With wood, comes hope..

The first of several boxes arrived today, I could hardly wait to open them!
Box number one came from Ashley Bee Supply these lovely integrated pest management bottom boards are great for trapping and killing small hive beetles and varroa mites. 

You fill that white tray with oil or soapy water and the beetles and or mites fall through the screen (which is too small for the bees to get through).  Ingenious!  These lovely trays are made from cypress and all the joints for nice and snug, the kicker, they are made in the USA and that makes me all too happy!
Box number two..

It doesn’t look like much now but it will be a lovely 8 frame Nuc once assembled!  I’m using this (at least at first) as a hive trap that will be baited with a bee lure and mounted on a platform several feet off the ground.  My hope (please, please, please) is that when swarm season arrives a swarm will find it so irresistible that they will move in!  That’s the hope at least!
Like I said there are more boxes on the way and each one brings me a little hope for the Spring…

Planning, Plotting and Praying…

What’s a girl to do?  She loves honeybees, she wants more than one hive and she’s suffering from a winter that currently isn’t.
SHOP!
In the last two days I’ve researched beehives, swarm trapping and places to purchase packages.  I’m knee deep in bee information!  The good news is progress is being made, after much reading and discussion we (because I do ask for his input and assistance) decided to go with Langstroth 8 frame mediums.  I stayed away from Langs because of the height and the weight involved because a fully loaded super can weigh a lot and I wasn’t about wrenching my back.  I also wasn’t sure that Langs were the most natural of means for my girls.  It seemed like there was a lot more fussing about that needed to be done, I’m hoping that this isn’t the case but only time will tell.  In any event we will have two 8 frame mediums and the top bar.  We went with Evans Cedar Beehives because they won’t require painting and they are lighter.  Being a woodworker means Randy is very picky about wood, he’d rather pay more for something of quality than get something that isn’t going to last.  If we could find cedar as thick as he’d like to build with he would be building them himself, but since that seems to be a serious challenge around here, we ordered! 
Now I spent a lot of time reading about catching swarms because the price of packages is crazy.  I guess with more and more people becoming beekeepers, CCD still being an issue and the losses that seem to be widespread during the winter bees are harder to come by.  I figure since all of this got started because of some honeybees in my tree, that I should be able to lure some more right?  So in addition to all our other supplies, I ordered a medium nuc box (which is short for nucleus) to use as a swarm ‘trap’.  It’s not really a trap, it’s a small version of a beehive that I’m going to put ‘bait’ (which is basically lemongrass oil) and try to convince any scout bees that are out and about that it’s a good place to move in.  If I get lucky and that happens and they make a home in the nuc box, I’ll be able to take their frames out and put them in another box, thus creating a new hive.  Sounds easy lol!
Finally, the packages..sigh this is the hardest part. I really have nothing against bees from Georgia, I just don’t think they are especially suited for Maryland.  I’ve been told that I can get the package from there and then (ugh) kill the queen and replace her with a Maryland or Northern bred one but um, yeah that ain’t happening.  So I’ve been trying to find bees from either north of Maryland or at least from places that have a winter, so far I’m not having much luck. I’ve emailed several places and asked and one place that I was excited about that is in Maryland not only charges a lot but no discount on multiple packages.  I’m not sure what to do, I may go with them and hope the third hive can come from a swarm catch.  I know without a doubt though that we will have two hives and not one when Spring arrives..

And we will begin again…

I hope that I never become numb to the loss of animals.  I hope that for all of my life that twinge of sadness permeates me and I grieve for each life lost.  For I truly believe that once we stop aching for the loss of their lives, we are missing a very important part of our souls…

I hoped against hope and tried with every ounce of knowledge that I have to stop something from happening.  I guess that even though the logical part of me knew that it was a long shot the bigger part of me really, really, really, wanted that logical part of me to be wrong.  On Tuesday the weather had warmed into the mid 50’s and I went down to add a winter pattie to the hive.  With the weather having been cold we hadn’t gone to check on them since we’d installed the insulation panels.  The discovery I made was grim and yes, even though logically I knew it was probably coming, it still hurt.  All my beautiful, gentle little girls were deceased. Most where in the bottom of the hive, some were head first into the comb, there was still capped honey there but I guess it just wasn’t where they were or needed it to be.  I’ve spoken with a friend that is also a beekeeper and he lost two of his hives in recent days as well, I grieve for his girls too.
The odds were stacked against them heavily after the loss of most of their stores this fall and logically I knew that.  I did everything I could to provide food and protection for them from this insane weather, in the end all I can do is learn from my mistakes and move on.
We had (yes we because Randy has now decided that he is more than willing to help and participate!) already decided that we’d be getting more bees this spring regardless of the girls making it or not.  We are still toying with hive ideas, but since he has agreed to assist with it, we are going to be getting a Langstroth and possibly a Warre.  Since we aren’t in this to be massive honey producer we have the options to try other hive designs.  We also will be modifying the top bar hive that we have to incorporate some much needed improvements.  Without the girls there we can now use the large tractor to work in the area, leveling off the ground and putting in place a nice level surface for all the hives, which means we will officially have an apiary! 
We have much planning ahead of us and a lot of plants to move in the earliest days of Spring so right now we need the cold weather to return, the snow to blanket the ground and the heralds of Spring to continue their quiet sleep.  Give us a chance to make sure that new and much improved homes will await our new arrivals and to make sure that we are on the right path to being the best Honey Bee Guardians we can be!

