Bee update

Sunday, May 1, 2011

We got to fully open and examine the hives for the first time yesterday since we installed the bees. We were able to check and make sure that the queen had been released a few days ago, but today was the first real look to see what was going on, removing each of the frames in our 8-frame deep boxes.

Hive # 1 (the westerly hive, to your left looking up the hill) has seemed much weaker than the other. There's always less activity there and it just didn't seem to be thriving in the way that Hive # 2 is. Hive # 2 is always "buzzing" with activity, and Hive # 1 usually has about 1/3 the amount of action.

We'd worried a bit that we might have released Hive 1's queen accidentally when we were taking out the bee delivery box and queen cage, so we opened up that box first (with quite a bit of apprehension about what we might find). We were so happy to discover that the bees had built out two of the black plasticell frames and gotten a start on another two, and there were eggs and larvae already in development (meaning we still had a queen!). Shortly thereafter, we actually saw her majesty herself on the frame. It was a very exciting moment! (I think she's somewhere in this shot:)

We inspected both hives and, interestingly, both seemed to be about on a par as far as rate of development. I think Hive 1 has less bees overall but their progress is very close to Hive 2. Both hive-top feeders were completely dry, so we made a point to fill them both up so that the bees would have food and support to continue building, until such time as they have their own reserves.

Before we got out there, I was a bit apprehensive and nervous about fully opening and looking at the frames in the hives, but once we did I realized how much I love it and how exciting it is! I could just watch the bees all day - they are amazing creatures.

Here's a great shot (if I do say so myself) of John inspecting one of the frames:



And one of me, grinning like a fool just after we'd seen the queen:

Wildflower walk and bee update

Saturday, April 23, 2011

I went on a wildflower walk this morning with Dr. Holly Scoggins. It was offered through the fantastic local Hahn Horticulture Garden, where I've been spending a lot of time lately in pursuit of my Master Gardener certification.

It was a wonderful walk through a secluded and little-known area protected by the Nature Conservancy. I took a lot of pictures and did my best to capture all of the right names for everything - you can check it out in my Picasa Web Album.


Beekeeping Update:

We opened up the hives today to check and make sure the queen had been released. While Tuesday (the day we installed the bees) went really well and we felt like experts, today reminded us that we're novices and will probably continue to have a lot to learn for years to come.

Both hives had built burr comb between the top feeder and the lower deep (we had a medium super in between so that we could place the bee delivery box and the queen's box in between). We knocked off the burr comb on both hives and took out the bee delivery box, the (now empty) queen box, and took off the medium super body. There was a huge amount of activity as we worked with the hive, and John got his first sting from a bee that went up his pant leg. It was a bit more intimidating than the first day!


At one point I saw a larger bee with a shiny body which I thought might be the queen on one of the pieces of burr comb... A lot of panic ensued and as I tried to "shoo" the bees into the frames with my bee brush, the bees that were there took flight. I was sure that I'd lost the queen. At this point I now realize it was probably just a drone, but it was a grim moment in our beekeeping so far! At the end of the day we realized that the bees will probably be just fine - in spite of us.

Our very own bee movie

Friday, April 22, 2011

Finally got a few minutes to edit down the video of our bee installation (on YouTube) and wanted to share. It's still a bit long (just a hair under 8 minutes), but you get to see us bumble around (ha! get it? bumble?) first and then install the bees for both hives. Enjoy!

Update: Although the info I saw from YouTube said that the video would be available in the US, it appears some folks have had trouble opening it, so I built out a new copy (*sigh*). I had tried to include a version with the awesome music of Muddy Waters' Honeybee (which, interestingly enough, you can find several versions of already on YouTube, including this one), but I had to do it with no added music to resolve the issue.

Pics - Above: the queen in her chariot, er... cage. Below: John and Kyle with one of the packages of bees.

Garden and Apiary Update - PICTURES!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Finally some of the long-awaited pictures! This post will be brief in words, but will give you a better visual on what's going on around the old humble homestead.

Charles and the (empty until next Tuesday) apiary, by our back fence:


Looking back at the house (that's John on the back deck way down there, between the windows and the double doors; our six raised garden beds are to the right):


Tiny leek shoots and cabbage (collards?!). For some reason the "auto" setting on my Nikon washed all of these pics out, so I had to mess with the settings to get anything to show up... Sorry! Learning about how to fix that is something on the "to-do" list, when (if?) some of my other activities slow down!


Those tiny green twigs amongst all the mulch are the Josee reblooming lilacs:


This incredibly unflattering picture (after a long day of gardening) is proof that I did, in fact, try to learn how to fillet a fish:


The final meal - the fish fillets (give or take a little!!!*) with some of the mashed potatoes left over from the Shepherd's Pie (I'd made the whole bag of potatoes up versus saving a few that would start to grow in the pantry), and some garlic steamed broccoli:
This fish has the lovely and romantic name of Loup de Mer, or Wolf of the Sea, also known as Seabass. We compared it's final flavor to Tilapia - this could very well have been poor technique on my part... By the time I finally got done filleting that (those! there were two) poor sucker(s), and having gardened all day, I wasn't feeling terribly creative to go looking for complicated recipes. I wound up sauteing it with onions, butter and lemon juice.


* I'm pretty sure that, while what I was attempting was to fillet the fish, I actually just butchered it. I think we own some pretty decent and sharp knives, but none of ours could get through the thick and slick fish skin without a sawing motion, which I think is probably, combined with my inexperience and lack of overall technique, the kiss of death for a good fillet.

Garden Update

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Time is flying by. I can't believe it is already APRIL! And, with this week (5 weeks before our last frost date (I err 1 week toward the more conservative end of the last frost date window), it is time to plant out the leeks and cabbage that I started from seed back on March 6.

