This hive of Bee's Wes caught a few weeks ago. They hatched out a new batch of workers 2 days ago.
We’ve been having fun with all the hives this year. This one has been a bonus for us, Wes was able to catch these buzzing buddies in one of our Spruce tress before he went to work a few weeks ago.
For those that aren’t savvy on bees here’s a little info. Once a Queen has filled a frame full of new worker brood plus 3 queen cells (only 1 will survive. The first queen to hatch out kills the other 2 queen cells.), and the workers put up the rest of the frames in honey they send several little warriors out in search of a new home. They do this ritual to allow space for the baby boom that will happen a few weeks after the Queen lays her eggs. Once the searchers have located a suitable home the hive swarms, not all the bees will go, but a large percentage will. Watching 10,000 plus bees take flight is an amazing sight. At first they will move to a branch, or side of a house, fence post some structure to regroup and wait for the right moment to fly away. Once on the move trying to keep up with the swarm via the ground is a task for a marathon runner, you don’t know where they’re headed and of course they take a direct air route. But if you can find them or they come to you all the better.
So a swarm of bees is bee expansion at it’s best. The trick of having bees is watching the hive and splitting it before they swarm. That way you can you can keep those bees and make room for the new one soon to hatch.
Now from what I understand hives will swarm from May through August, but you really don’t want them to after mid-July because you want them to have time to gather enough pollen to build up their honey reserves for the winter. A 30-40,000 hive will need 50 to 80lbs of honey to last the winter.
Last week Wes split his largest hive of bees, thanks to his wives intuition…. I woke up one morning thinking about the bees and that it was time to take a look and see how everything was progressing. So I shook my sleepy hubbie and said “Honey wake up it’s time to check the bees…. Come on cutie, bee time awaits…” So Wes doan’s his bee suit and he went and did bee chores and I did critter chores. The previous evening Wes had been preparing other supers and foundations just to be on the safe side so he was all set to do the big split. He figures he pulled 10-20,000 bees from that hive, and we slowly drove them over to Jenns house where the sheep are. Jenn has an amazing amount of flowers and flowering bushes, a bee haven if there ever was one. So 1 new hive that Wes split, and 1 new hive that flew into our laps. We did lose one hive because Wes believes a Phebe ate the queen, but the remaining bees would have incorporated into one of the other hives. So, all is not lost. We still have 4 hives.
This is the largest hive. We figure that there is now after the new hatch 50-60,000 bees in this hive!!!
Momma duck and her baby.
We’ve had many ducklings hatch, but few survive…. Another frustrating year of natural duck hatching. We’re looking forward to having more space once we buy a larger piece of land so we can have a better set up for Momma ducks and their babies. There are a few things we will do differently, 1. is not have a ramp. We inevitably have to catch the ducklings and pop them back into the duck house, Wes teaches them to go up the ramp…. But it’s still hair raising, and time consuming. 2. have removable fencing so once the ducks go broody and set on their nest we will put them in their own pen within the duck pen so than they won’t be bothered by horny guy ducks looking for an easy piece of tail…. Cuts down on Momma ducks stress level.
Incubated ducks so cute hangin with their freinds the layer chicks..
So we made a big decision about this years pigs. Perhaps you’ve noticed we haven’t been talking to much about them. The reason why is that we haven’t gotten them yet. Between the lack of time and money to get them we are now coming up to August pig free, and that isn’t good….
So I called Paul our pig guy yesterday and asked if he would raise them for us. I have no reservations about this because he raises them out doors on pasture, and feeds them the tastiest tidbits that side of Waterville. I know it won’t be the same as us raising them but pretty damb close. So feedback will be very important for this years pork so we know how you likes your pork.
Jack's giving a wink and a knod over his Mothers shoulder
The sweetness of Holly. Don't you want to go up and give her a kiss.
Our last two lambs for the year. Both young ladies and VERY cute. We're thrilled to have them in the flock.
So life on the farm is full and adventerous. We’re headed into August looking ahead to the September Shin-dig and hoping we’ll see you there if not sooner.
