Beek Pictures and the First Sting.

So we did a thorough checking of the bee hive last week. Here's a few pics of our findings. :)

I did get a little heavy handed with the smoker........... Only 3 of the 10 frames were filled, but they still looked good! Lots of busy bees, brood, and larvae!

Today we opened the hive again so that we could place a bag feeder inside.

so much for the whole - and no one got stung!

and who do you think gets stung???

ME!!

Ingrates!


now i wouldn't have been stung if it hadn't been for the fact that she landed on my shoe and climbed up my pant leg - and me not thinking anything of it brushed at whatever was crawling up my leg....sigh.


It frustrated me, so I had to walk off for a few secs, pull out the stinger, and re-collect myself - and I decided to get my gloves because I originally went without out.

Funny, no veil, no jacket, but I feel safer with those gloves!

So while I was doing that, E slit open the bag feeder for me. I then went to close up the hive.

Freaked out (i know i know dumb!) because there were a bunch of bees (looked like young bees) on the inner cover and like an idiot I dropped the inner cover. (you do NOT want to do this!) a whole cluster of bees in the grass!!

I gently set the edge of the inner cover next to the bees, hoping it would smell like home and they'd crawl on it - and...and...it worked!!!! A couple of bees were still stuck in the grass, so with my glove I gently helped them onto the inner cover, and then we put them back into the hive.

Whew.

But.

the girls must have been hot today, because everyone was at the top of the frames, butts in the air, waving their wings like a thousand little fans.

And no, I did not take pictures.

One gal in particular was pretty mad at me when I picked up the inner cover from the ground - kept flying at my face.

And I was JUST trying to FEED them - although we did take a quickie peek at frame 4, because 3 days ago they were just starting on it. Today, they've got it almost full, and several of the cells had fat little larvae in them! (so Victoria has already visited that frame, too! yay)

So, got it all closed up, worried that I might have squished a couple gals when I put the telescoping top cover on, but I hope not.

Came in the house, and thought something else was crawling in my other pants leg....so I yanked those pants off, shook them out - almost put them back on, chickened out, and pulled a pair shorts out instead

and now - hope I don't have to go back in for another week!

How long do those bag feeders last anyway???

Grandma's Last Gift

My Maternal Grandmother passed away this past Monday, June 20, 2011 at 8:10 pm.

I thought her recognizing me when I saw her last Friday was a precious gift.

And it was.

But it wasn't her last gift.

My Aunt Hazel and Uncle Stephen had come up from TN. Aunt Hazel said she had something to give me before I left. I told her I could only stay for a few minutes because I was in a borrowed car and needed to return it ASAP.

Aunt Hazel ran out to her car and brought in a manilla envelope lined with bubble wrap. She starts out by saying, "Your Grandma started to make this and didn't finish it. I thought you'd like to have it."

I opened the envelope and inside was this beautiful green crocheted baby sweater! Started by my grandmother, finished by my Aunt!

My Aunt went on to tell me that there had been 2 unfinished sweaters - this one she brought to me, and a second one that she finished and sent to her son (my cousin) and his wife - who are expecting their first baby in September, too!

I cried - I couldn't help it. And I had just recently got this beautiful little white dress with little pink and green floral patterns on it - the sweater will go perfectly - and I want Baby girl to wear it home.

Even better, the very first baby item I had purchased upon learning about my pregnancy was a tiny crocheted pair of green booties! I have a pair of tights to match the dress, and a bonnet, so her little coming home layette is now complete - thanks to Grandma's Sweater.

Once Baby Girl has outgrown the sweater, I'll hang it up as decor in her room.

Father's Day - June 19, 2011

Yesterday was a good day.

The kids gave their daddy their cards and a wood and glass birdfeeder - because he likes to feed the birds.

E also had a special visitor yesterday, along with his dad, but I'm not totally sure I am ready to talk about who the visitor was yet.

I'm still adjusting to some things.

Let's just say, sometimes the way we percieve a person, based on things we've been told and not what we've witnessed, aren't always the way the person is.

So, E and his visitor spent some time on the roof of the girls room getting the last 2 pieces of tin roofing in place.

And I got some great pics! (to be shared later)

Today, the flashing goes on.

We had steaks cooked on the grill, mashed taters, and green beans cooked with onions and bacon for dinner.

And lotsa coffee!

E's Dad was down, too, for nearly the whole day.

I think yesterday was the best Father's Day for him yet - if you don't count baby Boy eating all of Daddy's black raspberry pie yesterday morning before we were even out of bed

the kids even played in their kiddie pool, AND completed all their farm chores without much coaxing from us.

Everyone was so exhausted last night, that they just went to bed without prompting - and slept in until 7:30 am today!

It was a great day.

Blueberry Year

I do believe I'm getting more than just 4 Blueberries off my bushes this year. Won't have enough to can, but maybe enough for our family to eat with breakfast!



That pic was of the berry looking parts last month - and they look much more berry-ish out there now! :)

Last month every blueberry bush was blooming (we have about 7 or 8 bushes right now, and we plant 2-4 more every spring)






And this little guy did his part to help out!

Adventures in Beekeeping....

So our journey to the Liquid Gold has finally begun, and unfortunately I wasn't able to check on my hive for 10 days, so that means the bees did their own thing and built up burr comb in the top super instead of in the frames we had put in the bottom super for them.

I love this pic of the girls "standing guard" as we prepared to open their hive!

So a friend came over to help me clean up the mess that the girls built in the top super.

We managed to get everyone into the bottom super with frames, and just completely cleaned out and removed the top super.

We replaced the inner cover on the bottom super and put the telescoping lid on that.

We were not able to save any of the comb, even though we did try to attach it to empty frames. So, sadly, larvae, pollen, necter, and all the honey they've worked hard on in the last week and a half was wasted effort.

I did keep all the comb, though. I plan to look at it all closely, take more pics, and practice looking for signs of eggs.