Harbingers of Spring

I don't know about the weather in your neck of the woods this winter, but I certainly have felt deficient in the Vitamin D department lately. Here in Tennessee, we are having much more distinct seasons than I remember growing up. We used to only get snow that actually covered the ground twice a year, if that, and never enough to really sled on. In recent winters, the school children have had so many snow days, they have been working at their studies later in the summer than normal. Accumulations of snow are happening often enough that my neighbors are actually learning to drive in the stuff. One of the results of all this wintery winter is that Tennesseans are in desperate need of Vitamin D. 

From the National Institutes of Health: 

Vitamin D is also known as the "sunshine vitamin" because the body manufactures the vitamin after being exposed to sunshine. Ten to 15 minutes of sunshine 3 times weekly is enough to produce the body's requirement of vitamin D. 

Yesterday and today were a really nice break from the normal winter stuff. The weather has been gorgeous, with clear skies and temps in the mid-60's. I've been able to tend the fence some. Today I re-stretched a section that was looking a little saggy. Next, I have a new gate to hang and a string of barb wire to put around the top. These repairs and upgrades will happen over the next few weeks, in anticipation of stocking TRF with a new herd of goats. 

Today's photos are from a long walk around the farm. I tried to look for colorful things, the first signs of spring. In the order of appearance: Berries on a thorn bush, a vibrant patch of moss, a shoot of honeysuckle, an extreme macro shot of the buttercup patch, and the single deepest post hole I've dug. 

I hope you have been able to catch up on your Vitamin D production, and I hope the worst of winter is past us all. Here's looking forward to a productive season on the farm. 

Dog days are early... This stuff is for the birds...

Many of you are local, and know the weather here on the Farm was really hot the past week or so. Like August hot. I'm still working on the place a little at a time. I've been able to move around some brush, and burn some off. Somehow chainsawing and dragging limbs and logs, etc, just doesn't seem picturesque to me. So I don't take pictures of that work. I've also feared for my camera, with the amount of sweat my body produces on these hot, hot days. Maybe I should invest in a watertight case for it?

It won't be long before I bring the tractor over for a day of good dirty fun. The space on top of the hill that I bush hogged this spring are about knee deep with grass and weeds. And some poison ivy, if I'm being honest. Part of the goal of clearing brush from the hill is to open up more parts of the hill for bush hogging. So I will probably put off renting the tractor as long as I can stand it.


So far this spring and early summer, I have marveled at the wildlife on Tennessee Renaissance Farm. I gave it a whole post not long ago, and that just scratches the survace. Here's another example: the woods are apparently so full of birds that they are forced to nest on my back porch, in my hammock chair. I suppose they can stay a bit. My Mom thinks they are sparrows, but I've only see the beak and eyes of their mother, so I can't say I'm sure at all what type of birds they are. These two photos were taken 3 days apart, which explains why the chickies in the first one are naked (one still hadn't hatched, at that point), and in the next photo, they have that little fine chickie fuzziness on them. Using the macro setting on my camera so far has let me get close enough without scaring Mama away.

For now, the heat has broken, and the daytime seems almost pleasant, at 92 degrees, Fahrenheit, and only 88% humidity.

Good and bad.

Today I checked the beehives from top to bottom. Meagan, Taylor and Emily are all busy with activity. This is the bees' prime season. I could see all three hives are developing well. Emily seems to have more honey put up at this time. Taylor has more baby bees. Meagan has a balance of brood and pollen and honey. All three are disinterested in the syrup I was putting out for them. They strongly prefer real natural nectar and pollen that they gather themselves. The Gentleman Farmer can understand that feeling. It won't be long until Meagan and Emily need to expand like Emily already had. So far, I'm very proud of all three of these hives. My knowledge is admittely limited by my experience, but all signs point to good things.

You'll notice Hive #4 so far is not included in today's update. Hive #4 was started with a queen that ended up being extra. Instead of just letting her die or releasing her to probably die, I attempted to put her with some bees from Emily and start Hive #4. Today there was no life in the hive. Regulars here will know that I have nursed it along as best I could. I don't know if the queen was possibly damaged in shipment, or the amount of bees that stayed with her in the hive just weren't enough to make a go of it. In any case, I'm saddened.

My niece Meagan (not the hive of the same name) built a sweet birdhouse in shop class and donated it to the Tennessee Renaissance Farm. She chose its spot, and I installed it today. I meant to ask her what type of birds might nest in this box, but so far I haven't. With so many birds on the farm this spring, it won't be long before I get a definite answer.

I also weeded the garden this evening and I'm trying to decide where to put the berry bushes that I've been buying on clearance lately. I should get them in the ground Tuesday.

