come.

**The above was written yesterday and today is a different story.  Rain,  rain,  rain today and lots of it. And I'm told that winter is coming tonight.  So, I'll try not to complain too much for getting what I asked for !

Jars of gold

I can't believe it has taken me so long to get around to blogging about this. I've been so excited and pleased..........you'd almost think I made some important contribution to the end product. Back some months ago, Sara (Happy Birthday to Sara today) gave me a few frames from her "mean" hive (her words-not mine) because the hive I started with last summer did not survive the winter. Amazingly, those mean bees settled right in and concentrated on the task at hand. They raised a bunch of workers and started filling my hive bodies and then the two supers that were eventually added. Almost a month ago, Sara came over for the afternoon and brought her honey extractor and showed me how to spin out the frames of honey from one of the supers. That one super gave me 2 1/2 gallons of honey. I'm so proud! (and, if I do say so, it is some of the best tasting honey I've ever had----not that I'm one bit prejudiced) I'm hopeful that the second super is ready to be spun out now. If so, that will be the last honey I will take from them this year. The rest will be left for them to support themselves though the winter that's coming. (someone please tell me that winter is coming this year)

We've finally had some cooler days (80's) and even cooler nights (60's---yay!), though it is supposed to be 90 degrees today. I'm feeling encouraged that my animals and I are going to survive this summer because there has been a change in the light that tells me fall is on it's way. And that makes me very, very happy.

I hope you all have a reason to be happy today. Enjoy the weekend!

(thanks to Sara for the pictures taken on honey harvesting day!)

Bee report

One evening last week, our bee mentor (Tommy Steele) came out and opened our hive with us. We had been thinking about doing it for weeks, but felt we needed someone more knowledgeable than we are to give us a report on how our bees are doing. Luckily, our bees are thriving. Something about benign neglect, maybe? Well, we've not really been neglecting them, but we haven't been messing with them much either. I had actually quit feeding the bees a few weeks ago, but after showing us all the emerging new bees, Tommy suggested I start feeding them again. And this morning I put on our very first honey super! That means the bees have probably stored up enough honey to feed themselves through the winter and now they can start making honey for us. We have so much to learn about beekeeping. It sometimes seems a little overwhelming. I feel that we will have to go through a full year cycle before we know what we are doing and when we are supposed to do it.

(try as I might, I cannot get this clip reoriented)

A few weeks back, the Bluegrass Beekeepers club that I belong to had a drawing for a hive to give to a young beginning beekeeper and my grandson, Coleman, won. (Coleman will be 14 in just a matter of weeks.) The hive is now established in his backyard, right next to his garden. Unfortunately for Coleman, he has been stung a few times already, but I think he is learning how to keep his bees well fed and happy and the stings don't seem to have discouraged him much.

(Coleman and his beehive)

There's plenty around here for the bees to be working on right now. I love, love, love the color of these phlox!

Bee Happy

Sorry, couldn't resist saying something so corny. It's all about the bees around here right now. The girls are guzzling down the sugar water and working, working, working all the time. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the orange-ish looking pollen on their back legs when they come in from foraging(click to biggify). It looks as though they will need some expansion room and will be ready for the second hive box to go on in just a day or two. I have spent time just sitting and watching them fly in and out every morning. They have been too busy to pay much attention to me, though I did get buzzed a bit yesterday. I actually got a bigger reaction from the lambs when they saw me walk into the field in my bee outfit! (The jumpsuit is gigantic and makes me feel as though I am moving under water, but everyone said to buy it extra big because it shrinks a lot when you wash it.Add the helmet and the veil and it's a pretty scary look.) The lambs took one look at me and ran for their lives!

Last week I made the trip to Frankfort to one of my favorite places at this time of year. Wilson Nurseries (sadly, no website) is brimming over with beautiful plants and I wanted to bring home a load of them. I restrained myself and only got vegetable plants, geraniums and assorted annuals for the pots that go on the terrace. I have tried to become more realistic about the number of pots and plantings I will do a good job of caring for once the weather gets really hot and that has caused me to scale back considerably. I'm willing to admit that when it gets really hot, I'd much rather be sitting inside knitting---of which there has been very little of lately.

I am working on the "Kate Cardigan" designed by Elizabeth Morrison. It was in issue #5 of Knitcircus, the wonderful little knitting magazine that Susan Anderson mentioned on her blog a few months back. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to subscribe to it immediately. Several of us from the Wednesday Knitting group did and we all love the size and format of it. I ordered the back issues also and have found several patterns in each issue that I would like to knit. Anyway, I'm slowly making progress on the "Kate". I have finished the back, which was boring stockinette, but made for great mindless knitting and am now working on the fronts. I am knitting both fronts at the same time because then I don't have to remember the shaping (lazy, I guess). I'm anxious to get to the sleeves because they are picked up from the armhole edge and knit down, using short rows to shape the sleeve cap. I don't believe I have ever knit sleeves that way and it seems to me, if it works well, it will make fitting sleeves into the armhole opening much easier. (The yarn is Queensland Kathmandu DK in color #434)

Time to get outside and work, work, work (you know, making hay while the sun shines and all that.....).

New workers

Yes, that's right......we have some new workers here on the farm. About 20 thousand of them! They won't be doing any barn chores, but they will be working away filling their hive with honey. First, to feed themselves through next winter and then, if we are extremely lucky this year, there might be some honey for us. That's the "removal of the duct tape" moment happening above. The bees rode out to the farm in the back of our friend's SUV and the duct tape was necessary to keep the bees in the hive and not loose in the car. Our friends, Mary and Tommy, who came to dinner on Wednesday evening delivered our brand new hive with our bees already hard at work. (He is our "bee mentor" and the source of our bees.) The weather did not cooperate with our plans, so we didn't get to be the ones transferring the bees from their nucleus hive into our own hive box, but they are here on the farm now and busy as, well, bees. This morning I stood close by and watched while they flew in laden with pollen and out again to gather more. The more I learn about them, the more fascinating they become. You're probably going to hear more about these bees than you ever wanted to know!

I can hardly claim to have prepared dinner for our friends. I'd say it was more in the simple summer supper category. We had turkey burgers prepared on the grill, Hudson's 7-day slaw, dressed eggs and chips. Then for dessert we had Lemon Yogurt Cake.

This little cake has become my go-to dessert this spring. It's delicious and light and can be prepared quickly. It's another Ina Garten recipe (I do use other cookbooks....honest, I do).It's from The Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook and is the Lemon Yogurt Cake. I also combined a jar of red current jelly (melted)and some fresh (or frozen)raspberries for a not-too-sweet topping.

We have had a couple of other new arrivals here at Tanglewood, but I'll save that for another post. Have a good weekend.