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.
The Gentleman Farmer has a very talented family. This week, my brother (The Gentleman Chef?) paid a visit from his new haunts up north and served up a mighty fine lunch. Brother is a Chef in training at Sullivan University, and he expresses almost extreme pride in working at Vinnie's.Lunch today was reason for him to be proud. And for me to be proud of him, come to think of it. Bowtie noodles, cream sauce, peppers, peas, carrots and some bacon-y stuff (prosciutto) went together in the hands of an already experienced Chef. Thanks, Bro.
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.
After I got back in from Gatlinburg I spent a couple of days continuing work on the fence. My new friend came over for a day and we got all of the prep work done with setting and bracing posts. We also got a whole roll (330') of fencing unrolled, stretched and attached to the posts. Friday we got one more roll put on their posts. Tuesday will be the next workday, and I hope to complete getting the fencing put on the posts then. After that, I just have to attach the gates and improvise a way to extend the fence in low spots, so there's not much gap between the ground and the fence. 
I've definitely spent more time on the fence than I have with the bees, but somehow the work doesn't lend itself to what I think of as interesting posts. Most of the time, I really don't mind the actual work. I enjoy being on the land and hearing the birds, soaking up the sunshine and perspiring. Even though it has felt like slow work, building the fence has been very satisfying. I have also been graciously blessed by a handful of my friends who have given up a day here and there to help me with it.
"You know, I think we got the hardest part of building the fence done today," has become a joke with my friends. The next workday has proven me wrong more than once since I started this project. Now I'm just working as much as I can and witnessing the progress as it comes.
I took off for a few days to go to Gatlinburg. I always enjoy visiting the mountains, and this trip did not disappoint.
Frogs from Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. This was my first time visiting the aquarium, and it is a first class experience. I really enjoyed their tunnel that takes you under the surface of the main aquarium. Ripley's also has several hands-on activities for children. It was definitely worth the price of admission. 
This gentleman makes his living by carving logs into bears and other figures. He has an amazing talent with the chainsaw. He can be found on Gatlinburg's Arts & Crafts loop with hundreds of artisans and craftspeople. We saw woodworkers, potters, a glassblower, basket makers, leatherworkers, musicians, jewelers, painters and sculptors on the loop. It is free to visit just about anyplace on the loop, but you will want to take home some treasures.
The view from the Space Needle. I don't know how the tower gets its name, but you (almost) can't buy views like you see from the top. Nowhere else can you better see the contrast between the tourist town of Gatlinburg and the National Park, which is essentially untouched by commerce and development.
This gentleman in the Mountain Mall builds single string instruments called didley bows from cigar boxes. They are played with a slide. The didley bow goes back to the War of Norther Aggression, when there was little time or material to spare to building instruments, so people built them however they could improvise. I didn't think to ask how much time and energy they could have saved by not smoking cigars to get the boxes. The cigar box guitar he is playing in the photo has three strings. He introduced me to http://www.cigarboxnation.com/ , where you can see videos of people playing their instruments. I'm very impressed by the whole thing.
How can you not stop to witness the zen of the taffy pulling machine? The Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen is the world's premier expert on taffy making. It has spawned legions of expert taffy samplers in Gatlinburg.
If you missed the farm update this week, I did too. Updates are coming forth, and soon.
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.
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?
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.
