25 years ago when our son was 13 I was looking for something for us to do together. Ended up we got 2 bee hives. We had bees for 3 years then mites hit and we didn’t re-queen. We did it all through a book – Bee Keeping for Dummies. As our son said, “They tell you there are 50,000 bees in a hive but it really doesn’t mean much until the first time you crack a hive. It was really a neat thing to do. I kept the old hives in the barn.
Yesterday 5-22-17 I looked out a window and there was a cloud of bees around the pear tree. Ten minutes later I spotted a swarm about 15 feet up in the tree. I went to the barn and found enough parts to have 1 hive. I cut the swarm down and ended up scooping bees up with my hands and putting them in the hive. Later that afternoon I saw another swarm across the road. I didn’t have any more hive insides (frames) so I called a beekeeper I know and he came and got the swarm. Today I was outside and I saw another cloud of bees going across the yard. I followed them for about 100 yards. They swarmed on a 1/2 inch branch in a shrub at the edge of the woods. I called the beekeeper and got some frames. I snipped the branch and shook the bees into a hive. We now have 2 hives under the apple trees. I am pumped. We all read about bees declining and now I can take care of these 2 hives. If you order bees they cost around $125, so we saved some money. Attached is a picture of the last swarm. Click on it, you can actually see the bees.
Now – an update. On Thursday 5-25-17 I saw another swarm across the road in a Autumn Olive bush. I called the beekeeper and he came and got it. On Friday I found another swarm in the same bush. We had gone to a beekeeping supply house on Wednesday and I had bought foundation so I could make up some frames (insides) of a hive. I didn’t have a bottom or cover so I put them together in about 45 minutes. Unfortunately they look like it. Anyways I got the swarm and we now have 3 hives. Today 5-31-17 I was outside and suddenly I was in a cloud of bees. They were actually bouncing off me. I followed them around the pond and they eventually swarmed in a cedar tree. I called the beekeeper and he came and got it. I was talking to another beekeeper who has 50+ hives. He said he had heard of people who found a couple of swarms in one year in the same area and knew of one person who had found 3. I have found 6! It’s been a interesting week and half. The first 2 hives are doing great. The 3rd hive does not have near the activity going on. I will open up this week end and see how things are inside.
Back in August when a granddaughter was visiting we saw a Painted Turtle laying eggs. That is the only time I have ever seen that. I found out what the gestation period was and marked the calendar. Starting a week before the date I checked 2 times a day. I continued checking for over a week after. Never saw a thing. We had the girls this week end and they asked if the turtles had ever hatched. I said no; Let’s dig them up and see what happened. We dug out a big clump of dirt and took it apart carefully. We found the eggs shells and 7 little turtles about as big around as a nickle. The mother laid the eggs in heavy clay soil and I figure the turtles could not dig themselves out. A couple looked like they were still alive. We put them in the pond and all 7 eventually swam away or crawled up on the bank. The picture is of a 12 year old thumb and a turtle to give you an idea of size. Getting to share this with a 12, 10, 8 and 5 year old was pretty special.
I talked about planting milkweed to attract Monarch Butterflies in the Olivia’s Fence post. This summer I have seen 4 and we saw a pair mating while sitting on the front porch. I planted the first milkweed about 10 years ago and those are the first Monarchs we have seen. We have had more butterflies this summer than I can ever remember. I saw 5 Tiger Swallowtails at one time just last week. I got a photo of 2 of them. Hey – how neat is that!!! Click on the picture and enlarge it!
GARDENING
Now that there is time I am going to try to have the gardens I always wanted. Here you see them being prepped. Total area is 840 sq. ft. I tried to get close to the French Intensive method. That is where the bed are in strips – so you don,t walk on them and create hard pan or packed dirt that the roots have a hard time growing through. Usually with FE you dig down over a foot to loosen the soil. I did not do that in that I went about 6 in. deep. I did mix in leaves to get organic matter in the soil. So I am planting Kale, Arugula, Spinach, Lettuce – Romaine, Buttercrunch, Asian Greens mixed and a Gourmet Blend, Peas, Beans, three varieties of Cantaloupe, Red Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Eggplant, two varieties of Corn, Squash – Zucchini, Butternut, Acorn and Spaghetti, Cucumbers, Tomatoes – Grape, Cherry, Marglobe, Rutgers and Roma, and Beets. So I’ll keep you posted on my success. OK – Time for an update. It is August 14 and we just had our first cantaloupe. Amazing taste. I’ve learned a bunch and next year I will stagger plantings so we can have a continuous supply of lettuce, beans and squashes. It has surprised me how different the varieties of squash taste. I attached a picture taken a couple of days ago. Next year will be even bigger and better.
This is a picture of a fence our 9 year old grand daughter and I made. I planted Milk Weed out by the road in hopes of attracting butterflies. Olivia was visiting last year on the day a guy from the county was mowing and cut down all the milk weed. I was upset and Olivia’s response was – We should build a fence. I said – next year when you visit.
