Category Archives: Bees

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.

Turning The Corner

Apple Blossoms, Bees, Gardening, Lilacs, Reflections, Sisters

As we turn the corner toward summer I’m going to back up into May and share some of the things that I didn’t get a chance to blog about as they were happening.

MOTHER’S DAY

Sunday, May 8th was the perfect day for the Mother’s Day picnic we had planned at the farm. Before going to the farm, I took a short walk in our back yard to see if the trilliums were coming up in the woods. My mom loved trilliums and each year on Mother’s Day I look for the trilliums because they are normally in bloom. This year they were not.

All of our spring blossoms are running about two weeks later than normal this year due to cool and wet weather conditions. Our cherry tree was full of blossoms the week of May 8th and buzzing with pollinators. Last year on April 21st I blogged that our cherry tree was blossoming, and we were worried about freezing temperatures that were in the forecast.

My two youngest daughters came out for the picnic. They brought me this t-shirt from all four of my girls.

Love you girls! 💞

RAISED GARDEN BEDS

I had mentioned in a previous post that we decided to plant some of our garden in raised beds this year. With prices skyrocketing, buying lumber to use as garden beds was not an option.

We decided to use something that we had on hand and were not using for anything else -barrels.

My husband cut the barrels into various sizes.

The portions that had a bottom in them he also drilled weep holes to allow for drainage.

We put paper bags on the ground before placing the barrel pieces in place. This will keep weeds from growing up around the garden beds. After we placed the beds in place we added a layer of pea gravel to help with drainage. We then added our soil mixture which included some topsoil and sand.

The tomatoes were planted deep in the barrel to help protect them from the elements.

They continue to grow upward, reaching toward the sun.

Marigolds are said to help protect against various pests so we planted some with tomatoes and peppers.

We also planted green bean, beet and carrot seeds – they have begun to sprout. Some of the beds are awaiting the arrival of our new strawberry plants.

OTHER GARDEN NEWS

The cabbage that we had planted in the ground, earlier in May, is looking good,

as are the potatoes.

This past weekend my husband finished planting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. He has also planted sweet corn, a patch of buckwheat and a patch of alfalfa.

The garlic is up and looking good.

My husband finished up the blueberry patch. It is now robin-proof (we hope). Bring on the berries!

The apple trees blossomed and are now making fruit.

IRRIGATION

This pump is placed in the pond to pump water out. It is run by the windmill.

I don’t remember what day it was when my husband put the pump in the pond (sometime in the first half of the month). I do remember that, in my opinion, the water was not warm enough to be in.

I think my husband agreed.

One hose connects from the windmill to the pump. It pumps air into the pump when the windmill turns. Water comes out another hose that is connected to the pump. We run that hose into a tank like the one in the picture below.

These tanks are raised above ground level and a garden hose is connected to a spigot near the bottom of the tank. When we open the spigot gravity feeds the water though the garden hose, so we are able to water our plants.

BEES

We are not the only ones who have busy. The hives are all very active. After my husband removed the feeders and added new boxes, he said this is the nicest breed of bees he has ever worked with.

BEAUTY

When I left for my vacation the forsythia were still blossoming.

When I returned the lilacs were blossoming.

Their beautiful fragrance carried in the wind.

(I didn’t get a picture of them, but the trilliums were also blossoming at that time.)

My husband discovered these mushrooms growing near the prayer garden. While they look much like a morel, we are not mushroom savvy enough to try them. We decided just to let them be.

WISDOM

Lastly, I wanted to share this message. It’s what my sisters call tea bag wisdom. Some brands of herbal teas print inspirational messages on the tags that are attached to the tea bag. I received this message on my tea bag about a week ago.

Thanks for visiting.

Are you doing any gardening this year?

Are you ready for summer?

No Mow May

Bees, Reflections

Our first dandelions have started to blossom so I thought it would be a good time to tell you about a pollinator conservation campaign that I recently learned about. It’s called No Mow May. According to Bee City USA “No Mow May is a conservation initiative first popularized by Plantlife, an organization based in the United Kingdom, but which is gaining traction across North America. The goal of No Mow May is to allow grass to grow unmown for the month of May, creating habitat and forage for early season pollinators. This is particularly important in urban areas where floral resources are often limited.”  (Click link to learn more.)

Now I’m guessing that there are a whole range of responses to this – from people who would love any excuse to not have to mow the lawn for a whole month and those who will be happy not to spend the money on gas for the lawn mower, to those who would never consider not having the perfectly groomed lawn. Even if you are in the latter group the Bee City article is worth reading. It offers alternative ways to support pollinators such as planting flowering lawns (I love this idea), planting flowering trees and bushes or planting patches of native wildflowers. It also tells of a study done in Massachusetts that found that mowing every other week seemed to be as beneficial, if not more, than mowing every three weeks. That’s good news for those who, like me, think that letting the grass grow for a whole month is a bit too extreme – every other week’s not that bad.

Being a beekeeper, people often mention to me their concern about the decline of bees. However, they often don’t realize that honeybees are not the only pollinators that are in jeopardy. The difference is that honeybees are the pollinator that we humans attempt to manage. It’s not necessary to be a beekeeper to promote the wellbeing of pollinators. Simply creating a pollinator friendly environment will help.

Thanks for reading.