To the people who are reading and interacting with me on this blog: I really appreciate your encouragement. Some of you have written from countries The Gentleman Farmer had to look up on the atlas. Your moral support, curiosity and friendship all encourage me to keep on working and improving the farm.

Today's Photos:

• Emily has this frame almost 2/3 full of honey.
• Click on this photo to see it in full size. In some of the cells, you can see larvae in advanced stages of development, just before they are to be capped by the nurse bees and finish their final stages of growing into little bees. (The dark spots on some of the larvae are their eyes.)
• Capped brood on the left, larvae in the middle cells, and eggs toward the right. Some of these eggs are late in development, on the in-between stage between egg and larvae. Also click on this photo to see it full-size. These are good examples of nice, healthy bees. Their wings are almost clear and they have that really fine fuzz all over them. Fuzz is one way to distinguish bees from similar-looking hornets.
  
• Meagan's bird house.
  

A walk on The Farm

So on my day off today, I did not work outside. Two days in a row of fencing last week was enough for now. Domestic chores were calling. A couple of them got done.

This afternoon, I took a stroll around the farm and I was just amazed at the richness of nature that is already here on the farm. I spotted wild rabbits, a red squirrel, five kinds of birds, dragonflies, four wildflowers in bloom and some warm sunshine. It's overwhelming and it's gorgeous.



I just don't have the words to express the privilege of living here on this earth and at this time. I don't have much to say about the photos I'm posting today that you can't see for yourself. They are all from a walk of maybe twenty minutes this afternoon and all taken on the Farm.

Antici. . . . . . -pation

I thought today would be the day of truth for Hive #4. I started this one with a queen I got that turned out not to be needed by Taylor. I took a frame of brood and honey with some bees from Emily and put them in Hive #4 with the new queen about a month ago, now. It should be all she needs. I figured if I end up with another productive hive then great, and if not, I tried.

She's keeping me in suspense. Like she enjoys toying with me. She's taunting me, I think.

For the third week in a row, I have opened the small nuc box that houses Hive #4. Each time, I expect to see this queen laying thousands of little bee eggs, and each time so far, there are none. But there are other positive signs. It seems that the bees who are tending the queen have somehow grown in number, even though they are obviously not her offspring. Maybe they are expatriates from Meagan, Taylor and Emily. I honestly don't know. But these bees are in the hive, and the queen is still alive and seems to be as lively as her friends. They are not yet drawing out comb, which I think is the hitch with getting her to lay eggs, because they go in the cells.

So I put some honey and pollen supplements on this hive today, hopefully to stimulate the girls as they build up comb.

Today's photos, from the top:

• Ian assisted me today. It seems wrong to teach someone his age to smoke.
• Hive #4, with honey supplement hanging on the front and the entrance reducer in place to keep it easy for a smaller number of bees to defend.
  
• Frames in Hive #4's nuc box.
• Proper smoker fuel (pine needles), rather than the charcoal that caused an incident previously noted here.
  

No one should own animals smarter than they are...

My nephew was over today, so we did alot of little things toward getting the fence complete and we worked with the bees. He's a huge help, and often is the only thing that keeps me on task. Most of the photos for today's post were taken by him, also. Thank you, Michael.


Emily was looking a bit cramped, so we expanded her quarters. Essentially, the box we put on top (a "super," in the trade) is just like the bottom part of the hive (brood hive). It is shorter, so the frames are smaller. This is because when they fill up with honey, the supers can be very heavy. Smaller ones are easier to handle. You'll also notice the screen we put between the brood hive and super. It's a queen excluder. It is just large enough for worker bees to pass through, and just small enough that the queen is confined below. This keeps the queen from laying eggs above the brood hive, so that only honey is stored in the supers.


We checked Taylor, too. Everything is in order in there. Looks like good amounts of babies and honey being stored up. It won't be long before Taylor and Meagan get their own home improvements like Emily.


It's incredible to me how every bee has its job and just does it. Some tend the nursery. Some keep the interior of the hive clean. Some assist the incoming workers from the field with the pollen and nectar they bring in. The field workers literally work themselves to death so that the hive can carry on. Every bee goes through these jobs over their lifetime. On the other hand, the smoker got a little bit out of control when I was trying to be sure it had enough coals in it to last long enough to check both hives. You should not buy animals that are smarter than you are.


Today's photos, in order of appearance:

• Emily, complete with the new super.
  
• Saved from the lawnmower: a box turtle.
• When the lid is off the hive, the girls come and go via the top.
  
• Nectar on the left, complete honey capped on the right.
  
• Emily's queen excluder.
  
• Don't leave the smoker unattended. Good thing I have a spare. Does anyone know where to get a big scrap of Naugahyde?
  

Rollercoaster thrills on the Farm....

