Spring has arrived

Hi again!
I had started a new post back in April....but it was kind of boring so decided not to upload it.  But i will give you a bit of a idea what was going on during those times.
April 21
We had replaced all the broken insulators and re-tightened the fence. We then dug the battery out of the basement and hooked up the electric fence.
April 27
The girls had found their first bit of pollen. This finally made things feel like spring was on its way. By the end of the month a lot of the snow had melted.
May 1
With April behind us and most of the snow gone, we could finally get into the bee yard and start building the new hive stands. We had decided on a simple design and got to work.

Digging post holes for the stands

As you can see from the photo, we brought the Bob Cat in within a few feet from the front of the hives. We worked out there digging post holes and hammering and banging around and the bees paid us no attention. They carried on with their search for pollen to fill their combs for the brood. 

Moving day

Once the stands were built it was time to tear apart the hives and transfer them into their brand new homes. I was so happy to get them off that nasty old stand where the melting snow had saturated the bottom board and it was a nasty wet mess inside the hive. I felt so bad for them but was glad they had survived. Lesson learnt, we won't have solid bottoms on our stands again. The girls once again tolerated us disrupting them and not once did we get any warning shots on our faces. They were pretty calm. 

Hive stands complete and girls in their new homes

                                      

New strawberry bed on the left, filled containers in the centre. The old hive boxes will be planted with Peas.

Now that the bees are all settled in, we started getting a little vegetable "garden" done. We won't have time to build the greenhouse or set up a permanent garden this year so opted for throwing a few seeds in some old containers. I decided to set them in the bee yard since there is lots of room still. So we got that done the other day. We also had transplanted the strawberry plants  into a new bed. . So hopefully the bee yard will be full of fruit tree blossoms and lots of flowers from the vegi's soon. Its going to be such a great place to bring a cuppa and just sit and relax. 

Well, i hope everyone is doing good and staying healthy. Take care, chat again soon.

Dining room or Work shop

April 14 2020
Well since talking last time, the weather hasnt really improved much. We have had a couple nicer days, but then today it rained. However the snow is finally starting to go.
I had given up the idea of painting the new hive boxes in the workshop, so we brought them to the house. What better place to paint than in the kitchen...right. So i stacked 9 deeps in the middle of my tiny kitchen and got them painted. Somehow i managed to make meals and do dishes with 9 boxes in the middle of it all.

The next day, I went back over to the work shop and grabbed some lids.  I was concerned they weren't going to fit the new boxes because most of our older boxes were homemade and slightly different sizes. But they were all good. So i slapped some paint on them too.
Then I decided while i had time i should get some swarm boxes ready for "just in case". Once i can get in the hives to see how they wintered over and how big the colony's are, I will need to decide if I have to do some splits. So I wanted to be prepared in case one of them swarm before i get to them. So I rummaged through our stash of Nuc boxes and found 2 really nice ones with actual bottom boards and openings at the front, the only thing we need to make is lids. We brought those 2 to the house as well and gave them a paint job.

Its a good thing we hardly sit at our table, especially now with no company coming for coffee or dinner. Because there is no room. We can get to the coffee makers and into the pantry cupboard and thats about it. hahahaha
So now the dining room is stacked with 9 deep boxes, 2 nuc boxes, entrance reducers and 5 outside covers. Oh and lets not forget my Kitchen Aid mixer that is sitting on the table waiting for the parts to come so we can put it back together. Its probably a really good thing we are self isolating right now or i would be really embarrassed at the condition of our house.

Anyways I hope everyone is hanging in there and staying safe. We will. get through this somehow and come out the other side a little stronger. 

Take care everyone. Talk to you soon.

Is anyone out there.......

March 24, 2020

     I have lost track of how long its been since we started self isolating....but it’s been weeks now.
You know, living in a small town a lot of us are use to isolation. We are prepared to some point and are use to not seeing anyone for days. Although....i do really miss having coffee with some of our neighbors.

     Since the last time i wrote...the world has gotten even more crazy. Anyways i am trying not to think or talk about it, i like living in my happy little bubble. However i don't like the idea of not being able to get things like flour or sugar. That is a little unsettling.

     To keep us busy, James and I have been ticking off lots of projects. With the winter that just won't end and Covid 19, we have time, so why not.

     On one of our last sunny day with a high of +6C we went over to the bee yard and removed all the winter entrances, cleaned out the dead bees and put the entrances back on. I popped off the lid of the attic box and moved the insulation aside and peaked down thru the screened hole. I could see bees eating on the candy board. I then decided to remove the screen and squeeze pieces of fondant down the hole and press onto the candy.  I wouldn't risk going any deeper as its just too cold still. So I was content to know all 3 hives were still alive.

