My Famous Sister

-Posted by Isaac

I've had Becky on the blog recently. As many of you know, she's more than just "aunt Becky" who runs our kids around in her spare time. She's owner, operator and CEO of Dangling Carrot Farm. And her spare time is becoming much more scarce these days. Not only are we thick in the growing season, she's fighting off the media at every turn.
Here, they caught up with her. I thought you may be entertained by this. Possibly even enlightened. Who knows?

In bee news, it's just more of the same. Splitting and more splitting. Sun up to, well, almost sun down. I've not yet worked until dark (Becky regularly does), but the season's not over and we've still got queens to come.

About 160 down.

The bees have actually made a little honey. Deadnettle honey? I found just a couple early supers completely full. 

The problem is, these super strong early colonies had swarm cells. They got ahead of me. Its hard to get around fast enough, as I mentioned in that last post.

I'm seeing bees in my sleep. Queens by day and night. Since we're on on subject of entertainment, I thought I'd leave you with this fun little post from last year. Grab some coffee. It's a good way to start your bee day.

Ah Spring- Time for Making Babies

-Posted by Isaac

The world has come alive! Babies are everywhere.

And has it been ever busy keeping up with them.

Beekeepers are run ragged this time of year. The bees, April, May, and June decide its time to make babies. They swarm. And it's my job to put a stop to it. Sort of.

Swarming is a good thing. It's procreation the way nature intended. I'm not opposed to a few swarms now and then. You get a new and vibrant queen out of the deal. Plus a little bit of natural mite control. The thing is, when your workers are off hanging in a tree, they're not making spring honey. So basically I run around all day in the spring, hive to hive, yard to yard, making splits. Splitting a hive is a way to control the exploding spring growth without losing your bees to the trees.

But sometimes it's hard to keep up. This week we've been chasing babies. 

Here are a few shots of recent swarms.

Above is  an easy catch in the flower bed. Good timing on this prime swarm-- just a day before loading up for apple pollination. These girls (with a few added frames of brood) are now working hard in the Lynd Fruit Farm orchards.

Below are some tree huggers. 

Jayne put this swarm on Facebook. It got a few likes and many exclamation points.

Here's a swarm caught yesterday in the apple tree. Perfect height for the eight foot step ladder.

When I got up there to look at these baby darlings, I noticed something else right above them.

Yep, more baby darlings:

 Here's one in the maple. Beekeepers can get a little crazy over swarms.

Glad we got that forklift.

Why is this happening? All these bee babies?

Well, suddenly, the world here in central Ohio has turned into a buffet table. As you've probably noticed from the roadsides.

Westfall High School sits about a half mile from our home bees. Before these hives left for the apples, we had over 100 in our yard. A lot of bees! Every blooming tree is a new target. When these trees went wild at Westfall, I actually got a call from an administrator saying that my bees were "disturbing the peace."

A pollen train--
You can see the incoming results of all the blooming. (Blooming being the plant plant version of making babies).

Making babies. The bees help the plants, the plants help the bees.

This pollen is stored as a protein source for spring growth.
Quite artistically, I'd say.

Sometimes we beekeepers have a hand in that beautiful plant-bee interaction. In April we pollinate apples. Well, the bees do the work. We just load them up and get the hives to the the work sight. We're bus drivers really.

Almost always this is done at night. But the recent cold evenings enabled us to start early. All the girls were in, staying warm in the cluster instead of out foraging.

Really good looking bus drivers.

Mr. Blair plugged entrances, I lifted hives, Bridger managed and reported oversights.

They come runnin just as fast as they can.

'Cause every girl's crazy bout a sharp dressed man!

"Every Day is Earth Day."

-Posted by Isaac

Happy Earth Day everyone!

"But every day is Earth Day." says miss Maizy Barnes.
Maizy enlightened us to this fact yesterday at breakfast.

This year in central Ohio, Earth Day starts with a cold rain. A rain which continues through the morning. Can't work bees (or don't want to), might as well blog.
That's ok, as soon as it breaks the bees don't have far to forage.

Awesome deadnettle this year

We had our annual pilgrimage to Chillicothe this last weekend.

Earth Gathering 2015:

Last year I blogged about this eclectic little festival.
The music is rich, awesome, fun and fantastic. And so are the people.
My neighbor this year was the talented Crystal Summers of Rising Phoenix Glass:

I stood entranced much of the day as Crystal made her art.
She distracted from honey sales!

A week and a half ago the weather was lovely. We took an Earth Day camping trip a little bit pre Earth Day.

Destination- Carter Caves, Kentucky.

I thought I would show you some "earthy" photos from that trip.

