Our Bee man arrived earlier this week with our "Foster" bee's. It was so exciting to see so many bee's up close and personal. All that buzzing rhythm they make is rather soothing. They cooperated enough for me to see a drone and a worker bee up close and personal. Amazing!
Then it was time to cork the Queen cage with a mini marshmallow. It had a cork in place to prevent the queen from being released until the hive is ready. Once the bee cage is set in the top hive, It is ready to initiate the introduction ritual of the Queen. By placing the marshmallow in place of the cork, this allows the bee's to become familiar with the queen as they eat away at it and accept her as their own.
Introducing the Queen Bee of our little Homestead:
All has gone very well with the hive. The rain has kept me away from our Magical Hill that houses the gardens and bee hive, along with this bum foot. But in the mean time, I am stripping the wax from the old frames and dreaming of the candles, lip balm and salves we will make with all the wax.
This frame was rather interesting to the children and they begged for me not to strip away the wax and let them hang it up in their room. They're so goofy. So I let them take a picture instead.
I spent yesterday at Tuesday's house, helping what little I could in her garden beds.( remember- bad foot- dropped bee hive.. badly bruised...) A shared friend "K", who I have yet to come up with a name for, Came by and became our main accomplice. We brought our seed box's for each other to look through and share seeds. We swapped plants and overall had such an enjoyable day, I was sad to see it end.
I brought home some massive Lovage, peppermint, tulips (I think...), and a few rose cuttings from my grandmother's rose bushes. I am starting them to later plant at her grave.
I was so excited that K had a soup/drying bean called yellow Indian woman bush bean. I was fortunate to get a share of seed to grow in our garden this year. It is so exciting for me to have K to speak with about heirloom seeds. She is interested in the old ways as I am, which makes for some fun conversations.
I have 3 goofy gals sitting in 1 nest box trying to go broody..I will try to evict the extra sitters and ensure me more then 1 egg a day... What a site. Best news of all is that Fernie and Chia are getting along better then I ever expected. Now, if you have been reading long, you would know Chia thinks she is the Prima donna. But I have a feeling being the only goat for 6 months and having just chickens as your friends have changed the attitude. They even eat from the same container with no gang wars! I am shocked, yet so very happy she has become friends.
DONT FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY, FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BAR OF GOATS MILK SOAP!
Best of luck~there are 5 days left until the contest will end.
Sweetest dreams,
~Tammie
Then it was time to cork the Queen cage with a mini marshmallow. It had a cork in place to prevent the queen from being released until the hive is ready. Once the bee cage is set in the top hive, It is ready to initiate the introduction ritual of the Queen. By placing the marshmallow in place of the cork, this allows the bee's to become familiar with the queen as they eat away at it and accept her as their own.Introducing the Queen Bee of our little Homestead:
All has gone very well with the hive. The rain has kept me away from our Magical Hill that houses the gardens and bee hive, along with this bum foot. But in the mean time, I am stripping the wax from the old frames and dreaming of the candles, lip balm and salves we will make with all the wax.
This frame was rather interesting to the children and they begged for me not to strip away the wax and let them hang it up in their room. They're so goofy. So I let them take a picture instead.
I spent yesterday at Tuesday's house, helping what little I could in her garden beds.( remember- bad foot- dropped bee hive.. badly bruised...) A shared friend "K", who I have yet to come up with a name for, Came by and became our main accomplice. We brought our seed box's for each other to look through and share seeds. We swapped plants and overall had such an enjoyable day, I was sad to see it end.
I brought home some massive Lovage, peppermint, tulips (I think...), and a few rose cuttings from my grandmother's rose bushes. I am starting them to later plant at her grave.
I was so excited that K had a soup/drying bean called yellow Indian woman bush bean. I was fortunate to get a share of seed to grow in our garden this year. It is so exciting for me to have K to speak with about heirloom seeds. She is interested in the old ways as I am, which makes for some fun conversations.
I have 3 goofy gals sitting in 1 nest box trying to go broody..I will try to evict the extra sitters and ensure me more then 1 egg a day... What a site. Best news of all is that Fernie and Chia are getting along better then I ever expected. Now, if you have been reading long, you would know Chia thinks she is the Prima donna. But I have a feeling being the only goat for 6 months and having just chickens as your friends have changed the attitude. They even eat from the same container with no gang wars! I am shocked, yet so very happy she has become friends.
DONT FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY, FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BAR OF GOATS MILK SOAP!
Best of luck~there are 5 days left until the contest will end.
Sweetest dreams,
~Tammie
8 comments:
Foster Bees , love that idea. I hope to have bees in the future , how wonderful to have someone to teach you about beekeeping.
Those heirloom beans sound interesting , can't wait to see how you do with them.
~Happy Mom's Day~ JoyceAnn
that was a fun post. i love girlfriends! they are essential, although not superior to sisters but damn close.
The seed sistas!
Love the bees update....but where is the pix of the hunky bee keeping guy? he is gorgeous!
I got the envelop yesterday!!! My roomies are very bad about checking the mail lol. Thank you so very much. Bill says thank you too.
Everything sounds so great. Well, broody hens aren't "great", I guess *ha!* but just the whole thing...garden, bees, hens. Sigh. :)
You are doing it all! Way to go, I love it.
BTW, I have a half full can of the green barn paint, but there is no name or tag on it. I can send you a chunk of the barn if you would like! I don't know how to give you my email address, or if you want me to send you the color somehow. Let me know.
~Hey don, just a chunk? Shoot.. just put that baby on a flat bed and send it my way! LOL.
~Denis, It still amazes me how far we have come with this. I am so content just playing out there with our little eco world, I hate going out.
~Steph, I am so very sorry about the tardiness. rememebring an envelope in the store is hard when toting 3 kids who hate grocery shopping. Enjoy!
~Frannie, I love you... LOL. I will do my best to get a great shot for ya the next time his "Bee Hunkiness" comes out. Your so cute.
~P.B, I have no sisters but Tuesday is married to my cousin who is like my brother. He grew up at my grandma's house and that is where we spent every day growing up. I have no other friends. It seems, as The Captain calls it, I am "abrasive". I think I am rather cool but honesty seems to be a problem with other people. Most can't take it. I grew up with brothers and always had guys for friends. The girls just can't take my ways.
~Joyceann, I am still fighting those goofy gals. I have to go out & boot them off that nest every other hour. I will have to come up with a system to keep them out of it. Darn hens! I can't wait to grow those beans and hope I have some to share with you guys this fall. If I ever grow anything that would be of interest to any of you, just let me know to save some seed for you and I will be sure to put a row's amount (10-15 seeds)aside when harvesting. I came up with the Foster Bee title, so remeber you read it here first. LOL.
congratulations on the bees! i know you're a busy farmchick and all but if you feel like it, check out my blog cause i tagged you! :)
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