Okay, so it has been a while since my last post. Life happens, but mostly I was kindof discouraged about the girls. Those of you who know me will understand. So here it all is, as succinctly as I am able to express it.

You know from previous posts that Meagan and Emily's queens have both been confirmed as productive, as evidenced by baby bee eggs in their hives. I had waited until my nephew could help me to open Taylor and confirm her queen was also freed from her cage and producing little baby bee offspring. But she wasn't. We looked through every frame in the hive, pored over them four times. No queen. Either the colony rejected and disposed of her, or she was not healthy and died after being released from her cage. There are still bees in the hive, so I hurriedly ordered a new queen. They weren't so hurried in sending her, but she came in time.

So Thursday I went to install this new queen in the Taylor colony. So I opened up the hive to inspect and was absolutely gobsmacked to see little baby bee larvae in very good numbers. The queen had been released and was laying. The brand new comb in the hive is so white, I can see how I might miss the teeny white eggs laying in there (see previous post). The queen's marking is also not on her abdomen, making it more difficult to locate her.

So, hooray! Taylor is okay. Sweet. But wait. I just ordered a new queen. Do I just let her die? After some frantic calls to inquire about ordering another package of bees (not available), and calling the bee club members for advice, I decided the best action was to liberate a frame of bees from Emily and install them in the small nuc hive with the new queen. Hence, Hive 4.

You'll see in the photo with this post, the new fourth hive is in the background of the photo. Emily is still the hive in front, but she has moved into larger accomodations. It was an interesting conversation with the nephew explaining that the bees are the colony, and not the box.



Fast forward to today... Emily is absolutely amazing, with the activity going on at her entrance. almost literal clouds of bees are coming and going today. Meagan and Taylor have alot of bees coming and going, but nothing like Emily. Hive 4 has much less activity, but does have some bees in and out.

It has rained for three weeks. Or enough over that time that the grass hasn't dried enough to mow on my days off. Today was my first chance to cut it, and I just felt better being outside and doing something positive. The place looks much better now that the grass is 90% groomed. Another shower late this afternoon put the brakes on the last bit of trimming.

You'll notice Hive 4 is numbered and not yet named. Suggestions for names will be accepted via comments to this thread. So far the most offered suggestion is to name her "Mimi."

I'll also be accepting good energy from all of you via telepathy. I have an opportunity to obtain goats for a very favorable price, if I can complete a fence for them before the end of the month. Some of my better friends are coming this week to help me get a good start. Blog posts to come.

Long live the queens!

Today I got to open the hives for the first time since I started them last week. By now, the queens and the field bees have been aquainted long enough that they are happy together. Meagan's queen was spotted doing her duty, laying eggs neatly in cells. I got a good photo of her, but didn't want to disturb her more than necessary to bother her for photos. Because Emily's queen was laying when I bought the nuc hive, I knew she was already aquainted in her hive. Today I spotted new eggs in the hive, which show she is still laying since moving to the Tennessee Renaissance Farm. I'm going to hold out until Thursday to open Taylor, so that my helper can be here to assist.

Today was also the first time I handled bees with bare hands. It's definitely a different tactile experience, and sometimes hard to fight the urge to swat when the bees walk on my skin. But no stings this time, so I'm calling it a win.

The photos have a range of things to point out:

• The very white comb is brand new. Meagan made it since the bees arrived a week ago.
  
• Meagan's queen was spotted (first photo). She has the white dot on her back, so she can be spotted easily.
• There are eggs in the cells. They are tiny (small as the tip of a pencil, they say - click on the 2nd photo, look right next to the antennae on the bee toward the middle). Eggs are not more than 3 days old before they become larvae.
  
• Cells that are capped have bees in the final stage of development from pupae to bee. Note the caps on those cells are brown and convex.
• The bright yellow in some cells is pollen. Pollen can range from yellow to brown, orange, green or pink.
• 
• Liquid in the cells is nectar that is being dried into honey.
  
• Drones can be spotted in some of the photos of Emily. Drones are much larger bees, and males. Their eyes take up most of their heads. I could tell they were living it up while they are able. Summer is looking very nice for them. The forecast for drones in the fall is not so good.
• You really have to look at the last photo in its full size. Click on it. Note how the bees are in formation. I took it as a sign that they were ready for me to put their lid back in place.
  

Dear Google,

How do I petition to have the satellite imagery of my property updated?



Thanks,
The Gentleman Farmer

Somebody that I really don't care much about once said something to the effect of, "every day in this country, with amazingly few exceptions, is better than the one before..." I don't agree with the guy on much, but blind hogs do find acorns here and there. He got that one right.

Over the past year on the Farm, every day really has been better than the one before. This week, that has been true in leaps and bounds. My last post was about starting my first two hives of bees on Monday. The next day, I drove to Hendersonville to pick up the beginning of my third hive.

