Category Archives: Bees

Farm News and Views

Bees, Birds, Blueberries, Deer, Flowers, garden, Nature, Pollinators, Prayer Garrden, Rain,, Reflections, Summer, The Farm, Wild Flowers, Wildlife

Healthy Harvest

Our blueberry harvest is well underway and an abundant harvest it is. My husband and I picked about 5 quarts last Thursday, then on Sunday my sister brought her grandkids out and they picked another 5 or so quarts. The berries are still ripening so I hope to have my grandkids over this weekend to pick some as well. Blueberries are Addies favorite.

We have also been picking and enjoying Swiss chard and green beans.

Too Much of a Good Thing

In the last several weeks we have had more than enough rain. The ground is saturated, and our brassica vegetables are suffering because of it. You might remember as we wrapped up June our gardens were looking great, especially the cabbage.

Cauliflower after too much rain.

They are no longer looking good.

Cabbage after too much rain.

Some of the other plants are showing signs of stress as well like yellowing leaves (squash), slow growth (beets) and split fruit (tomatoes).

On the Wrong Side of the Fence

This fawn was on the inside of our fence.

and was not sure how to get out.

While its mother was on the outside of our fence apparently wanting to get her baby out. I’m not certain how the young one got inside our fence. I don’t think it was born on our property because it looked to be at least several weeks old and I think we would have encountered it before now. I don’t think it jumped over the fence because it didn’t seem to know how to jump back over. In the evenings, when the dogs are not at the farm, we sometimes leave the gate open, so a likely case scenario would be that momma brought the baby in when the gate was open and we unknowingly locked the baby in.

That evening we again left the gate open hoping the little one would find its way out and back to momma. We haven’t seen it around since that day so we are assuming it found its way out.

Pollinator Paradise

The prayer garden is abuzz with bees. Honeybees and bumble bees among other pollinators are heavily foraging the lavender, thyme, oregano and tickseed.

But our back field also has lots to offer pollinators. Perhaps we should call it a”Field of Pollinator Dreams”.

The field is blanketed with white clover as is most of our farm. It is a favorite of the honeybees.

Clover is a very common flavor/ingredient in honey.

Over the years this birdsfoot trefoil has spread throughout the field. We have witnessed a lot of honeybees collecting nectar/pollen from its blossoms.

Canadian thistle also attracts bees and other pollinators for its nectar. As it goes to seed I expect we will see goldfinches in the field as thistle seed is a favorite food of theirs.

Milkweed is another plant that is prevalent in our back field this year.

Milkweed is sometimes known as the monarch butterfly plant because these butterflies lay their eggs only on milkweed plants and their hatchling caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed.

If you grow it, they will come.

We often see the monarchs fluttering above and around the patch of milkweed. There are many.

Monarchs are not the only ones with an appreciation for the milkweed as I also witnessed a honeybee on a milkweed flower and caught a quick glimpse of a hummingbird darting around the patch.

The most northern part of the field is filled with sweet clover this year. This biennial is another blossom that is loved by honeybees.

This monarch is not on a milkweed plant but perched on another plant near the milkweed patch.

I think of this field as ‘nature at its best’. It has had very little human intervention. It just grows wild. We keep some paths mowed around and through it during the summer for walking and riding the 4-wheeler and each fall after the vegetation dies we mow the field. This mowing helps to spread the seeds of plants like the trefoil, clover, thistle and milkweed so over the course of a few years what started out as just a couple of plants has become large patches of that plant.

Fun Pictures

Cattails swaying in the breeze.

Balloon flowers in bloom.

Daylilies and a hidden damselfly.

A closeup of the damselfly.

Believe it or not this is a bluebird house. Over the years we have seen different birds make their homes in the life preservers near our pond. A few days ago my husband mentioned seeing a bluebird fly out of this life preserver. Since then I too have witnessed the bluebird flying out of there. It doesn’t seem to have eggs inside so perhaps just using it for shelter or a playhouse. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are having a great July!

Birds and Bees

Bees, Birds, Reflections

Hello everyone. I just thought I would share a few stories from this past week.

Fledging

Early this spring I watched for several days as a pair of robins flew in and out of our arborvitae bushes carrying building materials. I was hesitantly excited about having baby birds hatched in the bushes that I view from my kitchen window. I say hesitantly because these bushes are not always the best place to support a nest. High winds have a tendency to bend the branches. In past years I have seen eggs that have fallen from a nest under those bushes as well as baby birds that have fallen from the nest and died. Cats that roam the neighborhood also like to hide under those bushes and sometimes climb them.

After watching that pair of robins building their nest this spring they seemed to disappear for a while. I wondered if they had abandoned their nest. It was over a week ago when I noticed the pair coming and going again this time carrying food. I knew there were babies in the nest.

Sunday evening Ruby and Ranger were outside on the deck, and I was sitting at my desk. The window next to me gave me a clear view of the deck, the courtyard and the arborvitaes. Suddenly Ranger and Ruby went running down into the courtyard. As they did two birds came flying out of the arborvitae. One was an adult robin which flew up into the maple tree. The other was this baby which landed in the grass.

I watched it as it sat there for a while just looking sort of confused. Then it began to hop around in the grass. The adult robin stayed in the area observing what was happing with its young one. I’m not sure if it was time for this baby the fledge or if the dog’s sudden movement startled the birds and it accidentally tumbled out. I haven’t seen it around since nor have I seen the parents so I am not certain if this baby lived or not. I have, however, concluded that since the parents did not return, this was the only baby in the nest.

Swarm

Sunday evening my husband was sitting at the picnic table under the big oak tree. He said he could hear a lot of bees buzzing, and when he looked up, he spotted this large swarm of bees that had landed in the oak tree.