The hiking was beautiful, but not always easy. My brother Justin brought his kids along so we had eight children running through the woods, crawling through the caves and generally making a loud and chaotic commune with nature.

Head counts were often and necessary.

Baby's first cave:

The climbing was fun and easy. Or should I say "bouldering" for you purists?

And what goes better with camping than honey and cheese sticks?

I know:

This wonderful brew was made with Honeyrun honey, courtesy of Phil the engineer and hobby brewer.  Thanks Phil!

But nothing harder. There are no liquor sales in Carter Co. Kentucky.
Apparently their Kentucky honey is hard enough:

Ok for us. For lots of hiking, climbing and balancing acts, honey bodes better than alcohol anyway.

 

We were very (very!) thankful to have Aunt Becky along to help with the kids. 

How does she stay so fit? Well, it's not a plan at the gym. Nor is it yoga, pilates, spinning class or any of that craziness. I'd like to think she owes her fitness to us. To running our kids around. She should thank us.

But I suspect more credit is due Mother Nature and her chosen occupation.

See this field? At the end of one of those long weedless rows of garlic is a pink speck. Someone is way out there wearing pink overalls, pushing a wheel hoe.

That's Becky.

Peanut Butter Balls Recipe

-posted by Jayne

Today I share a simple recipe that is fun for kids to put together, and a nice little after school treat.  It's heavy on peanut butter, but you're sneaking in some protein via beans mashed together with all the decadent peanut butter and honey goodness.  Mason and I whipped it up in about 15 mins, and we chose to use our food processor to bring everything together quickly.

Ingredients:  

1 can (15 oz) Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup honey

1 TB vanilla

1 1/4 cups peanut butter

1 1/2 cups oats (I used old-fashioned oats)

Directions:

1.  Combine beans, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla in a food processor.  Pulse until smooth and creamy.  

2.  Add oats.  You can pulse this in the food processor if your food processor is big enough.  If not, simply mix them together in a bowl.  

3.  Using your fingers, shape mixture into balls.

4.  Store in the refrigerator.  We chose to freeze the majority of them, pulling one or two of them out to enjoy each day.

Makes approximately 50 peanut butter balls.

Recipe adapted from Iowa State University Extension Calendar, www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsavings

                                 

Do Beekeepers Stress Out?

-Posted by Isaac

The answer is yes.
The busy season is upon us. Warm days have come and there's a million things to do. I remember my dad always becoming a bit antsy at the beginning of planting season. Even when things are going well, when seed and fertilizer and planters are ready, when machinery holds up, even then, you've still got mother nature to contend with. Rain, mud, wind and late frosts all play havoc with the schedule. A million things to do and a very limited time to do them. There's a lot on the line!

In our case the bees are needing attention. Winter clean up and yard prep, light hives to feed, heavy hives to equalize, apple pollination prep, nucs to make, splits to make, queens to produce, queens to order... and just hope they arrive on time.
It's planting season for bees! The clock is ticking, the girls will be swarming soon.

Swarming soon? Yes! Not all, but most are looking great:

We were able to keep 75% alive this winter. A complete turnaround from last year. 300 or so, looking strong, looking healthy and threatening to swarm in April if I don't get on the ball.

Many are even working on new foundation. Quite impressive considering the cool nights.

All this makes me think I may have been a bit over zealous with the protein. But they were loving it! I couldn't deny my girls... they're spoiled rotten.

 I experimented with the home bees. Which is preferred, artificial pollen or the real thing?

I couldn't see a preference for one or the other. The bees are crazy about both.

And Baby Eden was just fascinated. She's fascinated by all things out-of-doors.

Much protein involves much water. Daily, the girls are bellied up to the puddle in the wheelbarrow.

This week and last, the willows have bloomed. 

I took this shot yesterday, coming home from an out-yard. I love our willows.

And so, now, the protein bucket on the picnic table is simply ignored.

The girls are hauling in the good stuff. The real stuff.

                                         

All this protein means the bees are building. We need to accommodate!
Here, Maggie arranges frames for nucs and splits. Basically we're making room for bee growth.

Bee Heaven.
I get a kick out of our home yard. Most of these will soon be in the apples.

Or Bee Hell? Guess it depends on your outlook.

Of course not every minute is filled with bees.
The warm weather means it's time once again for some riding. Four kids, aged one to seven, means we all have our different speeds and wheels.

And some Sunday kite flying goes well with the steady spring breezes.

Finally, we can enjoy the clubhouse and swings.
Mom and Dad get their turn when the two oldest are off to school.

But Bridger still has a couple years before starting his scholarly endeavors. Until then, he'll enjoy the sunny mornings with Mom and work on his zip-lining.