This new one is a different way to obtain a hive. Basically the gentleman I bought it from split one of his hives and ordered a queen. They go in a small hive with just five frames. The benefit of buying this kind of hive is that the colony is fairly established. I read that it is about a six week head start over starting from packages like the first two. This small hive, referred to in the trade as a nuc, already has a laying queen, brood in different stages of development, and honey and pollen stores already in place. The nuc doesn't have to build up these things like the package bees. From my limited experience, these bees seem to have the best temperament of any I have handled so far.

The girls are already bringing in pollen (look at the one who's coming in for a landing on the unpainted nuc hive; the yellow on her legs is pollen - click to enlarge) and eating up the food I've put out for them in larger quantities than I thought they would at this early stage. It's awesome.

FYI, from now on, the hives will be referred to (in the order they were established) as Meagan, Taylor and Emily.

Victory on Bee-Day

It finally happened today.

This time last year, I became interested in beekeeping. Early last summer, I bought my first gear. Last fall, I got to apprentice with a real actual beekeeper after he took a spill from a ladder and had a cast on one arm. Each step took me deeper into the hobby, and none of them turned me off. Except maybe when Dan told me (as I was lifting the lid off the last hive of his that I helped with) this particular hive was "a little more aggressive" than I was used to. But I knew being stung here and there was part of the deal. I found out for sure that day that I definitely am not allergic, which ought to be the first requirement of beekeeping. This winter I ordered stuff and more stuff and assembled it all into hive parts. In January, I ordered two packages of three pounds of bees each. That's roughly 20,000 bees. Thursday I alerted the postmaster that this parcel was coming for me.

This morning he called. He'd appreciate it if I could run down and pick up the bees. Now. So I picked them up. They seemed to weigh more than six pounds of bees should weigh. At first sight, I could tell there were less dead ones in the bottom than the shipper warned is normal. I took it as a good omen. Three or four little Houdini bees had escaped, but clung to the outside of the screen. On the way home, these would fly around the car a bit, but land only on the cage where she started. Because it was still chilly and overcast, I left them in the car until the sun came out. Then the girls took respite from the sun on the back porch. A few times during the day, I fed them some syrup. They quit buzzing and enjoyed eating for a good while each time.

Finally the appointed hour came. I put on safety gear and prepared my tools. Fed both boxes of bees some more syrup. (Now was the time to get them on my side, for sure.)

Each package of bees was shipped with its own queen. Because this is a forced family arrangement among the queen and her colony, things have to be handled carefully from the start. The queen is shipped in a very small cage with a few attendants inside the box. This is to prevent the colony, which doesn't yet know her well, from killing her. The queen's penthouse cage is shipped with basically two plugs: one made of cork, the other made of candy. I removed the cork plug, and the idea is that by the time the colony eats through the candy plug, the queen and her subjects will have bonded intimately. The urge to kill the queen will be gone by then. That's the hope and prayer.

So the queen's luxury suite is installed hanging between two frames, for the time being (see photo). Then the rest of the package of bees is delicately and carefully coaxed, dumped and shaken into their new home. Frames that were removed to allow dumping space are replaced carefully. The hive is closed up. The remaining hangers on in the shipping cage are placed on top of the hive so hopefully they get the idea where their friends went, and want to go there.

Now I wait. Opening the hive before a week has passed can disrupt the ladies' bonding process and cause them to reject the queen. So next week, I'll open the hive and see how wonderfully the bees are moving in.

Tomorrow's mission is to bring home the nuc hive I have ordered from a beekeeper at Hendersonville.

Kudos to my 6-year-old nephew. Ian was the only person The Gentleman Farmer knew who was not busy when I needed help to install the bees in their new digs. (Or was he the only brave one?) Ian took most of the photos of the bees' moving in ceremony and helped put the hives back together once the bees were in place. Thank you, Bubba.

The Buzz

Not much to tell today, but on break I talked to the gentleman who is selling me my first bees. Looks like I'll get the nuc from him and I'm having two more packages delivered around the same time.

Awesome!

Hooray.

*tongue wags out*

What a week! I'm bushed from work, but excited about this being my first week of having 3 days off.

My to-do list for the home place next week is as follows:

• make soap - at least 2 kinds
• change oil in 2 cars
  
• build 2 corners for my fence
• cut grass if it's not too wet
• fiddle with the new camera
• set up and prepare beehives for occupancy
• the Sounds opening game is Thursday. maybe I can go if i get some of this other stuff done.
  

I'm so excited that spring is coming. It's almost overwhelming, but I'm ready for the challenges and sunshine. The past year working on the farm has been so rewarding, and I know this is going to be the year that actual farm things begin, instead of just cleaning and preparing.