The fence start out as 12 ft long 9 inch wide boards in the barn. We got them down. Cut to 4 ft. lengths – or as Olivia specified – so she could see over them. Olivia was ear plugged and safety goggled. We cut the boards to various widths on the table saw – she took off and stacked. Since the wood was aged Ash we had to drill holes for all the nails. Olivia pounded the one side while I pounded the other. We primed and the Olivia picked the colors. That’s a Sun at the left top. I helped and Olivia used a Jig Saw to form the top. Double click on the picture. The fence has 3 back posts per section with 2 ft rebar drilled 6 in. deep into the posts and then pounded into the ground. That way we can take it in over the Winter. This all took an afternoon and most of the next day. Olivia really stuck with it. She got exposed to Skil saw, Table Saw, measuring, using a square, drilling, hammering nails, Jig Saw, priming, painting and hearing two Grand Parents getting excited over a job well done.
It is Saturday, March 7th and I was in the woods at first light tapping trees. 2 days ago on Thursday morning it was 3 degrees. It got up to 40 today and it is supposed to be 50 on Wednesday. For the sap to run it needs to be above 40 during the day and freeze at night. If it doesn’t get above 40 or freeze at night the sap stops running. My concern this year is they are predicting 4-5 days where it gets to 50 and does not freeze. If that happens and the frost comes out of the ground, the trees will bud and syrup season is over. I took Friday afternoon off to start tapping but the snow in the woods was over a foot deep in spots and my tractor (one in winter chore post) I haul the buckets, pans and other supplies back in could not get through. We also have a John Deere compact diesel tractor that has 4 wheel drive, a front bucket and a back blade. I spent the afternoon clearing a 1/4 mile lane through the woods. I had wanted to hire a kid for the morning but could not get one to help so I had to drill the tap hole – I use a hand brace and bit – pound in the spile and hang the bucket. We make syrup the old fashioned way as you can see from other posts. I put out right around 100 taps spread across probably 10 acres of woods this morning. It is tough carrying buckets, a bucket of spiles, a hammer and a bit and brace. I’ll be sore tomorrow. I bought some buckets at an auction this summer and they had covers. I have not had covers which means when it rains I just dump the buckets. I used a cover for a pattern and a friend gave me a bunch of scraps of metal roofing from a barn roof. I was able to make 80 covers. I did not get them put on today – that would have been just that much more to carry. I went back after dinner and checked. The sap has just started to flow. Hopefully I will collect sap tomorrow.
The sap ran OK Saturday and Sunday then not so good Monday – Wednesday. It is best not to let sap set so I boiled Thursday. I had under 120 gallons so I got just under 3 gallons of syrup. The sap flowed OK again Friday – Sunday and then started flowing like it should Tuesday. I had around 200 gallons of sap so I boiled today – Thursday 3-19. Beautiful day, 40s very little wind and I cut down 3 dead Elms and into 6 foot lengths. That way I could get the wood all the way in my system. Elm burns really hot so the boiling went quick. I got around 5 gallons of syrup in just 1 hour more time than last Thursday.
It has been really cold this year. We heat with wood so we have been using a lot of wood. I loaded wood today. They say that wood heats you several times – when you cut it, when you load it and when you burn it. It was around 20 and the tractor started right up which made the job easier
This Luna Moth showed up on the kitchen screen last night. We generally see a couple of these a year. The bluebirds are back on the bird house and we made 30 gallons of syrup this spring – most ever. Life on the farm is good. Speaking of Bluebirds – I got this picture yesterday. A lot of people don’t know what an Eastern Bluebird looks like so here is a picture. Click on the picture to enlarge.
We had a shower move through this afternoon. The sun started shining right after and my wife said “I’ll bet there is a rainbow”. This was the view out the front door. The one rainbow was complete and you could just see the start of the second. If you click on the picture it will enlarge.
If you look down 2 posts you can see pictures of our Maple Syrup system. Folks claim it looks like we are making moonshine. Eh Eh. I boiled 3-5, 8,9 and 10. On the 9th one of the blocks holding up the pans broke and I lost 90 gallons of sap and was done for the day, so I have really boiled 3 times. We have gotten 9 gal 1 qt so far. It rained Thursday through Sunday. I do not have covers for the buckets and the temperature stayed warm and the sap was not flowing so I did not hang the buckets. I rehung on Monday morning. I went back today and only had about 15 gallons of sap. The sap is not flowing and has a greenish cast to it so the syrup from it will be dark and have a strong taste. If I do not do better tomorrow we will be done for the year. It was a great day to be back in the woods. The wild flowers are starting to peak through and I saw a small (14 inch or so) Garter Snake.
I spent most of today trimming fruit trees. I like to keep the trees trimmed so you can pick the fruit without a ladder.
Here you see some of the trees with all the trimmed branches underneath them.
Uncategorized | admin May 23, 2017 | 
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