     So what else have we been up too. We have pretty well finished the bedroom. For many years we laid in bed gazing at the pink insulation and vapor barrier. So i was so very thankful to finally have walls and ceilings. Our loft is under the eaves so that and the fact when the Church was built i don't think they had levels or squares. So we needed to find a creative way to deal with imperfect walls and ceilings. We settled on 1x6's. I got to say it turned out great. I don't need a fancy house, with perfect drywall, i just don't want to watch a mouse run thru the insulation and vapor barrier while lying in bed. That project took the longest, as we could only bring home a small amount of boards at a time as we didn't have the room to store them all. So we would do 50 inches then wait until we went to town again. But its done yaaaay. We also completed finished the upper Bell Tower. It turned out awesome....we think. Its only about 8x8 but such a nice place to sit and have a cuppa and gaze over the "estate".

Upper Bell Tower Face lift

April 3

     Wandered over to the bee yard and popped off the outer lid of the hives, pulled back the insulation pillow and tucked a frame of capped honey and a little bowl of bee pro in each hive. We were in and out in less than a minute. I saw and heard all of the hives inside munching on their candy board still. So i feel good being able to give them honey and some protein.

April 8

    We decided since it was the warmest day we have had since Oct, the bees might be out flying. So we went over and sure enough there they were. One of the hives which hadn't come out much on the other nicer days, were out in full glory. The snow was brown from them doing their cleansing flights. The looked like they came through winter really well. So hopefully all the queens have made it. But its still a little cool yet to go inside.

    Ok i am going to end it there....or this will become a long boring book. Hopefully the next blog will have more bee news and pictures of the fence repairs we have to make before the bears come out. 

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Take care.......Lyn

One very active hive!

Look....grass!!!

The snow is starting to disappear!

Crazy times.

March 17 2020
The world is a little crazy these days. With the Covid 19 scare right now, businesses are closing, meetings are cancelled and public offices are warning people to stay at home if possible. Self isolation and keeping a safe social distant are the latest terms everyone is using.

James and I went to town today, a small town of  about 600 people. It has 1 grocery store, a hardware store and numerous other little businesses.  We weren't going to go to town anymore for a while but ended up having a Dr appointment, (NO... we don't have Covid 19) so figured we would pick up a couple things at the hardware store and some grocerys.

The shelves in the grocery store were sparse. Tues is the day the truck comes in with groceries....but not today. So no fresh or frozen vegis, no frozen fruit, no milk or yogurt. I hadnt ever seen it that empty before. It suddenly made all of this craziness a little more real. I grabbed what i needed and left.

Tomorrow i plan on airing out my head and try to leave the stories of Covid 19 behind for a while, and wander over to the bee yard. We still have an unbelievable amount of snow, but the days are finally starting to warm. Our temperatures are still dropping at night but during the day we are getting some melting happen. I want to clean off the top of the hives...and hopefully try to shovel more snow away so the melt doesnt run towards the entrances. I want to remove my winter entrance covers and put on the regular ones to its easier to clean out the bottom of the hives.

I miss hearing the constant hum of a happy hive and i am slightly envious of videos and pictures people are posting of their bees flying around collecting pollen already. But i know our day will come soon enough. I will be happy just to see that each hive made it through the winter and can begin to build up their colonies.

March 18 2020
Visited the bees this afternoon and as i walked over there, i uttered a little prayer "Please bee alive, please bee alive".
As i approached the fenced area i saw the odd bee flying around. It was funny, as i walked through the fence, i had 2 bees fly up to me, like to say....Hi, we made it. I was so happy.

 I decided to chip off the 2 inch thick sheet of ice off the plywood i had over their lids and the last of the snow off the top as well. No bees came out of the hive next to the active one. So i went to the third one and cleaned the roof and the entrance. I then walked back to the second one and still nothing. Since it was upwards of 8C i decided to do a quick peek through the attic box. I lifted the lid, peeled back the insulation and there they were on the candy board below. I have a screen on the opening of the inside cover so i could see them quite clearly through it and also heard them. 2 down 1 to go. So then i went back over to the third hive and by this time  they were  mulling around out front. Phew...i was so happy to see all 3 hives were alive and well.

So i guess for now, James and i will hunker down and self isolate and perhaps to break up the day, make a coffee and wander over and visit the bees. At least they don't practice  the "safe social distant" thing. They have no problem coming up invading your personal space.....

March 18 2020

snow is starting to melt

Is it Spring yet?

Well, we have made it. March has arrived. We have made it through what every beekeeper considers the worst month ever....February. With a bit of luck our bees made it too. 

March is when cabin fever can set in and we all tend to get a little batty or anxious to get going on outdoor projects. The tomato plants need to be started and you get the urge to work in your garden. But then reality sets in as you look outside to the thick blanket of snow still lying on the ground. And the only sign of your garden is the 10in of fence posts sticking out of the snow.

