Avalon1984-Chicken, horses, pigs, oh my!

[Avalon1984]

Congrats on the job!! Change is hard, don't feel bad about the way you feel. Just feel it, and then keep stepping forward. There are things I love and hate about my job, and I know it will be hard to leave, even though I know we'll also be moving on to our own amazing things someday.

The beeswax is beautiful! Is that considered refined? If so, I might be interested in buying some from you when you are ready. If you can work a good deal compared to what I am paying from a local farm, I'd be happy to support you instead!

Hey hqueen13,

I will have to look into the definition of refined. It is certainly special, since wax is usually only made of burr comb, and I used honey comb (which is not recommended because it yields much less wax after all the cleansing) but since I had it and didn't want it to go to waste I used it. Looks pretty nice still. I may have to keep some to myself to melt and prepare new frames so that the bees can draw them out better, but I will certainly let you know how much I have left.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I haven't had the heart to go look at my hive since I discovered that two were dead. I know they need to be moved outside because right now they're still inside the shed where I put them for the winter. The door is wide open and they can get in and out without any difficulty.

The beeswax looks real nice. Are you going to have it for anything specific or are you just going to keep it around in case you decide to make candles?

Changing jobs can be a very stressful experience. I know how it feels when you do it. This is the first place I've ever lived where changing jobs would be significantly more difficult because you never know what's going to happen at the new company. Being in the Navy for all those years, changing jobs was very simple because you work for the same company and you just traveled around quite a bit.
Doing something like that outside of the Navy presents a significantly greater challenge because it not always entails moving yourself but your family and everything you own.

Tell me some more about bait hives. That sounds like a good alternative to driving 300 miles in each direction to go get two new groups of bees.
Saepe Expertus, Semper Fidelis, Frayres Aeterni
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[Avalon1984]

Hey Trim,

Unfortunately it may be a good idea to check on your bees just to be sure you know what is happening. The sooner you can intervene (whether it be cleaning the hive for a new colony, or feeding a weakened hive that made it through the winter) the more of a head start you should have. At least that is what I have been told, this is only my 2nd year of doing this. As far as the bait hives go, there seems to be as many opinions as there are beeks so I read everybodys opinion and applied a little bit of each.

First thing you need to do is locate bees. Like if you see lots of bees around your yard, but they arent yours, that is a great sign. We have a blueberry farmer next door so I KNOW he has bees somewhere. I then used the hive that my dead colony had. I had cleaned the frames of excess wax and honey, but the frames were still dripping a bit. When I put them outside the door for a few hours I had half a colony robbing my leftovers, so I waited till dark, put the dirty frames back into my box, added a cotton ball with a few drops of lemon grass oil (that is supposed to attract them), prepared it like you would do any hive (entrance reducer, top board, etc) and set it out between mine and my neighbors property. And I waited. And then a few days afterward, they had moved in.

I did have another bait hive right next to where the bees I purchased are now, but they just robbed it empty and I need to find a better location for trapping the hives. My beek said they need to be either 1ft or 1mi apart, 1ft didnt work for baiting because of the robbing issue, and I already have the other trap hive 1mi away and I dont have another spot for more baiting right now. I will have to see how it goes. Whatever you do Trim, just make sure you have an excellent location, plenty of honey/sugar water and maybe even some half draw frames. They seem to like moving into a fully furnished apartment rather than starting from scratch. It also appears that now is a good time, it seems that hives that made it through the winter are already ready to split and swarm, because I talked to several people who have already had problems with swarms. So maybe you can find yourself a swarm to attract.

As far as the wax goes, I will have to wait for now. I really wanted to sell it but with the 2 hives, I need new frames which I always cover with a layer of beeswax to make it easy for the bees to start drawing. I may have to use my own wax to melt again and put on the frames. As fast as my colonies are growing I need to get going on ordering more supplies.

 

[SSDreamin]

My rhubarb did poorly this year. It's the first year after transfer, so I'm not worried. My MIL grows it as an ornamental, nobody there eats it, and she's asked me to thin them out for her Up here, we have an Amish lady who writes for the paper, and I have been clipping her rhubarb recipes for the last couple weeks. She makes/cans rhubarb juice! I can't wait to try that! Do the blueberries over by you look good? Mine have been piling on the blooms in this wonky weather! Also got a call from my brother - asking me how much asparagus would I take off his hands for 25 cents a pound (he had a friend whose crop produced like crazy), so I told him every spear he could spare! We planned to put most of our garden in this past weekend, but glad we didn't - had temps below 35 the past two nights! I just can't wait to start growing stuff!

 

[Avalon1984]

I hear you! Asparagus and rhubarb are waaaayyyyy early this year. We have a rhubarb patch in the concrete foundation of the silo next to the barn and I always add chicken manure when I clean, and horse manure. They are producing like crazy. I have some stalks that are more than 1in thick, some almost 2in! Blueberries are blossoming like crazy right now as well, I see the bees stop by and checking ours out. We have a bunch of bushes from the previous owner but I havent had time to cut them back and do all the good stuff. The apples in the orchard may not be good this year, with all the frost. Not like I am harvesting in there yet, again, left over from the previous owner, on my long list of projects to do when I get to it. I started to cut out the way overgrown pear tree in the front yard and I am about half done after 2 years. Ill get to it eventually.

 

[SSDreamin]

Our pears put on a few blossoms, but I don't see fruit developing, so my guess is they won't this year :/ Our apples bloomed late, thankfully, and are putting on so much fruit I'll need to thin them in a few weeks Not bad for trees I just stuck in the ground in an empty spot, to over winter them! Of-course, that means they stay in their weird home until fall, but hopefully I'll have Mutsu's and Gala's to show for it!

 

[moolie]

Hubs can't wait to have bees, but we can't afford to get started yet--some day!

Our rhubarb is early this year as well, and since ours produces well into late July we should have a bumper crop. Hubs doesn't like it, but the kids and I do so we just don't tell him when I've added it to something and he usually doesn't notice.

 

[Avalon1984]

Whew,

thank you all for your posts! I am still in breeding horses mode, just spoke with my breeder. One of my new mares is not coming out of heat, she has been breeding her since last week Wednesday. The max is usually 5-6 days. I told her to stop. I am worried my gal might have a uterine infection. We will have her ultrasounded 6/1 and if she is not pregnant, we'll do a culture on her to be sure. Sometimes, the way things are built...back there... can cause infections. Sometimes, a dirty stallion can, and we don't know how clean the one down south was where she was bred twice and didn't take each time. We had a culture done before the breeding down there and she came back clean, but that doesn't mean much now.

Here are some pictures I took today. My bait hive, the Johnsons are doing great. I cleaned the area around them of dead pine branches and added a sugar water feeder. Some of them had formed a cluster under the landing board for whatever reason, so I switched the entrance reducer to the big setting to see what will happen. My beek said that is ok, especially with a young colony, which is what I seem to be having. He also encouraged me to bait some more, which I will do

The purchased hive, the Smiths are a little bit shy yet, I think it has to do with them having the big old feeder on top already, so they don't have to venture out as much to get their food. I will give them until next weekend and then see how they have done in a hive inspection.

Ransom, my little stud colt dropped his goods, so I am very happy. That means I can use him for breeding next fall. Enjoy the pictures now y'alls

PS. Here is a picture of some of our pastures, and our barn.

 

[Denim Deb]

Nice view!

 

[Avalon1984]

Nice view!

Nice set of weeds too