He wasn’t prepared to capture them that evening but decided if they were still there Monday morning he would because A) these bees came from our son-in-law’s hive that had survived last winter so they are apparently a hardy breed of bees. B) We had friends from out of state who were coming for a visit and picnic at the farm Monday afternoon, and we didn’t want bees buzzing overhead as we visited and ate.

The swarm was still in the oak tree on Monday morning so he took my camera to get a picture of them before he captured and rehomed them in this hive.

By the time we set up for our picnic only a few bees remained in the area.

Mourning

I think it was Thursday or Friday that my husband told me about a lone Canadian goose he spotted wandering in the field next to our property.

On Saturday when we arrived at the farm the goose was sitting in the grass near the pond. As we and the dogs went about our business we were surprised that the goose did not fly off. He just relocated in an out-of-the-way, wooded area where many of the chickens were hanging out.

He didn’t seem injured or ill but we didn’t see him eating and when my husband offered chicken feed and water he just hissed at my husband. He also hissed at Ruby and Ranger if they got too close. Just a warning that he wanted to be left alone.

When I did some online reading about geese, I found out that geese mate for life and if they lose a mate they will go into mourning, often wandering around looking for their partner. They may isolate themselves and not eat. I suspect that this guy lost his mate. I suspect they were nesting near our neighbor’s pond and his mate, and perhaps babies if they had any, fell victim to a fox. Heartbreaking.

The above picture was taken on Monday. He was still there when we were getting ready to have friends over. I decided to try to get him to leave the beach area since we wanted to be able to enjoy the beach with our company. As I approached the area where he was swimming Ruby came running up as well. When Mr. Goose saw Ruby making her quick approach he instinctively took to the sky. We were very happy to see him fly off. He first flew east then a couple minutes later he flew back over heading west. Hopefully he will join up with a flock and find a new mate.

Thanks for visiting!

The Fence is Finished and Other Things

Bees, Chickens, Chicks, Fencing, Reflections, The Farm

Last week we had, what my husband referred to as, the soft opening. He had completed fencing the perimeter of our property. The only thing left to do was put up the gate across the driveway. Until he could get that done, he made a makeshift gate by using a piece of the fencing to extend across the driveway and clamping it closed.

Difficult to see but there is fence across the driveway.
Front of the property looking east
Front fence looking to the west from driveway.

Putting up the grate took a few days. First my husband rented a post hole digger to make the holes for the wooden posts. Then he had to measure the depth of the holes while putting the posts in and filling in around them with quickcrete (cement). On top of the quickcrete he put stone then topped it with soil. He used a level to assure that the posts were straight. Once they were in place he left them for a few days to let the cement set up. On May 2 he attached the gate to the posts and the project was complete.

From the inside looking out.
From the outside looking in.
The fence in this photo surrounds the front garden. It is not part of the perimeter fence.

All of the rain that we have had in the past week has the ground saturated. We now have pooling water everywhere.

We have a bumper crop of dandelions this year.

Even though we have been wishing for the temperature to hurry and warm up there are some good things about the cooler temperatures.

The apple trees have not blossomed yet thus reducing the likelihood that they will suffer damage from heavy frost or freeze when in bloom.

The forsythias have enjoyed a long bloom time because of the cooler temperatures,

as have the daffodils.

For years my primrose plants have struggled just to survive. Last fall, after learning that primrose like wet soil, I decided to move my plants to a lower area in the prayer garden.

Already this spring they are thriving.

Our old chicken coop is still standing. Tearing it down is on our to-do list but has not yet become a priority. My husband had leaned the old gate from the chicken yard up againt the front of the old coop.

Earlier this week he noticed that a bird, most likely a robin, has built a nest on top of the gate.

I couldn’t see inside the nest while standing on the ground, but I was able to get a look inside by holding my camera up above the nest and taking a picture. This was two days ago, maybe I’ll take another picture today.

On April 23 our bees arrived. We had lost all three of our hives over the winter. We decided to start just one new hive this year.

They have been very busy this week – enjoying the dandelions.

Our old hens are enjoying springtime. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that at least six of the nine are laying eggs. I really only expected that four were still of laying age, but somedays we find six eggs. 🙂

Here’s a cute story: last week while working in the barn my husband found, in a dark corner, a nest with seven eggs in it. One of our black hens has been sneaking in there and laying her eggs. Apparently, she was getting ready to brood some chicks. Sadly, he had to get rid of the eggs because we haven’t had a rooster since last November, so none would be fertile. Perhaps next year, when our new roosters are mature, she will try again.

Our young chicks are enjoying life at the farm as well.

We are experiencing a lovely day today as it seems like are warmer temperatures have finally arrived, so I’m heading outdoors to get some things done. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for visiting.

Lavender In Bloom

Bees, Lavender, Reflections

My sister sent me this meme yesterday.

I replied, “You know me well.” 🙂

Our lavender is blossoming right now.

It takes up a large portion of our prayer garden and is lovely in contrast with the red roses and the yellow evening primrose which are also in bloom.

The lavender is a favorite of the bees.

While the honeybees were indulging as well, the bumble bees were the ones that I could capture in my photos.

I do regret that there is no feature that allows me to share their wonderful fragrance with you over the internet.

Thanks for visiting.

Best Bees

Bees, Carniolan Bees, Reflections

Yesterday when my husband was doing some work with the bees, he called and asked me to share this message for him on my blog.

“The Carniolan honey bees (which are the breed we are raising this year) are the nicest bees.” In the past we have raised other breeds of bees and have found varying degrees of aggressiveness when working in the hives. He has not experienced any aggressiveness while working with these. According to this site their temperament is only one of the favorable traits of the Carniolan bees, but for us much of that remains to be seen. At this point we are pleased with our decision to keep this breed and if they survive though winter we will be thrilled.