Honeybee Update..

The girls are still alive and kicking I am very happy to report and while some would say I’m nuts their disposition is back to a calm buzz.  We inspected the hive thoroughly and there is uncapped and capped honey and some brood and some pollen!  I ordered Honey Bee Healthy to add to the sugar it’s like a multivitamin for honeybees that is supposed to help encourage them to eat.  I also ordered some winter patties for them, so that when it get’s colder I can continue to feed.
They are still busily bringing in pollen and since I couldn’t stop them from eating from the humming bird feeder we made a hanging honeybee feeder from an inverted jar, a wooden frame and a piece of screen.  They seem quite happy with that and I’m happy because I don’t have to worry about a honeybee getting caught in the hole!
I’m cautiously hopeful about them surviving, I know it’s a long shot, but I’m hoping that if I keep feeding and we insulate it really well this winter that they will survive and thrive next year. 
We are still going to build two hybrid hives this winter, I know what I want, it’s a Langstroth that is on it’s side instead of upright, that is raised on legs like a top bar and frames that have three sides instead of one or four. I want to be able to use standard Langstroth equipment but have the ease of top bar use.  I like having the ability to put a super on if I were to ever want to collect honey and I like the idea of having a screened bottom board too.  I’m excited to get into the workshop with Randy and design and build these and I’m excited for all the future honeybee adventures!

Cinnamon…it’s not just for toast!

File this tip under things that are useful to know…Ants hate cinnamon.  I don’t know any scientific reason that they dislike it, I don’t know if it’s in the oil, if it’s in the scent, I just know that they hate it and if you want a natural and great smelling way (unless you hate cinnamon) to get rid of ants cinnamon is your friend. 
Now here is how I KNOW it works, I have had an ant problem around my beehive since the honeybees moved in, carpenter ants, sweet ants both constantly marching up the legs and into the hive.  We moated the legs but I don’t like drowning innocent insects (honeybees included) and I don’t think leaving the legs even though they are cedar sitting in the water is a good idea.  I don’t use poisons and while I considered using DE (food grade diatomaceous earth) because it would take care of the ants as well as small hive beetle larva. I was concerned about it killing other insects as it’s indiscriminant.  So I did some reading and cinnamon was suggested and well I have that and some cinnamon essential oil as well so off I went.  I dusted the legs and a little inside the hive end where the colony isn’t first and then I sprinkled some on the ground around the legs.  I used a q-tip and oil to coat the places where the hive is joined together.  When I left there were sweet ants all over the place and they were scrambling in every direction..I thought hmm it might work.  When I checked a few hours later, there was not an ant to be seen, anywhere!  None on the hive, none near the hive, none anywhere on the ground.  Next time I go to Sam’s club I’m buying an economy size container! It’s natural and it smells good and neither I nor the honeybees mind it

The Pond

I realized that I never shared any pictures of the improved pond, stream and bog filter! 
This is the bog filter and as you can see the plants did indeed grow despite the deer eating them.  Oh, I spy a flower pot that needs to come out of there!
Another view of the bog filter.
So here’s the pond wall that we had built, it runs all the way around the lower end, we are very happy with how it turned out.  I’ve planted a little in the areas, I’m going to load it up with the Spring bulbs that I just picked up this week.  The black teepee thing is our leaf net, it’s a life saver!
The wall on the front side.

Here’s the new stream, I started planting around it but like all around the pond…more landscaping needs to be done.  Always a work in progress.

Spring Planning….

No seriously, we are already planning our spring projects and are they ever big ones!  Part of the plans will actually start this winter, we’ve got to have some honking big trees taken down for various reasons.
This maple by the pond I love, I mean it I love this tree and I’ve been waffling on it’s removal for months.  The heavy snow a couple of years ago ripped the top out and it’s got some bad spots in it.  The thing is, it provides SO much shade for the pond which in turn helps with algae but on the flip side it does drop leaves over and around the pond…
That massive poplar with the “V” in it, well it’s got a gaping hole in the trunk and has the potential to do serious damage to the house should it fall.  Yes, that tree is THAT big!
That beech tree in the background, well it’s another tree that I love, it is just stunning when it changes colors in the fall and the shape is just so perfect.  It however shades so much of the back yard and the bee yard.
Which is where some honking BIG changes are going to take place.

This area along the front is going to become a heavily planted flower border, which with the removal of the beech will get a lot more sun.  We are going to add soil and leaf grow to the area and move plants from all over to fill this in and of course all will be pollinator friendly.  There may be a few smaller trees in this area that we take down or maybe just have some of the canopy thinned.  Our tree guy is fantastic! Oak Hill Wood Services
Behind this flower border is where the bee yard is going to be and that is going to require some work. Randy is not happy with the area he leveled and since we are going to be building two hives this winter he wants to improve up the leveling and he wants to put something down that will make it easier to maintain apparently he didn’t enjoy pulling weeds. 
  So from the Crepe Myrtle here in the corner to the other side will be flowers, everything behind will either be clover (which is what I want) or something else. 
A garden is always changing…