For us beekeepers...we want to open the hives and check to see if we left our girls enough food to keep them going until the pollen arrives. But sadly, the thermometer says its only 5C and there's a cool wind blowing. But for me...i just have to believe that i gave them enough food to take them through until the warmer temperatures arrive.

But if you really really need to do something, there are a few things you can do to get ready for the upcoming beekeeping season. Here are a few things that may help you get through the cabin fever:

1.    Start putting together new frames and foundation.

2.    Repair old woodenware or if need be, pick up new boxes and assemble and paint them

3.    Swarm season (in June) comes up fast, so why not prepare some swarm traps.

4.    If you make your own pollen sub patties, now is the time to do that.

5.    Prepare candy boards or syrup. To have on hand when it warms up enough to add them in.

6.    Read over last years notes.

7.    Repair any tears in your veil, wash your bee jacket, clean up your tools.

8.    Remove the entrances and clean out any debris and dead bees that died over the winter

Wow....i have a lot to do. Enough rambling on...i better go build some new boxes and get them painted. 

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February Ramblings

I feel like Spring should be coming. The days are getting longer...and last week I ordered some bees. Today I  was thinking how i should go over to the workshop and dig out a few more new hive boxes to paint. But when i wandered over there....i see no one gave Mother Nature the memo about Spring. The snow is still quite deep, half way up the door. So painting will have to wait.

Hives stands we will build this year

 It also got me to thinking what else we will need before the new bees arrive. I heard from a friend that the old outside covers we have don't fit the new hive bodies...i just hope we can plane them down a bit to make them fit, so we wont have to buy new ones right now. I also need new inside covers. We are trying to update all our really old equipment. The problem was the new frames wouldnt fit the old boxes, they would end up sliding down inside the boxes and the bees would get really creative with their comb, so come this spring the bees will be moving into their new digs.
Another new thing for us this year, are hive stands. They will be similar to the one below. I am really looking forward to using them instead of pallets. We have always used pallets with plywood on top. But when it rains the water just sits on it and can sometimes make the bottom of the hive wet. And also it gives a nice perch for the likes of that nasty bee eating bird that was hanging around our hives last summer. So the new stands will be great.

Today after waking up to another 7 or 8 inches of fresh snow, i waited until it stopped and wandered over to the bee yard to check on the girls.  After trudging thru the new snow armed with a brush and snow shovel....i arrived to a nice surprise. The large overhangs on the hives kept most of the snow away from the entrances. A quick sweep and they were all set. But its getting harder to get rid of the snow in front of the hives. Under the raised pallet stands, its completely full of snow, so now i have to shovel it off to the side. A few of the girls briefly came out for a visit, then dive bombed into the snow. I spent the next few minutes rescuing them and putting them back inside the entrances, so they could live another day.
Anyways, i am getting excited for warmer days and opening up the hives to check on their food supplies. I am hopeful they still have lots left but always feel better when it warms up enough to take a look.
But for now......i have to sit back and wait.

It may take a while yet for all
 this snow to go

Its a new year

Happy New Years Everyone!
     Although i never make New Year resolutions, i always say to myself...you got to make this the year you do better and have some fun. Everyday you are getting older and you are the only one who can make changes and better your life. So as usual......this is it....this is the year!
     This year like last year, will be a busy one. But i am still hoping we can still sneak away and go on a little road trip to visit some bee people and their apiaries.

Bee yard in the snow

     We just came out of a very cold snap. And although it only lasted a week, it felt like forever. We haven't seen -40C for years now and it was brutal. Our house proved that we have a lot of work to do this year to make it warmer. The 1950's insulation and single pane windows gotta go. But we already planned those changes anyways but we didn't really think this "new to us" wood furnace would suck at heating this place so badly.
     So while we were clustering inside our house, all that everyone was talking about was...how their bees were doing. The cold lasted almost exactly a week and stayed between -30 to -40C.  Come Sunday the temperature began to rise and we hit zero.
I wandered over to the bee yard uttering a prayer all the way...please let me see life, please let me see life. And i did. One bee came out to say hi. There was sign that the other ones had made it too. So hopefully all going well, we will have bees this spring. But on the safe side i did order 1 more package of bees.

Having fun at -30C

So whats new for us this year, we are hoping the bees survive and if need bee we will maybe be able to do a split or two and expand out a bit. I am hoping we may be able to plant a couple more fruit trees in the bee yard. All going well the new trees we planted last year did ok during the winter. So as far as the bees goes thats about it, but with our place....there is tons going on. Hopefully the new windows will be installed and the new insulation and siding will be going up. We are planning a small addition on the back of the house which will house a summer kitchen and living area. Then of course replenish the firewood. The dream of a greenhouse and garden this year will be on the back burner until we get the real important stuff done first.
So another busy year for us. Well thats about it for now. Chat again soon.