There is something that seems to happen to me every time, maybe you can help me with a suggestion on how to avoid this. It seems that no matter how carefully I make up and situate the tags, I always wind up getting a few of the same type (different variety) of plant mixed in together. The tags are too huge to poke directly into the seed pods I use, so they are laid next to the plants, and this can be confusing when you have a 72-slot planter with 2 Brunswick Cabbages next to 4 Early Jersey Wakefiled Cabbages next to Georgia Southern Collards and Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts (which BOTH happen to look just like the cabbages at this stage, and BTW aren't supposed to be planted out for another 2 weeks). I can tell the two that are the Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage (they're RED!), but the two varieties of green cabbage, I have no idea which is which. Frankly, at this point I just hope I didn't grab the collards or brussels sprouts by accident.

Next year, I'm thinking popsicle sticks stuck into each plant. I had been trying to use one tag per each variety (multiple plants) because the plastic tags are "spendy" (that is so not a term I use but I've known folks who use it and I really like it in a weird sort of way). Popsicle sticks, on the other hand, are a couple bucks for 100, so I can go to town!

I've already started getting everything ready outdoors. It took me a few weeks, but all six raised beds are now weeded, and we just had some dirt delivered to top them off (each year it settles down a bit more into the bed). John took what small amount of compost we had (it wound up being only 1/2 wheelbarrow full or so) and spread it among the beds before the new dirt was added to the top. I planted a Columbine that I bought at the farmer's market this morning, as well as a Johnny Jump-Up that someone had given away at one of the Master Gardener meetings a few weeks back.

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I started the draft above Saturday morning, and BOY, was it a busy weekend! I have pics that I'll upload later.

Transplanted out:
- Cabbages and surely inadvertently some of the collards :p
- Leeks
- Garlic
- Onions

Started seeds:
- Peas
- Collards & Mustard
- Beets

Planted out (plants) - these are the ones I referred to in this earlier post:
2x Lilac (still need to find a home for the last, sad wilty looking one)
3x Knock-out roses
3x Russian Sage
3x Peony

A note about the popsicle sticks to mark plantings - Charlie thinks they are fabulous to chew on, so that isnt' going to work (at least, not out in the garden)! I should have realized this from him doing the same thing last year with the plastic tags. I need to come up with something that he's NOT interested in chewing on to mark my plants. Suggestions?

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BEE UPDATE: We were supposed to be receiving our two packages of bees tomorrow, but received news over the weekend that it's been postponed a week. I'm not super happy about that, because every week is one less week the bees will have to get settled and build up a healthy hive before winter. They need all the time they can get! So, now they're supposed to arrive on 04/19. The good news is, the Apiary are all set up and John put the mulch down around the area, so we're ready for them.

Pics to come, I promise!

Land of the LOST, or, A Visit to the Virginia Tech Apiary

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

We went to the VA Tech apiary on Sunday. We had our final beekeeping class for most of the day Saturday, but it was too cold to open up hives (sleeting, snowing, high in the 40's), so they rescheduled for Sunday afternoon - which wound up being perfect and gorgeous, around 70+ degrees (welcome to Blacksburg!).


We spent Sunday morning staining our brand-new hives here at home (pics later) and then rushed to get to the apiary by 2pm. We actually arrived a bit early and so were able to poke around a bit before everyone arrived. I seriously wondered if we'd entered another dimension. I should probably note that the VA Tech Apiary is actually at a location referred to as the "Virginia Tech Research Center."

We compared it to LOST's Dharma initiative, and we were at the previously undiscovered "Hive" Station. It was as if we'd fallen off the map into someplace where reality was still reality, just with a slightly odd bent to it... I can't really explain it, I just have to show you - even then, maybe you had to be there.

Overview shot:
A little bit of some awesome art we stumbled upon between the warehouses (which I want for my yard):
Large freestanding fireplace with dome at the top of the chimney that is *just* cut off in this pic:

Stairway to... a seating area?


The apiary itself was one of the coolest things ever. Our experience there observing and handling the frames really instilled a much greater sense of confidence for us going into beekeeping. I think there were 30 apiary (apiaries?) set up there, and maybe more. We got to open up, look inside, and handle and learn about the frames of activity within 4-5 of them. After a while (after we'd opened up multiple hives), the bees were flying everywhere - they were so very docile (landing on people at most, never attacking) and it was so interesting to see all of the bees (drones, queens, workers, oh my!) and the different things they do inside the hive.

I'm scared to death (of killing them or being a bad beekeeper), but I can't wait to get our bees in the next week or so!!!

Bees on the brain!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

So much going on lately!! I know, I know, I haven't posted in forever.

John and I went to a beekeeping class yesterday, and today I ordered two packages of bees...! They should be here around the beginning of May. We still need to put our order in for the hives, but we have a bit of time on getting all that together (albeit not too much). We have a fairly large back yard, and are going to set the hives up near the back fence. They'll be a good 100'+ or so from the edge of our back deck, and not too near any of our neighbors, which is probably good!

I'm starting to think about this year's garden. Last year I didn't start anything from seed, but still kept the garden going with a variety of plants bought at various sources. Last years' garden included 32 tomato plants (yes, possibly a few too many), zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, chard, bell peppers, various basil varieties, and two new additions - sweet potatoes and cantaloupe. Both were so easy to grow I don't know why we didn't grow them sooner!

This year's garden plan includes Cantaloupe again, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, winter and summer squash, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, chard, cucumbers, green beans, turnips, cabbage, leek, carrots, and brussels sprouts. Well, that's the untrimmed list! I'm just opening up GrowVeg to plot out the space to see what we will and won't have room for. :)