Bee inspection, a success!

The picture on the left is a very interesting comb that the bees have made in 3 days. I opened the hive up on Thursday morning and by Sunday morning they had successfully built this beautiful comb. In this picture they are busy working and...

in the picture on the right is after I had smoked them. It sends the bees running below and also calms them. In todays inspection I also saw each queen in both hives which is something I have never been able to do before. Some of the frames were drenched in honey and dripping. There was capped honey and each hive had brood (baby bees) as well. I am so happy with my hives and am looking forward to a great year of bee keeping!

 

Our New Chicken Coop

Here is our new chicken coop in the making. It is made from mostly recycled items that we got from here and there. The cage part is an old wildlife cage that I had, the fencing was being thrown away and we salvaged it. Tim also took down some old caging I had and is recycling the hardware cloth for the outer part of the fencing. In the future we will be building a greenhouse on to the front of the wooden part which will act as a solar heating area and will keep them warm in colder months.

Next is making some laying boxes which will be out of recycled items as well. We've already looked at it and are making some changes.

This picture below, is the chickens now about 7 weeks old and their first day out and about. They were chasing bugs and exploring whatever they could find.

The gangs all here...

The gangs all here...a typical day at breakfast time. It seems like I get up earlier and earlier every morning to keep the sheep quiet. Belle the ewe in the forefront of this picture has a big mouth. Do they make a sheep muzzle? She is teaching her lambs to have the same bad habits!

A Lambs gotta do what a lambs gotta do...

This is our new little ewe lamb "Lily". She got frustrated trying to get to the hay and decided to problem solve her way, she went high. I just happened to be walking into the barn and had camera in hand and caught this shot of her. She is quite the problem solver and very smart!

Another passing on the Farm...

Sadly old man, Fergus has passed away. He was old when we took him in last year where he was starving on a farm with our other llama, Angus. He was gentle & sweet and we will miss him so.

Installing the Bee Packages

Today we "installed the bees". This is just the term that is used when you are putting bees into a hive. The first hive went well, bees dropped down into the hive and the queen was released with very little effort. The second hive however gave me some trouble and the bees got a little annoyed and there were some bee stings! My coat took the brunt of it. In the first picture I am trying to get the can out of the center. It is filled with sugar water and is a bit heavy to get out. In the second picture a gentle tap of the package sends the bees down into the waiting frames in the hive. It was nice today to see the bees buzzing about. Everything is either in bloom or about to bloom so we got the bees right in time.

Our Bee Packages have arrived!

Our Bee Packages have arrived! In this picture is two "packages of bees". They are held together by small pieces of wood so they don't tip over. A queen is in each package. The top is held down by a piece of wood, under that wood is a can inverted with sugar water for the trip.

Each package contains three pounds of bees, which is the equivalant of 10,000 bees! In this picture the bees are clustered around the queen who is in a "Queen Cage" until we install them into the hives. We are very excited to have the bees back and I am sure our neighbors too, the gardens are always at their very best with the bees pollinating them! Between manure and bees you can never go wrong!

Herb Window Boxes for Sale

These Herb Window Boxes are available at our farmstand. Tim built the boxes, I painted them and we grew many of the herbs in the cold frame or over wintered them. We have culinary as well as tea boxes available. We have a large assortment for whatever herbs you may want. They make a great gift as well and are reasonably priced at just $8.00 for the small and $12.00 for the large one. The one in this picture is the large one. The farmstand will be opened every Sunday ffrom 12 to 4 weather permitting of course...

Shearing Day on the Farm!

It was Shearing Day here on the farm. This picture is of our two shearers, Rick on the left and Jeremiah on the right. These guys are pretty amazing, they managed to shear and cut teeth on 8 Alpacas, 2 Llamas and 5 Sheep in less than 3 hours. We had a lot of help, thanks to Elsa on the gate, a great help, my mom helping bag the fiber and Angel on the pull rope. It was sure hot out there, reaching 90 and with a lot of humidity. A lot of sweat and a lot of water being consumed! Thank goodness it's over until next year! Now it's time to get spinning the stuff I still have from last year...